This is the second book in a series. It was told from the perspective of a child during the holocaust.
It is a hard read but is well written

Annie was never told that she was not born into her family. She over hears mom and dad talking about her but it just confuses her more. She tries to find out who she is without disturbing the family. As she gets older she asks questions but it upsets her mother so she backs off. Finally she can not wait any more and she asks her mom who am I and who are my parents. Such a sad but great story. Shari Ryan can write great novels set in WWII and this one ranks right up there. So glad I was able to read this story.

The Prison Child is the second book in Shari Ryan’s Last Word series. While the author states it can be read as standalone, I do recommend reading the books in order as the characters intermingle. In the first installment we are introduced to Amelia and her two daughters, Clara and Annie. The Prison Child is Annie’s story, the story of a missing child of the holocaust and her quest to find her true identity.

Heartbreakingly beautiful, this emotional read will stay with you long after the last page is turned.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy of the story. This is my honest review and all opinions are my own.

I love this genre of books and whilst like most of us I am fascinated by the hope and love people had despite the atrocities they suffered. This book for me delivered all that and then some.. the characters have true grit and I felt I was with them throughout the telling of this tale.. Such a fab read and one I could not put down

Unfortunately, I just found out this is the second book in a series. I'm going to buy and read the first one and then I will update my review. The whole series sounds like it'll be great!

After reading The Girl in the Diary, I just had to read the follow up.

So many emotions run through you when you read this book.

Brilliantly written.

How would you feel after discovering your name is was not your name and your parents were not your parents?
The missing children".
"No records of Anna"
A baby girl, Anna was born into a Thersienstadt concentration camp to a young Jewish mother and the small child had little chance of survival. Anna was later adopted by a loving family, which at her 12th birthday Anna overheard her her parents discussing her birth, This was the begining of Anna's journey to find her birth parents and to learn her name.
Anna's husband, Fisher was placed into a ununorthodox orphanage until 16 years old. Anna and Fisher communicated back and forth and eventualy, she traveled to Prague where she Fisher wed.
The novel spans a dual timeline between Czechoslovakia and New York, I had no dificulty navingating from 1954 and the presnt. I enjoy this genre and in my opinion, I would post this at the top and beateng Krsten Hannah's "Nightengale" Shari Ryan has written many of this type of books and I plan on reading her back list. The novel was fiction, but it was well researched and interesting information about the Hololocaust. I'm the type of reader that finds importance in a well fleshed out characters., which were well done.
I enjoyed Shari Ryan's writing. I found the novel exciting and it was difficult to put the book down. The conclusion was heart wrenching and I shed a few tears . Thank you Shari Ryan, Bookouure, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading thisd outstanding novel 8in exchangeI i written an honest review.

This book surprised me. I was intrigued by Annie's back story, and then by her and Fisher's love story, and then brought in again when it came to light that Annie had experienced an additional heartbreaking loss. I found the writing to be a bit simple at times however, it was overshadowed by the interesting story of love and loss being told. The way the plot came together at the end resolving all of the storylines left me satisfied as a reader. I will definitely be checking out the other books in this series.

This is a very intimate story. Annie ...or at least that is what people call her, struggles to find out why there just feels like something is not quite right. All through her life she has had a feeling this is not who she is....no birth certificate, she looks totally different from her sister and what were those snippets of conversation overheard between her parents. Getting the truth from an ailing mother is going to be tricky and traumatic. But how can you live life to the fullest when your life is clouded by lies.
Is Annie physically and emotionally strong enough for the stress this probing is uncovering?
I read alot of historical fiction...maybe too much! And dual timeline stories are common in this genre. But, wow! Shari J Ryan has really delivered on "The Prison Child". This is the first book I have read written by Shari and I became totally immersed. Not only fascinated by the secrets revelled in the WW2 era, but also engrossed in the "present day" story....any mother would sympathise and cry for the heartache. Literal heartbreak on many levels....inter generational even.
Born in hell but now able to acknowledge the helpers along the way..."Hate brought me happiness, Being lost, made me found, Losing, helped me gain strength......."
Did the you also notice the recurrence of the butterflies throughout? Beautiful.
"The Other Blue Sky" is a previous title this books was published under.
Many thanks to Shari J Ryan, Netgalley and Bookouture for my copy.

The Prison Child by Shari J Ryan is a truly poignant book.

We all know how inexplicably horrendous the Holocaust was, but we don't often think about how people put their lives back together after, or whether they were ever able to after all the loss and torture they miraculously survived. This book makes you think about that, and realise just how much peoples lives were forever altered in more ways than you could ever imagine.

This is a deeply touching read that is written wonderfully. I love that Shari J Ryan has written different books from the point of view of the different characters. This is the second one I have read and I will be reading the others. This book is from the viewpoint of Annie, who as a baby was born into a dark Nazi world. Her story was revealed brilliantly. It was heart breaking but also encaptured the bravery, strength and determination of those people who suffered so much. I very much deserves the 5 stars I have given it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in return for an open and honest review.

