WWII books are the most interesting forms of historical fiction to me and a category I read voraciously. The Girl with the Diary was a phenomenal read, heart-wrenching and full of depths of soul that was unexpected in the best way.

This has me reading chapter after chapter. Well written had me totally hooked
Love this book and story line love love love the way the author writes

The Girl with the Diary by Shari J Ryan

The author is fast becoming one of my favourites . I love the way she can write her books about a time and situation ( WW2 and about life in concentration camps ) in such diverse and interesting characters and plotlines.
This title is no different in as much as it draws you in from the very first to the last page.
Loved the dual timeline and the way the characters meshed through a diary.

What an amazing book that I just couldnt put down!
I really enjoy reading books about the holocaust and world war 2. This book is exactly why.
One of the things that had really stood out for me through this book was the alternating chapters between Emma and her grandma Amelia with the way that they interact with each and the bater that goes on.
Amelia is a real force of nature even after everything she has been through she shows again and again just how even though she is 92 years old she is young at heart. Even when that heart is failing her and was broken many years before hand when she was separated from her one true love Charlie.
This book was a really gripping page turner that has left me wanting more and more details but I know that this book will stay with me for a long time! I am excited to read more books by this author.

Saved by the Enemy

The year is 1942 and the place is Prague , Czechoslovakia. The Nazi's have occupied Prague and are carrying out Hitler's orders to round up the Jewish population and send them to concentration camps. Amelia hears the boots on the step and loud voices in her home, she hides in a closet. The soldiers find her and pull her out into the street with the rest of her family. Her mother tries to save her and is murdered in front of her eyes. As her mother is murdered one young soldier looks Amelia in the eyes with a sad look.

Amelia is taken to Theresienstadt concentration camp where all the Jewish are treated very cruelly, worked hard, no medical care, starved with little more than a bit of moldy bread and thin watery soup to survive on. Many die from disease and starvation. She is alone in the camp. A soldier pulls her aside and slips her a piece of bread. He slips her food when he can. His name is Charlie. He does not want to be a soldier but he was given no choice. He does not believe in Hitler nor his cruel treatment of the Jewish.

Will Charlie and Amelia make it out of the prison camp alive or will they both be shot for their friendship? Will either or both of them survive? Will they ever see each other again after the war?

Many years later Amelia is dying from a heart condition. She is in the hospital visiting with her granddaughter Emma. She is asking for Charlie, where is Charlie? Emma, her mother and her aunt Anna try to pacify her grandmother who seems to be stuck in the past during war times. She asks Emma to find her book. Emma goes to her grandmother's house and finds her diary. What she finds in the diary will change her life and it is a secret that her grandmother asks her to keep forever secret. The diary tells the story of her grandmother during and after her time in the concentration camp.

This is a story of sadness, tragedy and hope. A story of survival and love that never died even after seventy four years of life. It is the story of the courage of two young people and how they suffered during and after the war.

It is the story of a family built on secrets and how those secrets must stay hidden in the past forever.It is also the story of Emma, her bond with her grandmother, and the hunky doctor that she cannot resist.

I enjoyed reading Amelia and Emma's story. It was historical and it was sad and heartbreaking. So much is written about those times during the Holocaust, but somehow when it is told from a survivor's point of view it make is more real and also more divesting. A time in history that must never ever happen again.

It is also a story of new life and of hope. That even though bad things happen those that survive can go on to put the past behind them and live a good life foreword. Not that they will ever forget , but they must put it behind them and go on with life.

This was a good book, very well written, and I love the characters. I would recommend this book.

Thank to Shari J. Ryan for writing an interesting and historical story, to Bookouture for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.

The girl with the diary begs to be read in one sitting… it really tugs at your emotions, one minute I was breathless with anticipation, the next I had tears running down my face… I can’t wait for the next instalment I was breathless with anticipation… heart-stopping… gut-wrenching… starting book 2 today!

I really enjoyed this book it was well written with a compelling storyline that took part during a dual timeline and well developed characters that were relatable and likeable - well some of them. I couldn't pu tthis book down and finsihed it in a little over two hours - admittedly I am a very fast reader but trust me you won't be able to put this book down. I loved it.

Wow! I just couldn’t put this book down. I loved that it went back and forth between WWII and present time, to give time to digest what was going on during WWII. The diary of her past drew me in and gave so much detail that I could visualize what she went through. The story from the present was light, refreshing and comical. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, The Prison Child.

“This may be cliché, but I’m going to start my story with a once upon a time…except my life hasn’t been a fairytale - far from it. In fact, for a long time, I believed a happy ending meant death.”

The Holocaust left its mark as one of the darkest moments in history. Who could comprehend that in a place such as Terezin (Theresienstadt), a place so full of death, pain and sadism, that emotion as pure as love could exist?

The 2017 timeline opens when Emma Hill’s 92-year-old grandma, Amelia, is taken into hospital with a heart condition; it opens up doors to her secret past and healing that no doctor could ever achieve. Amelia calls out for Charlie Crane as she awaits cardiac surgery, prompting her granddaughter to find out who this man is and how her grandma knows him. Amelia points her to a hidden diary and encourages her to read it.

Readers journey back to January 1942 when the Nazis occupied Czechoslovakia and Amelia is taken to the concentration camp 30 miles north of her home city, Prague. It’s here that she meets a guard and falls in love. The author explores the unwavering hope, the insurmountable odds, and the immeasurable loss experienced by a 17-year-old girl who survived the most demoralizing and destructive 5 years the world has ever seen. Don’t forget to grab a box of Kleenex! Ryan writes to place readers alongside her characters, so be prepared for an emotional response.

Readers get a twofer in this first book of Ryan’s trilogy - two romances within one story. Both timelines are equally good and compelling. Both romances are wonderful and a welcome reprieve from the sadness and horror. You’ll have to read about feisty Amelia who, from her hospital bed, single-handedly arranges her granddaughter’s happiness. After 74 years apart, is it too late for Amelia and Charlie? What about Emma and Jackson?

Ryan is one of the best Holocaust fiction authors! This story about Amelia, anzahl 24225, is a heartwrenching tribute honouring the survivors of the Holocaust. Ryan explores their bravery and redemption through an emotional love story. I can’t wait for book two!

I was gifted this advance copy by Shari J. Ryan, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.