This beautifully written and well researched books takes the readers back to the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII when the Nazis were determined to rid Warsaw of any Jewish people. After reading the way that the Jewish people were forced to live, it's still hard to imagine a group of people letting this happen.

Los Angeles, 2005. Hollywood’s latest heartthrob wants to make a movie about the life of the famous Golden Age movie star Lena Browning. She quickly finds out how little she knows about Lena's past and that before she was the famous Hollywood star, she was, Bina Blonski, a Polish Jew whose life and family were destroyed by the Nazis.

In 1943, Bina and her husband were sent to the Warsaw ghetto with thousands of other Jewish people. Because Bina was beautiful and blond, she coould pass as an Ayran. She becomes a spy and makes numerous trips outside the ghetto for food and guns and medical supplies. Her husband is content with gathering information about the day to day lives of the people in the ghetto and writing it so that future generations know the truth of what was going on. Bina isn't content with his way of resistance and wants to spend her time actively helping other people right now.

After the war, she makes her way to Hollywood where she becomes a star. Even though it seems as if she has put her past behind her, she still wants revenge on Nazis who escaped justice after the war. She never stops in her pursuit to make sure that they have not really escaped their pasts because she still remembers and will make sure that they receive the punishment that they deserve.

This book is so well written and researched that the reader feels like they knew Bina/Lena and witnessed all that she did to help her fellow members in the Ghetto. We all were taught about the brave men who won WWII but for many years there was very little written about the brave and strong women who did their part and more to bring freedom back into the world. The author gives us one of those strong women who represents countless strong women who worked and died trying to save other people.

If you read WWII fiction, this is a book that you don't want to miss to get a glimpse of what life was really like in the Warsaw Ghetto and to understand how impossible it is to forget your past and to strive to get revenge on the people who hurt you and your family. This was another stellar book by Lisa Barr.

This was an extraordinary book! Posted a full review on Goodreads. This is my first NetGalley ARC. Lisa Barr has done it again and created a compelling story and lead protagonist. All the characters were deeply developed. Cried and gasped and cheered whole way through. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Also reviewed on my new Instagram/ Bookstagram @ReadingRedLady

Bina Blonski is a Jew who looks like an Aryan, and this is why she is able to blend in and become a spy while living in the Warsaw Ghetto with her husband, Jakub. While the Nazis are starving them, raping the women and tormenting them in myriad ways, Bina is trading sex for food and supplies. She evolves into an assassin and kills the worst of the Nazis in order to save herself and others from their torment. She sacrificed everything to protect her family and friends.

Years later, after escaping the ghetto, she moves to Hollywood and becomes Lena Browning, a successful movie star. Still, she realizes Nazis are amongst them, and still she feels the need to assassinate them. Her last act as Lena Browning is her curtain call. She has succeeded in her quest and can finally sleep at night.

This book is amazing! It’s heart pounding and illuminating. I strongly urge you to read this if you enjoy historical fiction - you won’t regret it. I rate this 5 big stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial Paperbacks for the eARC.

I liked this one and liked the take of the Hollywood storyline and its WWII . It was well paced and well plotted with an interesting storyline.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

Wow, this book was dark, tenacious, and unlike any WWII thriller I’ve ever read. I saw someone else explained it as Quentin Tarantino-esque and it definitely has many similar plot points and violence as The Inglorious Basterds. Some of the imagery I found tough to get through. It is set in the ghetto during the Holocaust. But if you can slog through the heaviness, the pay off at the end is worth it. I only took off a star because I felt that it was missing more back and forth discourse with the present, which the opening sets up perfectly. I would have really appreciated more of a dual plot with Sienna and Lena, which just speaks volumes to the author’s storytelling abilities. Would definitely recommend!

Lisa Barr is back with another winner full of Jewish representation and badass female characters. With powerful scenes set during the Holocaust as well as a more modern timeline in Hollywood, this book is Barr at her best and will capture your attention from start to finish.

5 Huge Stars for The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr! WWII historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and this novel now ranks up there with one of my all-time favorites.
Told from a dual timeline perspective and brilliantly narrated from the sassy protagonist, Bina Blonski (aka Hollywood starlet Lena Browning). From the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto under Nazi occupation of Poland to the glitter of post-war Hollywood, the reader is taken on Bina's life journey as she battles for her life and her freedom.
Bina is forced into the Warsaw Jewish ghetto when her family is murdered by Nazi's and Polish collaborators. She learns to use her looks (blonde hair, blue eyes) to gain access to much needed supplies and information helpful to the Polish resistance. Bina is one strong heroine and willing to do anything to save herself and those she loves. I thoroughly enjoyed the spellbinding intelligent protagonist Bina and her narrative voice and introspective thoughts.
Thank you to HarperCollins, NetGalley, and Lisa Barr for the opportunity to read the complimentary copy of the novel. I loved it so much I pre-ordered a copy for my own library.

I'm a sucker for WWII novels with strong female MCs and The Goddess of Warsaw did not disappoint. Lisa Barr writes incredible historical fiction; she crafts incredible plots and her characters have such amazing arcs.

This book touches on the lengths people will go to in order to survive, reminds us that there are somethings you can never forgive or forget, and the need for revenge doesn't lessen overtime.

A chilling and thought provoking story of the hardships and moral challenges a determined young woman encounters as Warsaw is occupied by the Nazi regime and her quest to survive. Dark at times, the main character becomes a master of disguise and reinvention. Necessity dictates the partnerships of Jews from varying (previous) socio economic backgrounds work together to do anything and everything to try to survive when no one can *really* trust another. If this novel reminds us of anything, it’s to never underestimate the desperation and will to survive or the profound desire for retribution.

