Ember Reign – Google

I am trying to get more into reviewing books, so I'm not familiar with what exactly a good and bad rating is yet, so if I am making it sound worse or better than it is, I'm sorry. I gave this a 2.5-3/5. Refugee was a book worth reading. I'm glad I read it. The point the author was trying to make was obvious and easy to understand. This book had me on the edge of my seat wanting to read more. However, I also have some critiques. Maybe this is just me, but I feel some of the views that the main characters hold are a bit Americanized. For example, in one of the first few chapters with Joseph, he thinks to himself that he wants to "go back to being treated like a German". Anyone who knows the true history of anti-Semitism and discrimination towards Jewish people in Europe knows that it started long before Hitler's rise to power and the Holocaust. There would have been no time in his life where he was treated like a "real European". From what I have seen, most westerners seem to think that the Holocaust came out of nowhere with no build-up, that isn't true. The themes of people being dehumanized could have been done way better if the book acknowledged that. I wasn't a fan of having characters pop in to help or main character and then disappearing. The the biggest case of this driving me crazy was with Nasir, the Palestinian man who offered to take Mahmoud's family to his car dealership to let them rest until their both came. The boat comes right after we meet this guy... What was the point of even introducing him? I feel this issue could have been solved if we got to know the guy more. What was his past? How did he get to where he was? And how does it relate to Mahmoud? But no, he just shows up, tells us that he is a refugee, and then disappears. This was a golden opportunity for some interesting character growth. I feel the book also could have benefited from showing the POV of other characters in each characters plot. Especially with Ivan, Mariano, Waleed, and Aaron. And this is my random but I did not like how Alan Gratz speed up the timing of the riots in Havana and Castro telling the Cubans she wanted to leave to do so for dramatic effect. It comes off as half baked to me. A lot of the descriptions are sugar coated or downplayed for children. It treats them like idiots. I'm not fond of that.

The scene near the end gives me the chills. The little girl walks into her the school building like it'll be a normal day, only for the screen to fade to black and the only thing heard being the sound of gunshots and horrified screams and cries. Not only is this movie about not taking what you have for granted but also about the horrific and inhumane realities of gun violence. My everything goes to the victims of these atrocities. No one deserves that and I'm thankful that there are people who genuinely care enough to put out media with these messages.