Thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc of The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer.The Warsaw Orphan is an inspiring story of survival, beautifully written from alternating points of view. It is easy to follow the timelines of both characters, Emilia and Roman. Based loosely on real-life heroes, Rimmer's research and understanding of this time period create a believable and compelling novel. It is a quick read, great for fans of historical fiction.

I am a fan of historical fiction, especially stories set in WWII and its aftermath, and adored Kelly Rimmer’s novel, “The Things We Cannot Say.” Hence, when I was given a chance to review “Warsaw Orphan,” I came to the novel with high expectations. Boy, did this story blow me away.

Here, we meet teenaged, Elzbieta Rabinek who lives in Warsaw with her adopted parents Truda and Mateusz. Her parents do their best to shield her from the war, but when Elzbieta befriends Sara, she learns the realities of war. Sara is a nurse and social worker who secretly visits the Ghetto so that she can bring medical care and supplies to those who desperately need it. Elzbieta begins to assist Sara and meets Roman Gorka who struggles to survive with his family in horrendous conditions. Of course, Elizbieta and Roman fall for each other, but this novel is much more than a tragic romance, but a tale of endurance.

Elzbieta is a strong character who is very wise and mature for her age. Roman is much more angry (and vengeful), but the reader can understand why. I read both “Warsaw Orphan” and “Forest of the Vanishing Stars” around the same time and loved both books. It should not shock me, but it does how horrific people can treat one another and how a label can determine your fate. Kelly Rimmer does not hold back on the heinous nature of war and readers may find certain passages deeply disturbing, yet, like her other novels, there is a message of hope and humanity prevailing. When you think of what our country has gone through in the last fourteen months, the messages of this novel are truly timely.

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and Kelly Rimmer for my advanced copy.

I tried so hard to get into this book but it just is not holding my interest. It sounds like a great read but it's just not for me. The two stories is usually just what I love. I love the setting and timeframe. The two main characters, Roman and Emilia/Elz-bieta are likable at this point but it's just not wowing me in any way at all. I read almost a third of this book and just am not enjoying it. I do have to admit it is very well written and seems to be very accurate. It is one that others do love and many more will love. It's just me I'm sure.

Thank you #NetGally, #KellyRimmer, #Harlequinn
3/4 stars

The Warsaw Orphan
A WWII Novel
by Kelly Rimmer
HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada)
Graydon House
General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction
Pub Date 01 Jun 2021 | Archive Date 23 Jun 2021

This is one of my favorite authors. This book is told from two POV. I laid off from reading so many WWII books but this one slipped by. I was deeply moved by this book and think you will also enjoy reading it.
Thanks to Harlequin Graydon House and NetGalley for the ARC.

4 star

Teenager Elzbieta spends all of her time in her adopted parents apartment, hiding from the control of the Nazi's. When she befriends her neighbor Sara, a nurse and member of the resistance, Elzbieta decides that she must become involved in the resistance. Roman, a Jewish resident of the ghetto, is struggling to keep his family alive. His newborn sister is in particular danger, as his mother struggles to get enough nourishment to feed her.

The intersection of Roman and Elzbieta's stories was done very well. Both characters were well developed and extremely likeable. My only complaint is that the book needed an epilogue. I really wanted to know what happened to the characters in the long run. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

I have read many books about World War Two, from All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, to the more recent novel, The Paris Library, by Janet Skeslien Charles. Each book has helped me to understand a little bit more about what happened to regular people during the war. The Warsaw Orphan opened my eyes to what the people of Poland experienced, as seen through the eyes of a Jewish teen living in the Warsaw Ghetto, and a Christian teen living just beyond the Wall in the greater city. There were acts of bravery, both large and small, as well as callousness from those who chose to look away from the terrible suffering. This is an unflinching look at war. With wonderful characters that I could root for, I could not put this book down. I finished this novel in just two days!

What I Liked:

Historical Details:

The author obviously did extensive research as the novel was filled with food, clothing, hairstyles, and many other details that put me right in the time period. Would our heroes get caught? The details of how things were smuggled in and out of the Warsaw Ghetto, and how information was quickly communicated in neighborhoods by means of children helped the novel build the excitement.

Characters:

Emilia begins the novel as a young teen who would seem to have everything she could want. She has loving (if strict) parents, lives in a comfortable apartment, and has plenty to eat. But she is not who she seems. She is hiding in plain sight due to other members of her family defiantly resisting the Germans. With such a family history, it's inevitable that Emilia can't sit on her hands and do nothing. I loved Emilia's empathetic nature and how she was willing to help those suffering in the Jewish Ghetto. She feels a deep sense of responsibility, even when she realizes she is way out of her depth. She knows that people are relying on her and she refuses to let them down.

