The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel is bit different from other WWII historical fiction novels. There is a bit of fantasy woven into this story about Polish Jews who have escaped from the ghettos and run into the dense forests to avoid being killed by the Natzis. Although this is fiction, the novel is based on true events and it is amazing that so many Polish Jews were able to survived during the war.
The main character is a young woman named Yona. As a baby she was taken from her parents by a woman who knew the deep woods and taught Yona how to survive in the wild. This woman was also was able to foresee the future and she prepared Yona for her role in helping the Jews to survive.
This is one of those books that grabs you from the start and that you recommend to others once you are finished. I have read other books by Kristin Harmel and I think this is my favorite so far.

#ForestofVanishingStars #NetGalley 5 Stars
An amazing book. which was not just about Jews fleeing the Nazi's near Belarus- it had some mystical almost magical elements. Yona ,who was born Inge to a wealthy young German couple was stolen the night of her second birthday and raised in the forest.

Jerusza, her kidnapper never let her see others, but taught her all she knew and more., Jerusza was old then and mystical voices told her what would happen in the future and that Inge/Yona would play a part.. What she never showed her was love or how to love or even to interact with others.

When the old lady died at 102 In early 1940 the Polish Holocaust was driving Jews into the nearby Naliboki forest. Yona interacts with them with compassion and tries to save them by sharing her forest lore. The author's fine notes tells us about the Bielski Partisans who practiced guerrilla war against the oppressors. Yona and her groups of survivors eventually did the same.

I have read " The Book of Lost Names" and this novel is just as excellent in a different way.

As an infant, Yona is kidnapped from her German parents by Jerusza. A mystic, Jerusza believes she has been guided to take Yona for a greater purposes. Jerusza teaches Yona how to survive in the forest, and imprints on her the need to be cautious and wary of civilization. After Jerusza's death, Yona encounters Jews fleeing from Nazi encampments. Yona teaches them to survive, and slowly finds herself trusting them.

I did not love the mystical elements throughout the book. I did enjoy Yona's story, and her interactions with people in the forest. This was an interesting holocaust novel with a unique perspective. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

Well written, this book personalized the suffering and goodness for many individuals avoiding capture by the Nazis. A very good read

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Name. The book is an evocative story of a young woman during World War II, who helps Jewish refugees escape from the clutches of the Nazis. However, a secret from her past surfaces to threaten everything.

Kristin Harmel

The Plot
The story has been inspired by incredible true stories from during the war times. This heart-wrenching book speaks about the survival of humans against staggering odds. Kidnapped from wealthy German parents, Yona, a young woman finds herself living in the wilderness of Eastern Europe. It is the year 1942 and she is forced to be alone now, as her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she chances upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest—and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything.

Review and Verdict
This isn’t your typical WWII book that becomes hard to read. The Forest of Vanishing stars is a fresh take on the already well-worn book topic of WWII. There were emotions that Yona’s character evoked in me. Her characterization is a perfect example of grit, strength, intelligence, and compassion. It’s a magnificent story of survival, female strength, and human connections. This narrative keeps up a fast pace and engages the reader. If you like historical fiction, this is for you.

What a story! At the age of 2, Yona is taken from her home and taught how to survive in the woods. Soon, this is the only life she knows. When the woman who took her dies, many years later, Yona finds she is drawn to helping people, even though her life for many years has been focused on avoiding people and staying alive. Yona finds families in the woods who are trying to escape Nazi persecution, and helps them learn how to survive. This was a book that was difficult to put down. It was such a different story than anything I’ve read before. The ending was so emotional! This is by far my favorite Kristin Harmel book yet!

What a fabulous book. I read it in 3 days picking it up whenever I had a free moment. The emotions and perspectives of the characters came through beautifully.

Yona was kidnapped from her parents at a young age and raised in the woods. She learned to live off the land as well as how to survive in extreme situations. After the death of her capturer, Yona discovers Jews in the woods fleeing Nazi persecution. Yona uses her survival skills to help those in need. This book is unlike any WWII book I have read. It is fast paced and left me raw with emotions. There are so many twists and turns that it took me a few days to process it before I could write this review. Kristin Harmel outdid herself with this story!

