I tried to keep reading and restarted the reading a lot of times, but after a quarter of the book I still had no interest in it. I liked the synesthesia, the WWII context, but the story just didn't work for me despite the good style.

I'm obviously in a minority in my opinion of the novel, as there is no way that I can give it more than 3 stars.

The story has an interesting premise, but the actual telling of the story left me cold. I could not completely engage with the main characters, and the writing style frustrated me.

This was a disappointment.

Some interesting ideas in this book, but I felt they could have been developed further. I found it hard to engage with the narrative style and with the characters.

Very well researched. Lauren really dives into the loveless environment and lifestyle of what German children and teens lived through in the Nazi Camp. The lack of vital education but focus on German history, brainwashing propaganda and the physical and verbal abuse given for discipline was exposed. The writing was so down to earth. Since it was written in first perspective, the emotions and feelings she used was touching and raw. She told a story that isn't typically favored and for that reason, I appreciate that she didn't justify the Nazi regime actions but gave a perspective for people to see their side.

However, about halfway through the book the plot fell flat for me and I began to loose interest. I was anticipating a climax and when it didn't happened the rest of the story plateau. Overall, I was still able to take away something from reading this book despite my unpopular feelings towards it. I do recommend this if your looking for a change in perspective or variety in historical fiction.

Let's try to keep this short. This is a novel about a young boy in 1930s Germany, with a Jewish father and a Christian mother. He and his brother are ripped away from their parents and sent to an elite Nazi school as WWII comes to a head. I didn't like this book very much.

- The book seeks to 'tell two sides of the story'. It encourages us not to think in black and white, but in colour. And uh. This... was not a particularly compelling standpoint for a book set in Nazi Germany. My recent tendency not to read the entirety of blurbs backfired on me spectacularly; I wouldn't have requested this if I'd known that was the path I would be led down. I'm just. Deeply uninterested in this type of narrative. I thought the book would centre on the regime's brainwashing, and how Josef survived it. And it did, to some extent. Just... not enough, imo. Maybe I would have liked this more if the writing was good?
- But it wasn't. The book is narrated by Josef's older self, who interjects, foreshadows, adds little quips and sarcastic bits, speaks directly to the reader. This can work for some books, but it REALLY didn't work here. The tone of the book was all over the place. The flashbacks and foreshadowing come at inconvenient and awkward times. I was often so unsure of place and setting. The book was intelligible, sure, but also everything about it seemed garbled and messy.
- This could have been a consequence of the writing style? Which again, did not work for me. Those short staccato sentences, every new line is a new paragraph... that can work in thrillers, but even there, it's iffy. Here? I was just irritated out of my mind. It felt like the book didn't want to stand still. Which might be the kind of atmosphere you want to create in an action packed book, but action packed this most certainly was not.
- The author's tendency to write dialogue in German, and then give us the direct English translation right after was super annoying, and just served to pad the book out a bit more.
- I was excited to get into some queer Jewish history, but this was just... meh. And is it me, or was that one scene with Oskar lifted almost verbatim from 'Moonlight'? Lmao...

I'll be honest: after the 50% mark, I started to skim HEAVILY, because I just could not wait to be done with this book. But the fact that I was in such a hurry to be done with it is a verdict in and of itself. The characters were thin, the writing was standard, the story was not compelling. Very much not for me. 1.5 stars.

The Boy Who Saw in Colours by Lauren Robinson is an interesting story about a boy with synthesia: he can hear colours, see scents and taste sounds.

It is set in Nazi Germany during WW II when young boys were removed from their parents and sent Inland, to training camps.

It is written from Josef’s point of view and the descriptions are full of colours and sounds. He is an aspiring painter and paints 5 paintings during his stay at Inland, each one commemorating an event or a feeling he experiences.

It’s a beautifully written story in a very unusual tone and I found it interesting to read.

#netgalley #theboywhosawincolours #laurenrobinson #booksgosocial

A complex tale of Nazi Germany as seen through the eyes of a young boy. As Hitler's tentacles slowly extend to take freedom after freedom away from the Jews, one day a forceful knock at the door announces the arrival of the SS to the home of Lissette and Ben and their sons, Thomas and Josef. The boys would be taken to Inland, a "school", which will train them to be "fine, young Ayran men". A school where there are man children, but very little childhood. We were Germany's future with no future.

