I feel a little oblivious as I don’t share the opinion this book was boring - each song sung held a plethora of heartfelt lore and whimsy, each conversation full of emotion. Being my first read of the book, I was surprised at all the mystical and ethereal themes running through each chapter; my only reference were the films which definitely felt a little more “mortal”.

My favorite quirk was how certain people could recognize Frodo as elf-friend on glance, by the “ring in his voice” and the “light in his eyes”. :) There seems to be a twinkle in the eye and a certain knowing in every corner. Really such a magical setting I wholly enjoyed.

There are periods this book feels like a callous strict summer camp romance; Lale almost has full freedom to prance around Auschwitz and smuggle delicious chocolates, sausages, and even penicillin to other prisoners.. even so far as to have sex with his girlfriend many times and have short dates with each other in their apparent abundant freetime. In Auschwitz. I could not shake the feeling of Lale feeling a little glorified as well - somehow his suffering is not ever extensively emotionally portrayed, he’s completely selfless, always in some sort of power even as a prisoner (so he can exert benevolence upon others at all times), has incredible luck, and even an SS officer seems to like him.

I am extremely uncomfortable when this level of creative freedoms are placed on a topic like the Holocaust and personally could not overcome them. The atrocities were not often mentioned and the prose did not make up for the severe lacking in other areas; the book was extremely emotionally flat.

I enjoyed the premise a whole lot but not so much the execution; I feel like Helen could have been explored a lot more. The theme of a human becoming a conduit for unbridled chaotic nature was fascinating and it’s a shame it was over in a single chapter!