This was a great book. This was my first book by this author, and I was hooked from the first page! Intense, heartbreaking and so suspenseful! Loved every word! You can tell that it's a meticulously researched historical fiction, I would Highly recommend this!

I am highly surprised by how easy this book was to read. That's not to say there weren't heavy/tough plot lines to get through. But unlike a "typical" Holocaust novel, there was romance, love and lust, and moments of levity. The merging of old Hollywood brought a level of modernity as well. I am normally very interested in Holocaust literature. However, in light of current events, I've been delaying reading this book. This book is a work of fiction but it tells a story of so many we've heard over the years. The story of Bina Blonski is one of heroism, female empowerment, and a telltale example of the Jewish people surviving horrific acts of brutality and living to share their stories. We must continue to read books like these, even if it's hard, so that we never forget and don't let history repeat itself.

This was SO SO good!! Fans of WWII historical fiction, unforgettable female main characters and authors like Pam Jenoff do not want to miss this latest by best-selling author Lisa Barr. With a little bit of everything, from a dual timeline narrative, to an unrequited love story, espionage, courage and bravery and heartbreaking loss, this book was incredible on audio and frankly unputdownable. I won't soon forget these characters and it was so timely to the increasing anti-semitism going on in the world today. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

If you pick up one historical fiction book this summer, have it be this one! I read it through Netgalley and knew immediately I had to buy a physical copy. I felt so many emotions while reading this amazing book. Told in dual timelines, you get an understanding of what life was like for Bina in the Warsaw Ghetto, as well as what her life became in Hollywood post WWII.

I appreciate the suspense aspect of this book as well, which I think is why I was so drawn to it. Among the plots of sacrifice and bravery exists a deep rooted desire for revenge. This book isn’t your typical WWII novel and I appreciated the depths that Barr went to to show what it was like for Jews to survive in the ghetto. I feel like most of the WWII books I have read have been centered more around the concentration camps.

For Readers Who Like:
- Suspense
- Dual timelines
- Historical fiction

Thank you @netgalley and @harperperennial for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Goddess of Warsaw is a riveting novel that I couldn’t put down. There are many intricate plots and in-depth characters throughout this beautifully written book. And it was very educational yet emotionally moving. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read other Lisa Barr books!

This is an awesome story! I know Lisa Barr is a fantastic writer because out of all the World War II fiction I’ve read I’ve never disliked the heroine until this one. I have also never rooted for a character I disliked as much as I did for Bina. I loved that Bina was a bundle of contradictions. She was a larger-than-life, fierce resistance fighter, but she was also run-of-the-mill petty and jealous. Trashing another woman’s appearance because she’s getting close with your brother-in-law who is off limits to you is not a good look. At times she could be really selfish, but she repeatedly put herself at risk for the sake of others. This book is filled with complex characters in impossible situations, and is a dazzling display of anger, desperation, perseverance, and ultimately triumph. A big thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for access to the eGalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴."

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗪 is another action-packed and emotional story from Lisa Barr. It's historical fiction and a thriller with a dash of romance rolled into one, and I could not put it down!

Lena Browning is Hollywood royalty but her life story is more unbelievable than any role she's played - born Bina Blonski, a Polish Jew imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto, she used her Aryan beauty to work as a spy and assassin during WWII. Even as she built a new life and rose to fame after the war, Bina's continued her quest for justice, using her high-profile career as a cover to pursue Nazis who escaped justice.

“𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.”

I recommend the author's last book, 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦, all the time because of the way it uniquely melds different genres and keeps you on the edge of your seat. This book is no different - it's got glamour, suspense and a kickass female heroine but it also examines themes and issues that are still relevant today. Barr does a masterful job of entertaining you while also make you think.

Thank you to Harper Perennial for the copy to review.

Lisa Barr set a high bar with Woman on Fire, and The Goddess of Warsaw lived up to it. Set in a World War 2 Jewish ghetto in Poland, this story was graphic, heavy, and horrific, but exquisitely crafted. The Goddess of Warsaw explores themes of family, desperation, humanity, revenge, and sinfulness, making the title feel rather ironic. I really enjoyed how the past and present day (ish) timelines made for a full circle experience of the story. Lisa Barr presents compelling, poignant, and propulsive historical fiction, and I look forward to reading what she comes up with next!