"It's a small story, really. About two brothers. A doomed friendship. Some colours." Josef can hear colours, see scents and taste sounds; he had synthesia, before that word is known. He is an artist -- a painter. He creates ten paintings during the 5 years in Inland, and they tell his story.

I read this EARC courtesy of Books Go Social and Net Galley. pub date 06/06/20

I normally do not like to read historical fiction, not really my cup of tea. But the title of this debut novel intrigued me.
***Warning there is a lot of swearing***

The setting of the story is in Nazi Germany during WW II and is mainly written from the point of view of Josef (the boy who sees in colors). It beginning Josef is an old man on his deathbed. The point of view shifts back and forth from past to present and between the characters. Each chapter begins with a list of colors, some of which I had never hard of. I found this to be unique and interesting way to set the mood of the novel.

Beautifully written...I would recommend this to teens and adults.

This is truly a remarkable book, quite often most stories set in WWII are based in concentration camps but we rarely hear the other side - the story of those children that were separated from their parents to trains as elite soldiers for Hitler's war.
A very poignant story and it definitely pulled at my heartstrings when you read how young some of the boys were in camp Inland. Josef tells his story by assigning situations and people to a colour and he is often found with a paintbrush given to him by his grandparent.

A truly breathtaking book.

This exceptional book is different from any other I have read about WWII. The character of Josef, 12, is so unique and memorable as he struggles to understand what is happening to his world as WWII begins and Nazism rises.

He and his younger brother Tomas, 10, are taken from their parents, given new identities, and sent to live at Inland School where they are to be trained to be Hitler's soldiers for the Reich. Josef is a boy who has always seen and heard people, events, and the emotions surrounding them in colors. He longs to paint everything he feels to record what is happening. Of course, this sets him apart from the other children and adults who don't understand Josef or his world of colors. He learns that difference is not prized in his world, yet he is who he is and cannot be otherwise. His is a constant struggle to understand the world around him and a longing to be accepted so that he can be who he is.

"I wondered what the world would be like if every strange little child got to be what was in their hearts."

Written in a style reminiscent of poetic prose, the reader cannot help but begin to see the world as colors too. Reading this book is such a unique and wonderful experience!! I highly recommend it!

My thanks to NetGalley and Books Go Social for allowing me to read a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased opinion. All opinions expressed here are my own.

This book was just beautifully written.
Two brothers sent to Inland when the start of World War II is in sight. The story is so subtle but not incapable of provoking so many emotions throughout. I've really been enjoying some historical fiction this year, but this is definitely one of the best. There's many stories recently about concentration camps in harrowing detail but I never thought about the other side. The children sent to Hitler's elite schools to train. The world is different from josef's perspective as he takes you through his journey in colours. I loved the detail given, the perspective of a child growing up in Hitler youth and the questions that persist when you discover who you are. If you're a fan of historical fiction definitely read this. It's just so wonderfully written my words won't do it justice.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Books and Go Social for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was first attracted to this story because of the title. Synaesthesia is a little understood condition where one sense is experienced as another, words can be tasted, or have colours associated with them, sounds evoke a smell etc. As someone who experiences a level of synaesthesia myself, I was intrigued to read a book about a child who saw in colours.

The book is categorised as LGBTIQA/Historical Fiction through Net Galley, but the LGBTIQA aspect plays a minor role compared with the Historical Fiction/Synaesthesia aspect.

The story is set in Nazi Germany during World War 2 and is written from the point of view of a young boy, Josef (pronounced Yosef) Schneider, the boy who sees in colours. Early in the tale, as he lies as an old man on his deathbed, he beautifully sums up the story:

“It’s just a small story, really.
• About two brothers,
• A doomed friendship,
• Some colours, and;
• Quite a lot of swearing.”

Of course, it’s more, so much more than that. It’s the story of two boys, Josef 12 and his younger brother Tomas, 10. It’s about a paintbrush left to Josef by his Oma when she died. It’s about a German woman married to a Jew and their two Mischling children. It’s about the men in uniform and the Masked Monsters. It’s about two young boys, becoming young men, having been torn from their parent’s arms and thrust into a brutal boarding school – “Inland” – located in Munich with the aim of creating the bravest and strongest boys to go on to become soldiers for the Führer. It’s about discovering that not only are you a Mischling, but also a Faggot and it’s about discovering that the vans heading down the road to Dachau are not carrying pigs and sheep as you have been told, but men with yellow stars, or pink triangles. And through it all, it’s about the colours, and quite a lot of swearing!