ARC copy provided courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

This A-MAY-ZING historical, page-turner of a novel, the latest from the endlessly talented Barr, starts with the glamor of a legendary star in the Golden Age of Hollywood and then throws us back in time to her secret past as a Jewish assassin and Warsaw Ghetto survivor.

Before becoming Lena Browning in America, Bina Blonski is a beautiful, talented, tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed star actress whose Aryan looks conceal her Jewish identity. The daughter of privilege, she grows up in an ultra-wealthy, cultured family who considered themselves more German than Jewish. She’s a rising star in Poland theatre – until in 1943 she’s outed as a Jew by the fanatical Nazi-supporting Polish father of her best friend. Bina along with her husband Jakub get sent to the crumbling, crowded, decrepit Warsaw Ghetto – where the Nazi’s are starving Jews before gunning them down or shipping them off to concentration camps. Lena starts as a smuggler via the sewers, trading sexual favors for food, medicine, and basic supplies for the camp. She evolves into both an assassin and resistance fighter from there. Lisa Barr brilliantly spins an edge-of-your-seat tale as she goes back in time.

Barr brings WWII in Poland so alive that you become deeply immersed and deeply vested in people from the Warsaw Ghetto. The main characters range from the woman leader of the resistance movement against the Nazis, the intellectual husband trying to record it all for history, his smoldering handsome and brave younger brother who lost both his wife and daughter to the Nazis, the young orphan of a leading musical family, and preteen girls being targeted for a brothel to serve German soldiers. All this culminates in the true story of the Warsaw Ghetto’s heroic stand-off with the Nazi’s using smuggled in weapons – choosing to bravely fight the Nazi’s to death rather than be shipped off to by murdered in prison camps.

Fast forward to the present where Sienna Hayes, the latest young rising star in Hollywood wants to direct and star in a film about Lena’s legendary life as a movie star. But Lena sets her own demands as she agrees, and these involve revealing the highly guarded secret of her past, as well as the fury that continues to burn bright within her towards surviving Nazi’s.

This must read for 2024 will inspire you, if you haven’t already, to go back and read Lisa’s other scintillating works including Woman on Fire and The Unbreakables.

Thanks to Lisa Barr, Harper and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Amazing novel! This book has it all and then some.
I have to read more from this author.

This was my first book by this author and I was hooked from the first page! Intense, heartbreaking and so suspenseful! Loved every word! Highly highly recommend!

This book was PHENOMENALLY done.
The writing is beautiful and the character arcs are incredible.
I read a lot of historical fiction, especially WWII, but have never read a book quite like this one before.
Without a doubt a 5 star read.

Thank you Harper Perennial for the chance to read the ARC!

This was an amazing historical book. The book was very well researched and I could not put it down. Would recommend!

I devoured this book in a single day; I was absolutely captivated by it. If it weren't for the profanity, I would have given it a five-star rating. The writing, plot, and storyline were truly enthralling. Lena, the main character, was a complex and imperfect figure, making her feel incredibly authentic, much like real people.

Initially, the constant shifts in timeframes were a bit distracting, but as the story unfolded, it took on a life of its own. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates well-crafted historical fiction. Personally, I prefer not to encounter explicit language and detailed sexual content in my reading, especially in the specific context presented in this book, but I understand that this is a matter of personal preference.

One minor issue I noticed was the mention of antibiotics being available in the Ghetto and elsewhere in Poland in 1943. This seems historically inaccurate, as antibiotics like penicillin were not widely accessible, even by the end of World War II.

Wow Oh Wow! The ultimate revenge story that is based on true events with a fight-back twist. The story follows Bina as she loses everything during the atrocities of WWII and rebuilds herself to become a true femme fatale. I could not put this book down!

Beautiful Bina Blonski, actress and socialite, is forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto by the Nazis. Bina joins her brother in law in the resistance. With her aryan looks it is easier for Bina to pass for a non Jew - add in her acting skills and she is able to melt into the scenery and do so much for the resistance.

Enter Sienna (in today's time) who wants to direct a movie (and star in it) about the life of Lena Browning. Sienna, prior to this project, was unaware of Bina Blonski. This books show how Bina became Irina and then Lena Browning and tells the previously untold story of the resistance, survival and love. This is not just another WW2 novel - it is deeper than that.

I loved the way this story was told in separate parts rather than every chapter flashing back and forth. The character development was so good and I was immersed in the story The telling is complete without being so graphic that the reader is put off. Barr gives us likable characters that we can identify with and empathize with. I was "in Bina/Lena's corner" clear up until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley who has provided this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Run do not walk to get this book! Less than 1 day to read it. I could not put it down. The Warsaw uprising to Hollywood and one woman’s struggle to rise above adversity. The book begins when a young actress wants to tell her story so you are brought through the story. I cannot recommend it enough.
#harperperrenerial #lisaBarr #thewarsawgoddess #neglalley

I mean, wow! What a book. I’m not a huge WWII novel fan, but I really like Lisa Barr. So I was happy to receive an advanced copy. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.
This book was happy, sad, gripping and so emotional. I appreciate the historical story and enjoyed the fictional characters. I didn’t want it to end. Thank you, Lisa Barr - what a story!

Hands down, this is Lisa Barr at her very best. And that's a high BAR after WOMAN ON FIRE. The book is a force, an absolute masterpiece. You can tell Lisa put her entire heart and soul into this story. The research, the twists, the writing....exceptional. I was transported in time, invested in these memorable characters, and flipping pages, but at the same time, wishing it would never end. This will be one of my top ten of 2024 by far.