Roman is a slightly older teen living in the Warsaw Ghetto. He lives for his family, and refuses to give into despair even as their situation gets worse and worse. He meet Emilia when she begins to work as Sara's assistant. Inevitably, Roman and Emilia fall in love. But, the war changes him. After all he has seen, he wants nothing but revenge for what the Germans are doing. He becomes angry and reckless. And this gives Emilia pause. Can she be with someone who doesn't understand that his actions could be endangering those he loves?

Supporting Characters:

While Roman was fiery and wanted to make a gallant stand against the Germans, Emilia's neighbor, Sara, was probably braver than Roman. As a social worker, Sara was able to go into the Ghetto, under the guise of reducing Typhus, and find children that could be smuggled out. She used her intellect, rather than force, to effect change. I also loved that Sara was calm, and practical in the face of grave danger. Because of this, she won the respect of everyone around her.

Emilia's Aunt Truda is a very complex character. She is not very likable at the beginning of the book. She is strict with Emilia, and harsh with nearly everyone. But as her story unfolds, she begins to show a more compassionate side of her personality. When Emilia reflects back on how she has been accepted by Truda and her uncle, she starts to see the love behind Truda's actions. She would do anything to keep Emilia safe.

Civilian War Experiences:

The book is very realistic about the hardships that civilians go through in a war. There's no sugar-coating starvation, illness, rape and murder. Where other books about WWII, might start to describe a violent scene and then fade to black, Rimmer goes full steam ahead with the details. It is brutal, but honest.

Story:

Poland has been invaded by Germany and has forced Jews into a small zone in Warsaw known as the Warsaw Ghetto. This is a story of survival. The Jews have a terrible existence, as so many people are crowded into a small space. Disease is rampant, along with shortages of food and medical supplies. Jews are being told they are being relocated to a work camp, but they all know that no one is coming back.

The people in the rest of the city can see the wall that separates the Jews. They become experts at ignoring the evil around them. Is this a coping mechanism or (worse) indifference? But the rest of Warsaw will suffer in time.

This is a story of survival and endurance. There are people who do dramatic acts of bravery, and those who are equally brave but in a more subtle manner. I loved the characters and the love story between Roman and Emilia. All the obstacles they faced made the story both realistic and hopeful.

Trigger Warning for Rape:

This book contains a scene of extreme sexual violence. Although this was central to the plot of the book, if you are triggered by such things, I would strongly advise that you skip this novel.

The Warsaw Orphan is a heartbreaking story told from the POV of both Elzbeita and Roman. Teens caught in the war that destroyed so much, shattered lives and wiped out generations of families.

Both Roman and Elzbeita have strong personalities, are so determined in their quests making me forgot their ages (14 years when the book begins). A part of me struggled with that aspect, but on the other hand the war caused a lot of people to grow up before their time.

The author didn't hold back in her descriptive story and what wasn't verbalized was definitely felt.

I missed the author notes - this was an arc so hopefully the finished copies will have them. I would have loved to known what was based on fact vs. fiction. Part of me feels much of this book is not made up, how can so much bad be consciously imagined? But rather this was a true reflection of what took place and that in itself will stay with me for a long time.

The Warsaw Orphan was an emotional reading, depressing at times. It showed a side of the war in Poland I haven't visited before. But it also showed the strength and determination of those that fought back and survived.

My thanks to the publisher (via Netgalley) for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Based on true events during WWII in Poland, this novel brings the harsh realities of what the Jewish people went through to survive the war. The Warsaw ghetto was a tragic site of many deaths brought about by the Nazis. As portrayed throughout, children had to grow up quickly and learn to survive. When the Soviets took over Poland, things did improve but communism prevailed. The author did a wonderful job letting readers into the inner thoughts of Elzbieta and Roman as they sought to not only survive but help others. Highly recommended!

Kelly Rimer’s newest book The Warsaw Orphan is a historical fiction book based on true events in Poland during the Nazi occupation and the aftermath. As with many WWII stories, it is heartbreaking to read and realize what people endured. In an author note at the end of the book, Kelly cites a study that almost 2/3 of young adult Americans did not know that six million Jews died in the Holocaust. In fact, 10% of the survey respondents thought that the Jews caused the Holocaust. It is shocking information such as this that makes the stories of the past important to share. Kelly also shares in the author note true facts about the time and how they fit into the book. I love this additional information as it helps me understand the story.

This story follows Elzbieta, a young woman living among the non-Jewish Polish people, and Roman, a young man living in the Jewish Ghetto. They are both determined to defend Poland against invaders but how they go about it is very different. I loved following their stories and doing myself hoping some of the events in the book were true because they showed bravery, courage, and resilience. Believe me when I say you will become involved in this book!

