Cover Image: The Auschwitz Twins

The Auschwitz Twins

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Member Reviews

The book is the third book in a three book series.

The book depicts the horrors of WW II and especially the horrific treatment of children singled out as special, by the twisted doctor Mengele. The many medical experiments done by doctor Mengele on the twins during the war were twisted and particularly horrifying.

The book is a very dark fiction novel that is totally based on facts. It is a very difficult read, but a story that needs telling. Have plenty of Kleenex ready. This one is a particularly sad story.

The complete three book series is so worth the read.

Highly, highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy in return for my honest opinion.

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The Auschwitz Twins is the third book in The Auschwitz Twins Series. Roberta Kagan has again written an absolutely fast paced historical fiction novel about a a German doctor named Ernst Neider who goes to work at Auschwitz Concentration Camp for Dr. Joseph Mengele and shows his experimentation of twins and the horrors he inflicted. Kagan weaves the characters of the previous two books into this novel so expertly. It is a fast paced page turner in the typical Kagan style. Dr. Neider shows his disgust for Mengele and the things Neider is willing to do throughout the book that are ethically and morally correct restores our faith in the goodness of man.

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I will be honest. I requested this book because I thought it was from a different series I read. However, I am glad I did because I loved this book. I love history fiction, and really enjoyed the storyline.

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First, I do want to say I requested this before realizing it was the third book in a series. I decided to give it a try, in hopes that it would hold up as a standalone, and I believe it did that well, plenty of character information and references. I wasn't left confused at any point of my reading.

This is also a DNF review at 55.3% in, I will explain why below.

I was very excited to dive into this book, given I thought it would dive deep into the characters created surrounding Mengele's twin experiments. Which they did, but not in the way I had expected.
There are a slew of characters you jump between chapter to chapter, so you learn about their lives and struggles, which is great. But let me tell you, every one of them, besides the Jewish characters, are so petty and their issues are so trivial to the real issues at hand during WW2. I feel these stories are just trivial, and made me not care for these characters at all.
An example of this is that Mengele has an assistant you follow early on, this character is sickened by the experiments, but feels he must stay at the job for the money because he is scared if he leaves the position his pretty wife will leave him. I'm sorry, but I don't really care when there are literally children being experimented on in one room over.

I realize these characters are meant to be "real" and they have their own issues, but after half the book, I was getting more about the above character and his inferiority complex and only had brief interactions with the twins and other Jewish characters. It honestly felt as if the German characters were getting 90 percent of the page time.

Besides the above issues, this author uses a lot of character inner dialogue, to a point in which I personally felt it bloated the story too much. And I started skipping a lot of it, as it was the same issues over and over that the characters were thinking about.

The above factors made me realize halfway through, I just didn't really care about the characters presented. I may go back eventually just to see what happens to the twins you follow and see what the author decides to do with them. But for right now, this is just not the book for me.

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A triumphant finale to a great series! I’m so glad Ernst and Shoshana, Naomi and Eli found their happy endings and I hope Bluma found peace.
I just have one quibble, in real life, the bodies of the Goebbels were found because there wasn’t enough petrol to burn the bodies. The bodies of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun Hitler had been doused with most of the bunker’s petrol and thoroughly reduced to ash before that and there is enough eye-witness testimony to that effect. Stalin refused to allow his people to confirm that for months because he wanted more territory than he would have gotten if he had admitted Hitler was dead sooner.

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I couldn't put this book down. I am fascinated by world War 2 stories and this book didn't disappoint.
A fictional story featuring some factual characters. The book follows several characters throughout. Some Jews some German's whose stories all intertwine. This is a story of triumph and redemption along with love and heartbreak. There was a lot of focus on the characters without going deeply into the horrors of concentration camps and life for Jews and sympathizers at the time.
I recommend this book to history especially Jewish and world War 2 readers.

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Be aware this is BOOK 1 in a series, but came out (I believe) after book 2! Anyway, I read book 2 first and then this one. I found it to be a good way to read this book. You are introduced to the characters in another book, but then follow their lives in this one. You will continue to read how awful Dr. Mengele is and the ways that a few Germans were willing to help the Jews, especially in this series.

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I could not put this book down!
A story of WW2 and concentration camps. Based on events, and the sadistic behaviour of doctors and their fascination of experimenting “just because they can.”
The story explores love, and how it can appear even in the darkest of times. How even an enemy can be your true friend.

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Another heartbreaking yet truly amazing read by Roberta Kagan! This story was just despicable reading about Mengele and the experiments on the twins that he performed. It needs to be told. A great ending to this series that was wrapped uo wonderfully. I would definitely recommend this book. Thank you netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.

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Another great effort by this author, who brings sensitivity and depth to the subject matter. As ever, I love how she offers insights into traditional cultural practices and norms while also unveiling the complexities of relationships within religious and cultural bounds. The.almost supernatural aspect of this novel, with the twins’ near telepathy and precognition, adds a new facet to the mix. I do find the dialogue a bit stilted and this was the case for me in relation to the other books in the series, too.

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I just finished your book, and I am still crying. I loved your book and could n’ t put it down till the end, and what an end…
I have been interested in Mengele and his experiments on the twins, I’d very much like to know if you have some reference book to suggest.
I highly recommend this book, if you are a fan of WWII you’ lol love this trilogy,

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