I loved the story of Yona. Her bravery and heartbreaking experiences in her life makes for a wonderful story. This is the first World War II story that I have read where people are hiding and surviving in the forest. I highly recommend this book. This is the second book that I have read from Kristen Harmel and I have loved them both. I look forward to reading more of her books. Thank you to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster and Kristin Harmel for letting me read and review this book. A five out of five stars!!

The Forest of Vanishing Stars takes you through the life of Yona, who was stolen as a toddler by a woman (who is highly skilled in survival tactics) who takes her into the forest, where they live and learn about the land for years until her kidnapper dies, roughly around the time of World War 2. The woman had always warned Yona to not get close to other humans, but even with that voice in her head, Yona gets involved with Jewish refugees escaping from terrible situations, teaches them her survival tactics, and gets very attached. Betrayals lead to discoveries about her past, which cause Yona to reevaluate who she really is, and who and what she truly belongs to.

This book kept me engaged from the get-go. Harmel has a very straight-forward writing style that I appreciate, where even the descriptions of things keep the story moving and captivating. The characters were written so well, and I got very attached to quite a few of them. I also found the book to be unpredictable in a great way. I was always caught as off-guard as Yona and felt like I was there experiencing it all myself. The story is also absolutely heart-wrenching, though it is "historical fiction," it is based on events that did happen and references true events. It hurts to read something that puts you in the place of such pain, as Jews trying to survive after witnessing and being subjected to such horror. But it's also beautiful. This is a great book to open up a lot of empathy. Highly recommend, if you are even remotely interested in historical fiction.

Thank you Netgalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ah, Kristin Harmel. She's one of those authors who I will purchase blindly because I love her tight stories, multi-faceted characters, interesting history, and deeper meanings. This is another fantastic novel by a fantastic author.

The description of this book says it's a little like Where the Crawdads Sing, which is accurate. Yona is a young woman who was stolen from her Nazi parents by an old woman as a child. Yona is brought up in the wilderness, taught what to eat and how to live, how to hide and how to move; she is also taught multiple languages, religions, philosophy, and more. The woman who raises her does so without love, but with a mission that she knows she will never see, but understands it is more than she is. The woman tells her to stay away from people, that people are bad, and that she should stay alone. But she dies, leaving Yona alone as the forest begins to see people entering and trying to live in it--Jews, escaping the Nazis and the Soviets, desperate for survival wherever it may take them.

Yona learns about community, about love and betrayal, and about family. She learns about sacrifice, about despair, about hope, and about good and evil. She learns about religion and about faith, and what makes someone believe in a higher power than they can see or even imagine. The conversations the characters have about religion, about Judaism, were incredibly well-thought-out and detailed, and offered questions that didn't necessarily have answers, but made the reader think.

The negatives in this story are few, and so small, but: the woman on the cover is wearing a red wool coat. A red wool coat is mentioned, but it shouldn't make the cover. Also, Yona is a very similar word to yoni, which I don't think Harmel intended, but I would have looked for a different name with a different meaning (and then changed the bird, but I know that's all central to the story).

So many times, the WWII novels focus just on good vs. evil and throw in a love story. The Forest of Vanishing Stars showcases good vs. evil (because it's WWII and everyone knows Nazis are evil), but it also explores the roles of nature and religion in our lives, the yearning for community and belonging, and truly, what makes us a part of something more. Excellent novel. Four and a half stars.

Many thanks to netgalley for this ARC with the undertanding I would give an honest review.

Kristin Harmel writes beautiful books every single time and The Forest of Vanishing Stars was so well done. I absolutely loved this book and stayed up way too late to finish it.

Inge is taken from her parents’ Berlin home in the dead of night by a strange older woman who has a deep connection to the forest and felt the forest telling her that she needed to take Inge in order save her. She renames the girl to Yona and teachers her survival skills, many languages, and to be weary of people. Yona eventually must go on living alone in the forest, heeding the older woman’s advice. She runs in to a large group of Jewish people who have fled a nearby ghetto into the depths of the wilderness. Yona decides to help them survive. Many many twists and turns happen throughout their time together as a group and I loved all of it!