Two different teenagers, living through the same war, brought together by a desire to help, a will to survive, and a need for friendship.

This is story set in Poland during WWII. After losing her family, teen Elzbieta is adopted and is living a pretty comfortable life. Roman lives in the ghetto, works hard in a factory, and has to beg for food to help feed his mother and newborn sister. When Elzbieta learns her neighbor Sara is helping Jewish children, she begins working with her and ultimately Roman and Elzbieta’s lives cross.

This was a beautiful and emotional story of strength and survival. I loved that it was inspired by a true story of the heroic actions of Irena Sendler.

Thank you to Graydon House for my copy. The Warsaw Orphan releases June 1.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer is one of my top 3 favorite books of all time. The storyline is unparalleled and in a sea of World War II historical fiction novels, it is truly unique and stands out among them all. That being said, it was undoubtedly going to be a difficult book to follow.

The Warsaw Orphan follows Emilia, or Elzbieta, from The Things We Cannot Say. She is brave, just like her brother Tomasz, in the first book, forming a bond with her neighbor Sara in smuggling children out of the ghetto. Rimmer is a talented writer who knows how to conduct research. This impresses me in her former work and impressed me here in the Warsaw Orphan. I am always taken aback by her writing ability and she is a permanent auto-buy author for me. This novel, however, was just "okay." It didn't grip me and I wasn't on the edge of my seat, ready to see the end. Nothing made it truly stand out unlike TTWCS. Was it a good book? Absolutely, but nothing to write home about. Will I continue to purchase every piece of literature that Rimmer cranks out? Without a doubt.

Thank you to HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada), Graydon House and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Post to come on Instagram closer to pub day.

This was a really good WWII novel that switched POV's between a Jewish boy living in the Warsaw Ghetto and a Catholic girl living just outside it, both hoping to make a difference for their families and their country. I really enjoyed both Elzbieta and Roman's stories as they provided different perspectives, but also showed how the entire country of Poland suffered during WWII. As with any WWII story, so much of this one was heart shattering and tough to read, but important. It is important we never forget and books like this one help to remember the atrocities that occurred. This was poignant and beautifully written. Thank you to Netgalley and Graydon House for the ARC.

The Warsaw Orphan is historical fiction based on a true story of a heroine who saved thousands of children during WW2. Set in Poland in 1942, Elzbieta lives with her aqdoptive parents. .Along with her neighbour ,Sara ,they visit the Warsaw ghetto and the two of them help to save the starving Jewish children that live there.
Another great read by Kelly Rimmer!
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this incredibly moving historical fiction novel!

I've read tons of WWII novels, and The Warsaw Orphan is one of the best I've read. It's set in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and then the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, but it focuses more on individual people and their struggles, rather than on these major historical events themselves. The main characters are a young Polish woman named Elzbieta and young Jewish man named Roman, both of whom have to find a way to survive and thrive during these troubled times. They both find different ways to help those in need during the Nazi occupation, and their relationship with each other takes many turns as they both struggle to engage with the world around them. The characters are well-developed and sympathetic, and the story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. This is one of those stories that stayed with me long after I finished reading it, and I'll definitely be checking out more of Kelly Rimmer's books.

Highly recommend!

I absolutely loved this one. I think WWII historical fiction can sometimes feel overdone but this book was so great. It wrecked me and I can’t recommend this one enough.

**Will be posted on my blog during my spot of the blog tour on 5/27/21**

Likes:
*Poland is ravaged on both sides in this war. The Soviet’s Red Army helps them liberate Poland from the Nazis but then the country comes under their rule. I definitely felt the anguish of the people of Poland and the exhaustion of never ending fighting for their country. We learn a lot about the Warsaw ghetto in Emilia’s (Elz-bieta) perspective being from outside the ghetto and Roman’s story from inside the ghetto.

*Sara, the nurse who is helping smuggle children out of the ghetto is doing an amazing, stressful and life-threatening job. The story is loosely based on a real life nurse, Irena Sendler, who actually did smuggle children out of the Warsaw ghetto.

*Through Roman, one of the main characters, we see his hunger to fight and keep fighting the Nazis and the Soviets. He is the anger in action. He joins the rebels who are fighting against the Nazis.

*Emilia is an interesting character because she has a secret and she is very young in this venture of saving Jewish children in the ghetto. She’s only 14 and still so naive in some ways but she learns quickly. Emilia and Roman reminds us how kids grew up too fast in this time of war. By the end of this story one of them is tired of fighting and the tired wants to keep on. They do have a love story among the despair but even in the end I wasn’t sure if they would make it.

*The ending is quite emotional, I felt for both Emilia, Roman and their friends who survived what the Nazis did to the whole of Europe.