Thank you to Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for gifting me with an ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This is a horrific tale of Nazi atrocities in Warsaw Poland and the courageous people that fought back. Bina/Lena’s story is not pretty but is very believable. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is real as are the resistance fighters that defied the Nazis attempts to move the ghetto population to the Treblinka extermination camp. As far as I can tell, the characters are not based on real people but a representation of those that fought and died during the siege. The story captured my imagination from the beginning and will stick with me for a very long time.

Really like this HF. I listened to it so it felt a little confusing at times but great writing and plot. I liked the shocking moments sprinkled in.

I had high hopes for this, seeing as it has such a high goodreads rating and the average on NetGalley is 5 stars. However, I'm in the minority. I've seen other people explaining the reason why this one was not a winner, so I'm not going to reiterate it too much, but here are my qualms with The Goddess of Warsaw (I DNF'd arounf 35%, so there might be some inaccuracies if you read further!)

First, I don't love that Lisa Barr is elevating Bina to "goddess" status with this title, personally. It feels like it's just another attempt to dramatize the story, which is already done PLENTY in the prose itself. This book is SO OVER THE TOP! The Holocaust was monstrous even without the additions that Barr is making. I'm a trained historian, I very much appreciate when fiction authors properly represent the atmosphere of the time period they're writing about. Every single strife and hardship falls upon Bina and her family that could possibly happen--I understand that fiction tends to have some coincidences for the sake of the plot, but what I read in this novel was even more than I expected.

Bina's lust over her brother-in-law is honestly kinda gross to me. Even if he wasn't her husband's brother, the narration of her desire for him is A LOT and just made me feel icky regardless lol. Then, the other kind of lust present here: blood lust. So much of it. SO MUCH. I didn't even get very far into this book and it was inundated with killings of various kinds. There are better ways to portray these occurrences that aren't so insanely dramatic. Bina also ended up with a very important role in the resistance without really much vetting at all? That is SO unrealistic and left me feeling like I got whiplash lol--she barges into the room and demands a place in the resistance so the lady in charge is like "here you go, have this super important mission even though you have no tactical background and your feelings for your brother in law are evident enough that I'm noticing them but I also trust them not to effect your performance" like I'm sorry, what??

Anyways, I'm happy for the people who liked this book, but I was definitely not one of them.

“The Goddess of Warsaw,” by Lisa Barr, is a WWII historical fiction book. I went into this book blind (yep, didn’t read the synopsis) due to the lovely cover. At first I thought this was going to be like “Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” but with a WWII slant - nope, nope, nope. The positives - this book’s pace moves. There’s lots of action. The fact that the book is divided into sections really helped with time jumps - and the backfill of information also helped pick up the pace. I don’t know how accurately the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was described - but suffice to say that it was a horrible event for all involved. I could see this being picked up as a movie of some sort - there’s a lot of material. What I found a bit, well, odd was that while there’s a lot of killing going on, there didn’t seem to be (especially with an event that occurs on US soil) a lot of punishment, which I found odd (I mean, there are always cover-ups, but - really?). I think the ending was a bit too nicely wrapped up but for those who like complete storylines, it was a good ending. I did find the lusting after a character a bit heavy-handed, but I got it … though I did skim those parts a bit. Overall, I found this book to be fast-paced, enjoyable, and engaging.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. I really enjoyed Lisa Barr’s “Woman on Fire” from a few years ago so I was very excited for her new book, however, I was pretty medium on The Goddess of Warsaw. The setup is compelling - a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising goes on to become one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood and no one knows her origin story. For me the distribution of this book was lopsided - I felt the author spent too much time on the war years and didn’t dedicate enough time to the Hollywood years. I thought the part about Bina being a Nazi hunter was the most compelling plot point and it didn’t get enough time. I also found the movie conspiracy at the center of the Hollywood aspect of the plot to feel a little thin and it strained belief at multiple different points. The end also felt improbable and over the top, but I suppose that was the point. Overall, the second half felt rushed. I think true fans of historical fiction will probably enjoy this more, but this doesn’t count as a must read for me.

