The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel – 356 pages 

ARC from Netgalley and Gallery Books for an honest review 

Book Blurb:

Book Blurb:

After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens 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.

My Review: 4.5 stars – Guest Review

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The Forest of Vanishing Stars is Kristin Harmel’s latest amazing historical fiction novel about WWII. As we’ve come to expect from Harmel, it is beautifully written, inspiring, meticulously researched, heart-wrenching, suspenseful, and unforgettable. It is a story filled with adventure, heartbreak, tragedy, but also with hope and love. I have read a lot of WWII historical fiction lately, and I was expecting this novel to be similar to other novels that deal with the same subject matter. This novel however, explored a different and unique aspect of WWII survival that I have never read about in previous WWII novels. The story deals with the lives, survival tactics, bravery, and hope that Jewish families faced in the Nalibocka (now named Naliboki) forest of Eastern Europe, after escaping from the ghettos where they were being held under Nazi occupation. 

This is a coming-of-age story of a young girl named Yona, kidnapped by Jerusza, a woman of the forest, who recognized something special in her; someone who could stand up against hate in the future. The very beginning of the story had a fairy tale element of spirituality, magic and mysticism, as Jerusza raises Yona in the wilderness of Eastern Europe, away from civilization, while educating her in numerous subjects related to survival skills and how to live off the land and remain undetected. For 20 years, until Jerusza’s death, Yona was raised to distrust and avoid people. Her upbringing was devoid of love and human contact. When Yona encounters Jewish refugees, she uses her knowledge of the wilderness to teach them how to survive in the forest and escape the Nazis. At the same time, she learns to open her heart, become part of a family, and love other people. 

There were many characters to keep track of, and they all came to life in an unforgettable way. Harmel frequently includes strong and resilient women in her books, and this was no exception. Yona was a unique, courageous, and heroic character. The story consisted of a single timeline which leant itself to the storyline. The majority of the story was set in the forests of Poland. I was totally immersed in the setting, and transported to the forest through the author’s breathtaking and realistic descriptions. Even though some of the action in the forest could be repetitive at times, the story was consistently emotional, suspenseful, and engrossing.  

I learned so much about a part of WWII that I was not familiar with. The author includes a lengthy “must read” section at the end of the book, where she shares the background information and extensive research she did. The book was based on a real life partisan group and was inspired by the 2008 film Defiance starring Daniel Craig and Leiv Schreiber, which I will definitely check out. This book is one of Kristin Harmel’s best. I highly recommend this book, especially to readers of historical fiction. Guest Fairy review by Ronna. 

Quotes I liked:

In the times of greatest darkness, the light always shines through, because there are people who stand up to do brave, decent things…in moments like this it doesn’t matter what you were born to be. It matters what you choose to become.”

“Home is not a place, but the people you choose to love.”

“We are all interconnected…Once fates intertwine, they are forever linked. Lives are circles spinning across the world, and when they’re meant to intersect again, they do. There’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

“Perhaps the most complicated things are also the most beautiful.”

“We have to evolve, all of us, or we wither, but it also means that we spin further away from the past each day.”

“Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”

“The universe is always in balance. Summer and winter. Day and night. Sustenance and poison. Good and evil. To know the light, you must also know the darkness.”

“We all come into this world with our fate unwritten. Your identity isn’t determined by your birth. All that matters is what we make ourselves into, what we choose to do with our lives.”