Random Notes:
Triggers: starvation, death, violence, mass executions, rape

*This is a war story and it is graphic. There is a lot of visual accounts of the atrocities in the ghetto and concentration camp that is horrifying.

Final Thoughts:
I learned a lot about the Warsaw ghetto from this book. This is an emotional and heartbreaking story. But there are strong characters in this sad story, and people fighting to do what they can to fight the Nazis and help the children that they could. It’s a story about an ugly time in history and a country being torn apart from the war and hope for a better day, one day with no fighting. If you enjoy historical fiction especially about World War II and the Holocaust, then you should read The Warsaw Orphan.

Kelly Rimmer’s The Things We Cannot Say is one of my top reads of all time, so I was SO excited to get my hands on an advanced copy of The Warsaw Orphan. I think this was a great read, but it didn’t live up to my very high expectations.

I loved the two perspectives told by Roman and Emilia, and I loved that the title is worked into the story in more ways than one. The love story is simple yet sweet, set in the backdrop of WWII. The characters were well developed and I was engaged the entire way through. I do think it feels very similar to a lot of other WWII stories out there, which is why I docked a star. Not quite original enough for me, but I still really enjoyed it and will be recommending it to my followers and friends.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

Rating 4

My thoughts

Would I recommend it ? Yes

Would I read more by this author? Yes

First off I want to say a huge thank you to the publisher Graydon House - HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) ,the author Kelly Rimmer , and to NetGalley for inviting me to join the blog tour for this book as well as letting me read and review it.

Just like I say always before when I go into a historical fiction WW 2 based story there are a few things I look for and they are :

1: author has done their research - in this case this is the 2nd book by this author that I've read and I would say yes she has done her research

2: they bring their characters and their settings to life ? Yes , because she puts the setting and the characters in a time that during the dark time period Holocaust.

3: they make you feel everything that the characters feel : to this question as well , because right from the very start you get to see and feel what the main characters where feeling from their hunger and the despair of not known what was going to happen next .



4: and by the end of the book your a emotional wreck because it will make you will make you cry . By the end of the book all your want to do is reach out and give each of the characters a hug and be there for them. And while its historical fiction its based on a true story that needs to be told in away that will make us never forget these brave souls , the ones that lived to tell the story as well as the ones that didn't make it.

Portions of this book were fantastic, such as Emilia and Roman’s interactions, the suspense of their different fights/missions, and the descriptions of the stand-off in the ghetto. However, other pieces of this book fell short for me. There were too many characters for all of them to be well-developed, and the plot remained slow at several points. Overall, still a good book, it just wasn’t paced in a way that I responded to very well.

To term Kelly Rimmer's novel "The Warsaw Orphan" an emotional rollercoaster is both the truth and yet not sufficient a description to bring the prospective reader into the horrid world of Nazi oppression of Jews during World War II. The story is loosely based on the real life activities of the nurse Irena Sendler who managed to smuggle thousands of Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation with its organized murder of Jews and other "undesirables"
Two teenagers are the central characters of the story. Roman Gorka and Elzbieta Rabinek are dragged brutally out of any semblance of a normal childhood and hauled kicking and screaming into a life based on survival and terror during World War II. They come together in the Warsaw Ghetto and take part in the world shattering events that characterized Poland subjected to their Nazi conquerors. Roman joins a resistance group with the intent of fighting back against the Nazi oppression that exists while Elzbieta follows the actions of a friend that lives near her and uses that woman's credentials to smuggle children away from Nazi oppression.
The two teens develop a love for each other but in the face of the oppression existing in their world cannot follow their hearts to be with each other. Roman takes part in the uprising that took place in Warsaw against the Nazi invaders and was surprisingly successful in terms of time held out. Elzbieta continues to use her "borrowed" credentials to bring more children to freedom. Between their obligations there is no time to develop a bond that would normally lead to marriage and family with each taking part in events that are not under their control. In an afterward to the book Ms. Rimmer confesses to the difficulty in writing about the strains undergone by the central figures she depicts. No surprise there; her handling of the raw emotion experienced by the people she writes about is an almost impossible handling of something never normally experienced. Her characters must face decisions daily of reacting to events that no group had faced before them and somehow evolve into a semblance of a normal life.
"The Warsaw Orphan" is not a book that will be forgotten easily. The characters are brought to life by the five star handling by the author and the raw emotions generated hit home under her excellent prose. An all nighter of course. Once started the novel cannot be put down until finished and Kelly Rimmer passing into a favorite author position. If the reader has not read any of her other books prior to this one you can be sure that will not be the case with anything she comes out with in the future. My final comment is simply that I feel privileged to have been introduced to Kelly Rimmer and am now an ardent reader of her books.