An absolutely phenomenal and topical read— definitely my favorite book by Barr yet. This had everything I needed in a historical fiction. I recently haven’t be drawn to pick up historical fiction because I needed more of an escape from my books. That said, this book was EVERYTHING. It had suspense, action, romance, heartbreak, and so much more. It truly transported me into the life of Lena Browning. Even more important, it was eye opening reading this story amidst the increased anti-Semitism occurring presently. This book will stick with me for a long time.

*Jewish rep
*WW2/Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
*Survival against all odds
*Forbidden Love
*Multiple timelines
*Femme Fatale
*Revenge

The Goddess of Warsaw is an exceptional historical fiction about one of the most horrifying events in recent history that many people are forgetting already or, even worse, denying. It's a poignant and compelling story of survival, featuring an incredible and complex heroine who had to make impossible choices to keep her loved ones and herself alive. And after surviving the Holocaust, she continued making dangerous choices to enact revenge on those who tormented and killed her people.

The Goddess of Warsaw was a difficult read at times. Seeing the parallels between Europe of 1930-1940s and the present time, with the explosion of anti-semitism and the dehumanization of the Jewish people that is so rampant right now, caused me a great deal of distress. (Lisa Barr also addresses these parallels in her author's note). Regardless, or maybe because of that, The Goddess of Warsaw is a must-read for historical fiction fans. I am glad I had a chance to read this book. It's going straight on my "favorites" shelf.

I loved Lisa Barr's previous book Woman on Fire, so I was very excited for The Goddess of Warsaw and it was so wonderful! I loved this book!

This is a book about a Hollywood legend, Lena Browning sharing secrets about her past that she's she's kept hidden for decades. Lena started out as Bina Blonski and grew up in a prominent Jewish family in Warsaw. She joined the resistance movement when her family was moved to the Warsaw Ghetto and was a spy and assassin. When the war ended she moved to the US and rose to fame in Hollywood where she kept her past a secret but she still kept fighting for revenge.

The beginning was similar to other World War II resistance books set in the Warsaw Ghetto. I liked getting involved in the storyline and trying to guess what Bina was going to do. But the real fun in this book was post War and finding out she was still fighting. I liked how this brought in Operation Paperclip. While since of this seems a little unrealistic, I still loved it. The ending of this book was so good!

This book was full of secrets, lies and twists! I love how Lisa Barr writes her characters and the plots. They are fun and different! I would have loved a little bit of an author's note at the end, but that's just because I'm a history person.

I highly recommend reading The Goddess of Warsaw!

What is the last book that you read that you couldn’t put down? The Goddess of Warsaw had a riveting plot line and I kept finding myself reading this whenever I had a moment.

Lena Browning is a legendary actress that is mostly retired in 2005. When a new and upcoming actress, Sienna, asks to play Lena in a biopic of her life. Sienna gets more than she bargained for as Lena launches into her true-life story. Lena was born Bina Blonski in Warsaw and was a wealthy Polish Jew when WWII started and destroyed her life. Bina becomes a spy, an assassin, a whore; whatever it takes to protect her family and fellow Jews while also exacting revenge on the Nazis. She rises to stardom in the 1950s and continues as a femme fatale in real life tracking down and executing Nazis living under cover in the United States. Will Lena ever be able to put the past behind her?

My thoughts on this novel:
• This was a very engaging novel – a real page turner. I would class this as an action-adventure historical fiction novel.

• Bina is blonde and able to pass as an Aryan woman. She uses this and her acting skills to help smuggle weapons and food into the ghetto during WWII.

• I didn’t feel the love triangle between Bina, her husband Jakub, and Jakub’s brother Aleks. I didn’t understand her undying love for Aleks. She first saw him as a teenager across the room and played hard to get. He instead dated and married her best friend, and she married his brother Jakub. I did feel like the end of the novel really pulled this part of the story line together.

• Luckily, the plot moved on from the love story and focused more on Bina as a femme fatale which I really enjoyed.