Like Trent Dalton’s book, “Boy Swallows Universe”, I believe The Boy Who Saw in Colours will be divisive, you will love it, be captured by it and unable to put it down or it won’t resonate at all. There won’t be a middle ground. But don’t assume your reaction to Dalton’s book will predicate your response to Robinson’s book.

I absolutely loved this book, it’s powerful, confronting, distressing, uplifting and deals with a very different aspect of life in Nazi Germany for young men at the elite schools set up to create the ultimate soldier for the Third Reich. Highly recommended.

3.5 stars. This debut historical novel by Lauren Robinson tells the story of two brothers Josef and Tomas, who were forcibly taken from their parents and enrolled in one of Hitler's elite boarding schools. Aged 12 and 10 at the time, the two protagonists are substantially younger than the actual recruitment age of 14 to 18 for Adolf Hitler Schools. Still, the author offers a fictional treatment of a topic that few novelists have tackled to date. In this sense, the novel is unique and should be commended.

That said, the author’s writing style closely mirrors that used by Markus Zusak in "The Book Thief." In fact, there are a few places where the author’s wording is almost identical to that used by Zusak; so much so, it dangerously approximates plagiarism. For example, Zusak writes in the "Book Thief": “First up is something white. Of the blinding kind. Some of you are most likely thinking that white is not really a color and all of that tired sort of nonsense.” Compare his words with Robinson’s sentence from this book: “And I know what you’re thinking, white isn’t a colour. It’s just some nonsense – a light. Well, I’m here to tell you that it most definitely is a colour.” Another example, Zusak introduces an indented list about the book’s narrative with the following words:

“It’s just a small story really, about, among other things:
*A girl
*Some words
*An accordionist
*Some fanatical Germans
*A Jewish fist fighter
*And quite a lot of thievery”
Like Zusak, the author of this book uses a similar strategy with similar wording at the beginning of this novel:

“It’s just a small story, really.
*About two brothers,
*A doomed friendship,
*Some colours, and;
*Quite a lot of swearing”

Although the stories told are ultimately very different, such close paraphrasing as well as other stylistic similarities, such as the emphasis on colors and the narrator's tendency to digress, at least for me, detracted significantly from the story telling. Rather than finding her narrative voice, it seemed to me that the author had borrowed heavily from the style of another author. As with any imitation, it is never quite as good as the original.

This book begins with a man in a jail cell, and I confess that I never came to fully understand how he got there. What I read instead was a sensitive portrayal of a boy with synaestesia who is forced to hide his gift along with his religion when he and his brother fall under the eye of the Third Reich. The boys are stolen from their parents and dispatched to a boarding school where bullying and violence are encouraged and brutal beatings served up to any boy suspected of being a “fairy”- it’s an honour, of course, especially for the dark-eyed offspring of traitors. Time skips around but the brothers’ skill in long distance running and abiding love for art keeps them alive until Germany finally falls to the Allied forces. How will children raised to think of Hitler as their father survive when their new “family” is torn apart?
I would have liked this book to end a little later after the war, so that I could see the characters I’d read about adjust to life in Russian or American occupied Germany. The book was also relatively short on LGBT+ content, though that may be due to the ages of the protagonists at the beginning of the book. I am likely to purchase this book for my library and will recommend it to anyone studying the rise of Fascism and the way the Nazis exploited young men’s desire to “belong”.

