The beginning of Mischling held the promise of a gripping tale of survival and loss. However, the narrative progresses so slowly that sometimes it became a struggle to continue reading, and that had nothing to do with the 'distressing' content - although for sensitive readers I'm sure that could be an issue. Stasha and Pearl are supposedly twelve but their characters are written and speak in such a way that had the word 'children' not been mentioned repeatedly I would have overlooked their age. The plot does have several clichés which I struggled to believe considering the situations they stemmed from. I connected more to Stasha as a character and her struggle with her own identity could be the most relatable aspect of the book. A promising start but it takes it's own determination to finish reading.

This is the harrowing tale of twin sisters, forced to grow up in Auschwitz and is their story of how they get through that time, the way they deal with things they see, and how the human spirit is pushed to the limits by those who are truly evil. Pearl and Stasha arrive at the camp with the mother and grandfather, and they are there because they are special - twins - and are part of Mengele's Zoo, the brainchild of the evil Dr in charge at the time as he uses children to experiment on. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy read, but I did find that it didn't go into too much detail which would make it perfect for a younger audience to read as well. It conveys the horror of the sights and sounds the twins witnessed, but thankfully not in too much graphic detail. Even the suggestion of some of the things that were going on was horrific enough. The girls story is cleverly told from both their points of views and how they and the other children form bonds through their suffering, and how they deal with their friends leaving and never coming back, or dying in their beds. It is also told in 2 parts - the first is when they are in the camp, the 2nd part is when they finally get to leave and their search to find each other and how you try and carry on considering what you've been through and the effect that has. It is a very difficult subject treated with respect and compassion and I think it's a vital read so that we can never forget the brutality of humanity

I received a free copy from the website Readers First in exchange for my honest review. You know before going in this isn't going to be a happy story, the subject it deals with is one far too harrowing. It's hard to say you enjoyed reading something so sad, but it flowed quite well and I was invested in the characters. The author uses the viewpoint of young twin sisters, with alternating chapters for each one, to give us a different view of the atrocities. A sometimes too innocent view of what is going on, not quite understanding things. The monstrous Josef Mengele manages to make himself appear as the cheery old uncle to the children, all the while performing the most horrendous experiments on them - always on just one of a pair so he could see how it affected the other one. The girls have little games they play to help them get through the experience - always with hope that something better will eventually happen. But as this is based on history we all know better. The ending of the book however let me down, i can't say why without spoiling it. One way of looking at it is that it is a good ending, i just didn't feel it was a fitting or true one for me after all that had come before, it felt more like a convenient one. From the blurb I was expecting something along the lines of The Book Thief, which it sort of was except for the ending which didn't have quite the same impact on me that The Book Thief did (there may have been tears when i read that one).

Stasha and Pearl are given special treatment at Auschwitz because they are twins. They aren't forced to do manual labour or deal with the constant threat of being gassed. They are Mengele's patients in his 'Zoo' and they are experimented on in horrific ways to see if they can feel each other's pain. The close bond they have with each other is what gives them strength. Until one day Pearl goes missing and Stasha, along with another lone twin Feliks, set out to find Pearl and get revenge on Mengele - the Doctor of Death. I wanted to love this book, I really did. I have read several other books based on World War 2 and was looking forward to reading a whole new type of story from the point of view of twins who got special treatment in Mengele's Zoo. But I found it such a chore to read. Part of the issue I had with this book was that a large portion of the plot was given away by the blurb, so for a while I felt like I was just speed reading to get to the part where I didn't know what to expect. I wish I got to know more about other people in the 'Zoo'. The book was extremely focused on Stasha and Pearl and their opinions on other characters, rather than letting us get to know the others for ourselves. It led me to feel quite closed off inside a small portion of the twin's minds for the majority of the book. I would have preferred if I had the chance to understand more about the environment the book was set in by getting to know more characters and hear more conversations. I found the lengthy paragraphs and fantasy elements put me off reading the book, and I found it easy to put down and not feel like picking up again for a few days. I did enjoy Part Two a lot more than Part One because the pace picked up, but I still felt like getting to the end was more a necessity than a choice. This isn't a book I would highly recommend but it does give a fresh point of view on the horrors of Auschwitz and an insight into the minds of twins.