• This was a novel of revenge and vengeance through time. The timelines were WWII, 1950s, and 2005. I got a The Count of Monte Cristo vibe from this novel with Bina as Edmond Dantes.

• As a WWII novel mostly set in the Ghetto in Warsaw, there is a lot of tragedy, loss, and sadness in this novel. It did make me tear up at times, but the story kept moving and didn’t let me wallow in the tragedy.

• I thought the ending of this novel was perfect and really tied together the complete story and all the timelines.

• I enjoyed the author’s note at the end that explained the inspirations and real history of this novel. I had never heard of the Warsaw Uprising and it is an important part of history. This novel was a unique story different than other WWII fiction I have read.

• I also thought it was touching that author Lisa Barr’s own grandmother was a holocaust survivor. This was my first Lisa Barr novel, but I will be reading more of her work.

Favorite Quote: “What you don’t know, what Nazis can’t sniff out or tell by a tic or nervous gesture, is that I am nearly twenty-four years old, and I have portrayed practically every part imaginable: heroine, wife, lover, mistress, daughter, almost-mother, villain, maid, whore, seductress, smuggler, assassin. I am a woman born to become anyone other than who she really is.”

Overall, The Goddess of Warsaw is a riveting historical fiction adventure and a great tale of revenge.

I was so excited to be an early reader of this book. I literally squealed when I was approved. WW2 is not easy to be read about, but I learned so much. I loved all the courageous characters in this novel. The sassy main character being my favorite of all. This was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I loved the way the book was organized and how things were revealed. Lisa Barr is truly a talented writer. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader.

I had my eye on The Goddess of Warsaw ever since Lisa Barr first posted about it, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy from NetGalley. This is one of those books that I wish had been published last summer, or at least eight months ago. Everything that happened is so incredibly relevant to present times that it's actually scary.

I love how badass Bina is throughout the novel. We need people like her right now! She went through so much and it wasn't all that pretty either. I couldn't even fathom imagine the horrors that she experienced or being as savvy as she was. Her story is captivating and I was glued to my seat every time I had a chance to read more of it. It's also gritty and some parts are hard to picture given the extent of what happens. There are a lot of powerful and touching moments throughout.

My only concern was that some parts of of the story felt farfetched. I'm sure stuff like what Bina experienced could happen in real life, but I was surprised she got away with so much without getting killed. Obviously she needed to be alive to tell it later and accomplish some incredible feats. And while the Holocaust is very much real, Bina is a fictional character placed in various situations that are no longer difficult to believe, given what is happening in the present.

Everyone needs to read this novel! It is both stunning and harrowing and I already can't wait for whatever Lisa has in store for us next.

(Trigger warnings below.)

Movie casting suggestions (due to the large amount of characters and lengthy time span, I only could come up with a few, but if you've read this, I'd love to hear how you would cast the ones I didn't mention):
Bina (past): Dianna Agron
Aleksandr: Julian Morris
Sienna: Kathryn Newton

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TW: Seeing people get murdered, blatant antisemitism

In The Goddess of Warsaw, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Barr tells the powerful story of fictional Hollywood icon Lena Browning, her — unknown to fans — life before/in the Warsaw Ghetto as Bina Blonski, her resistance missions as Irina Zieliński and her escape to America.

When we first meet Lena in the prologue set in 2005 Hollywood, it seems like an over-the-top portrayal of an octogenarian Golden Age actress, not realizing that Lena was playing a character - herself. It’s a well-honed craft she used to not only survive the horrors of Nazi terror over Jews in WWII-era Poland but to battle them, survive and exact revenge.

With master strokes, Barr paints a picture of guts, determination and an unwillingness to surrender amidst the despicable and heart-wrenching events going on all around Bina Blonski, whose blonde hair and blue eyes were key to her survival. With Nazis in Hollywood, Lena’s self-appointed mission to combat them continues.

Barr seamlessly weaves all of the threads of Lena Browning’s life together for an emotional climax and while the actress may have had a ‘no tears clause’ in her film contracts, they poured down my face.

I highly recommend The Goddess of Warsaw to readers of WWII-era historical fiction. I received an advanced reader copy of the novel from Harper Collins Publishers, courtesy of NetGalley.