Set in an elite Nazi school during WW2, The Boy Who Saw In Colours is a beautifully written story that shows how Hitler influenced the children of a generation.
The Boy Who Saw In Colours is Lauren Robinson’s debut novel, and it is certainly an impressive start! The style of writing was reminiscent of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief (which is one of my favourite books) and works as an elegant counter-point to the world it is reflecting.
Each chapter begins with a list of colours, which I thought was a really unique way of setting the tone and mood for what was about to happen, and as a bonus it might also teach you some new colours! The focus around colours and art throughout the book result in some truly lovely descriptions of places and events without being the sole focus of the narrative.
As a coming of age story, The Boy Who Saw In Colours shows Josef becoming aware of his own sexuality and identity in a time that would not allow him to be proud of either. His inner turmoil is something that I’m sure a lot of queer people can relate to, and it is interesting to see this story told through the lens of Nazi Germany. This is a book about an outsider at time when there was nothing more dangerous and it certainly makes you feel that! I spent most of the last few chapters feeling on the verge of tears, which is a sign of a very emotional story, since I’m not generally someone who ends up crying.
Overall, The Boy Who Saw In Colours is an excellent debut from Lauren Robinson, and a book I will definitely be recommending to friends as well as revisiting myself in the future!

4.5 stars

This was both a book I didn't want to put down, but also a book that I needed to take a break from. There was a lot of tension created by the narrator, which is Josef when he is older. He foreshadows a lot, and then says he doesn't want to spoil it for us. And although he sort of has spoiled it for us, we feel the time coming and we wonder when and how. I've read a number of books about WWII from varying points of view, but this is the first time I've read a book from the point of view of a young child in a Nazi boarding school (and not by his choice). The closest I've come to this is All the Light We Cannot See where you do hear some of the story from the point of view of a boy at a Nazi training school. But the boy was older in that story, and the point of view shifts back and forth between past and present, and between the characters. So this was unique, and on top of that, the boy is not exactly prime Nazi material. His eyes are not blue (although his brother's are), he is an artist, and without revealing spoilers, there are a myriad other reasons why he would be executed on the spot if Hitler knew of him. So it's kind of obvious to other kids that he doesn't quite fit in, so he does end up getting bullied. There are many characters who I ended up loving throughout as the narrator makes it very clear that everyone was really doing the best they could. I especially loved Oskar and Von even when I got mad at them. But even the bullies turn out to be much more complex and interesting and I end up feeling really bad for them by the end. The same goes for the cook, who I initially hated, but I just wanted to hug her at the end. Crazy huh? An interesting addition is that the boy has synesthesia, which basically means (in his case) that he senses the world in colors and smells. He doesn't read well as a result and in fact anything having to do with words (including memorizing) is extra challenging for him. What the author does (I'd like to think intentionally) is convey this story in colors and smells. You can almost see them as he tells his story. But it sort of feels like stream-of-consciousness full of colors and smells. It was definitely a unique way of telling the story and I would be very interested to see what her future books would be like. Because it works extremely well for this book, but I don't think it would work as well for any other type of story. In any case, I had to put this book down after reading a chapter or two because there was so much packed in each chapter. This book surprisingly took me over a week to complete. Normally I can read a book of this length in a day or two. But it was a combination of the tough subject and the way it was written that made me take the story in smaller doses. But it did not take away my enjoyment/attention from the book. I just spread it out over a longer period.

Although the main character of this book starts out very young, I would probably recommend this book to teens and above.

Thanks to #LaurenRobinson, #NetGalley, and #BooksGoSocial for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in return for an honest review. This book was a break away from the norm for me, but what a lovely break that was. This is a story of childhood and friendship and was a peek into a world I had never really considered before. We all know that there are two sides to every war and that one person's enemy is another's son, but now that son has a name, Joseph.

I'm not here to tell you what the book is about, you should read it, but I'm here to tell you it is beautifully written and delicately delivered. The characters feel real and they are all likeable in their own way. I enjoyed the writing style although personally I'd like a little more of the direct speech to the reader. I did have to reread a couple bits as it jumped a little in places but that adds to the style of the book. The time in the war was short, and I was unsure why Joseph never knew the man's name but he appeared more than once. I possibly would have liked to know more.
Overall a really thought provoking read and something I would like to know more about. Very unique, well I haven't read anything like this before.

I came across this book by accident and it was a lucky one. The writing in the book is lyrical and wrought with personification at every opportune moment. Everyday feelings and objects were given human dispositions that made sense and added to the quality of writing. Josef is such a unique character and the choice of narrator was unique and made for creative storytelling.

The decision to include synaesthesia was informative for someone who was unfamiliar with the condition itself. But with the way the narrator explains it to us in a way that doesn’t feel like we are being treated like children and spoon fed. I can't wait to see more from this author.