Kristin Harmel’s books are always some of my favorites! 5 stars!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars was an incredible, captivating read. Set during WWII, this historical fiction novel stars Yona, a German woman who was kidnapped just before her second birthday and raised in the forest by a strong woman who ensured that Yona learned all the survival skills she needed to live and thrive. The story unfolds as Yona discovers that she can save the lives of many Jewish people as they flee the Nazis by teaching them survival skills. Kristin Harmel’s writing style is descriptive (but not overly so) and makes you feel as you are witnessing the action first hand. I loved this book. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this engaging book about a young woman named Yona who is raised in the forests of Eastern Poland. Yona is taken from her parents when she was only 2 years old and raised in the forest by a strange older woman who teaches Yona survival skills. When the old woman dies Yona is alone until she comes across a small frightened group of people hiding in the woods. This begins Yona's story of helping jews who have escaped from the Nazis. Yona teaches them about surviving in the forest and they teach Yona about living with other people. The author does a beautiful job of helping the reader experience what life is like in the woods.

If you enjoy WWII stories, this one is unique. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

Not my usual type of read The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel. Historical, WWII, Jews, Nazis. What started out for me slow and took awhile to get into the storyline. Did grab me after awhile. I would give it an almost 4 1/2 rating but closer to a 4. First time I'm reading this author.

I was pleasantly surprised by this story, it is unlike any other I've read that takes place in during this time period. It's a story about survival loneliness, loss and finding love. I really enjoyed the details about living in the forest off of the land and being able to survive and avoid being detected by the Germans. Wither you are a fan of historical fiction or not, I believe that all would enjoy this wonderful. story.

A historical fantasy? Sign me up. The pathos of the plight of Jewish people during WWII is mixed with a bit of magic. It was a heartbreaking and healing journey.. I definitely recommend this one.

The moment I found out about Kristin Harmel's new book, I knew I'd have to read it immediately on the day it was released. Getting an ARC from NetGalley was a shock!

I love historical fiction and especially love when authors write about pieces of history that are often pushed aside.

In this book, Kristin Harmel writes about a part of WW2 that is often untold. Here we see the story of a young German girl who is kidnapped to "save" her from her own family. The girl is raised to live off the Earth while surviving with her Jewish caregiver in the forest.

Once you are in the forest with Yona, it's hard to pull yourself out. Her story is full of kindness, love, and loss.

Highly recommend!

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel Is an evocative historical fiction book which highlights the struggle of jews who lived in the Naliboki forests of Eastern Europe near Belarus during WWII. This is based on a true story of those who found ways by banding together and creating communities within the dense forests to forge their own survival when the Nazis wanted them dead.

Yona, is a fictional character, but the skills she has were attributed to those in the Belietz Family Camp and required for survival. Yona was kidnapped at age two from her bed in Berlin by an old Jewish women, Jerusza. Yona is taught in exacting detail and in practice until she is twenty how to use the forest to forage for food, trap and hunt, make shelters, learn multiple languages, hide her tracks, and kill in many ways. Yoga’s gifts are numerous, but what she has no experience with is interacting with others. This all changes when she meets a small group of Jews who fled from a ghetto.

Yona puts her myriad of skills into practice. Harmel will truly will test your limits as you fall in love with those who have been victimized. The trials of just surviving are far from a guarantee and even with the unusual skills of Yona death is inevitable both from the forest and human predators.

Harmel weaves a difficult journey that almost breaks all involved. The decision to leave the ghetto has unbelievable ramifications. But the lives of all require them to adjust to their new circumstances in the forest in order to survive. These characters will become real to you, too. Despite their many challenges they found ways to face their challenges with courage.

I was provided a free advance reader copy from Gallery Books in exchange for my honest review from Net Galley. The opinions shared in this review are my own.

Set during WWII, Harmel's newest novel follows Yona, a woman who was raised kidnapped as a child and then raised in the woods. During the war Yona comes across Jewish refugees who are fleeing the Nazis. Yona works to help them and show them how to survive living in the forest.

Yona was a strong, resourceful character who was knowledgeable on how to forage and build shelter to successfully live in the forest. Yona was determined to help the group of refugees escape the horrors that were happening around them. Yona grew up rather isolated and was used to being alone, when Yona starts to help take care of the refugees she comes to learn what has been missing in her life and learns that family is not just about blood, but who you choose to make apart of your life.

Harmel's newest novel is different from her previous books. It shows a different survival story around WWII that I've not read before. This was a quick, heartfelt, and sad read. I enjoyed this one from start to finish. Harmel is quickly becoming one of my favorite historical fiction authors.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery books for providing a copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.