3.5. This is the sequel/companion novel to The Girl With the Diary. In it, we follow Annie, another member of the Baylin family, as she comes to terms with her past. Told in flashbacks, this is a very emotional and moving novel, and one that I really enjoyed. The second half in particular is really strong. The author says you can read this book without having read The Girl With the Diary, but I felt I benefited from reading that one first and there are spoilers in The Prison Child. Overall another enjoyable read from this author and recommended if you enjoy war historical fiction.

This is a good second book in the Last Words series. Annie overhears a conversation between her parents that sets her on a life- long journey to discover the truth of her birth and who she really is. This second installment gives us the POV of Annie, born in a concentration cape, doomed from birth but miraculously surviving through the love and care of a young jewish woman and rescue by a Nazi guard.
I found this book as good as the first one. Yes, it is the same story of Amelia and Charlie, but it is different also. The different POVs are what makes these books so special. I would recommend all in the series. They are all touching, beautiful stories of life and love, good triumphing over evil. They are well written and researched and hold your interest to the end.
Thank you to Bookouture and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

Shari J. Ryan has quickly become one of my favorite historical fiction authors. Her stories break your heart and then put you back together again. This story is another dual timeline story starting in Czechoslovakia in 1942.

This is a definite must read. Now whenever I see Shari J. Ryan has written another book has become a must for me.

Thank you to #netgalley and #bookouture for allowing me to read the eARC of this story. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me a free book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book in this series, The Girl with the Diary. The story utterly captured my attention. As with most people, second books scare me in case they don’t match up to the first. However, Ryan ensured this book wouldn’t disappoint me! By looking at the aftermath of displaced persons, Ryan allowed for this book to hit an emotional impact. Very few Holocaust fiction books analyse the life displaced persons, especially children, had after the war.

Through the eyes of the past and present search for answers, the reader is taken on an emotional journey which bridges the many gaps in the first book. There wasn’t a time where I was bored or wanting to put the book down while reading. Ryan kept my attention throughout as I experienced every single emotion possible through her words.

If you haven’t picked up a Shari J Ryan book yet, you are missing out on a talented historical fiction author who pours her all into the characters.

This book. I didn’t think Last Words needed anything else. I loved it. It’s one of my favorite books. After reading The Other Blue Sky - it was something I didn’t know I needed until I read it. The author clearly needed this story too! It gives you all the feels. You’ll love it won’t be able to put it down.

The prison child by Shari J. Ryan.
How will we get by the guards? It seems impossible. Yet we will be dead by the end of the week if we don’t—my precious girl and I have nothing to lose by trying.
Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, 1943: In Theresienstadt concentration camp, a brown-eyed baby girl is born in darkness, surrounded by barbed wire. The innocent new-born has no hope of surviving—unless, by some kind of miracle, she is able to escape…
A good read. I did enjoy this one. I liked the cover. 4*.

Czechoslovakia, 1943: In the Theresienstadt concentration camp a baby girl is born. But how will this baby girl ever survive? More than twelve years later in New York, Annie overhears her parents whispering, and Annie finds out that she doesn’t belong to them and they must keep the secret hidden or they risk loosing her. Annie’s life immediately becomes a shambles. She discovers nothing in her life is real, it’s all been a lie. When she gets older she decides she must find her birth parents and she must go to great lengths to discover the truth. But as she pieces together her past she wonders if her birth parents are even alive or did they parish like so many others. This series is absolutely breathtaking. The emotions are so well written on the pages, that it pulls you into the story when you least expect it. I was heartbroken and felt such sympathy for Annie. I felt like this story was gut wrenching and is sure to stick with me for ages. Don’t pass this one up, it’s an absolute must read.

Thank you Shari J. Ryan for such a wonderful, emotional and inspirational story of holding on to a ray of hope. I absolutely loved it and I highly recommend this book.

As this book is a re-release and is available with books one and three, The Girl with the Diary and The Soldier's Letters, readers should be familiar with Annie. Another familiarity readers might remember is that a child was born in the Theresienstadt concentration camp and she was named Lucie. It is made clear early on in this book that Annie, Emma's aunt and Amelia's sister from the first book is the same little girl that was born under horrendous conditions during World War II.

We had Amelia's story. We will have Charlie's story, but what is Annie's story? Well, her life started under devastating conditions that was truly miraculous. Her story began again as Annie recounts her childhood with specific experiences that helped her to truly form her identity. When she was a teen, she heard something she was not supposed to by her parents. This led Annie to many questions, questions she kept to herself but spent a lifetime searching for answers.

While Annie's life has been filled with hope, with joy and with fulfillment, it was also filled with devastation, even lies. Why lies? Well, these lies were surrounded by love, and that is what makes this second book in the Lost Words series such an inspiration. I loved Annie's search for answers and how it ultimately led her to find much more than she ever would have imagined.

Please also enjoy the YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/IuTTqiXMFGo

A beautifully written tale of an infant being born in nazi occupied Czechoslovak’s concentration camp to a Jewish mother who will not survive to see the end of the war and how a plan is developed by kindly nazi soldier to smuggle the new born out of the camp and a safe life.

Living in New York, Annie has always felt different from her family and after overhearing hushed conversations between her mother and father she becomes concerned that her genetic background is not all that she has been led to believe. When her birth certificate is confirmed as not matching official records she decides to delve in her birth history and make sense of who she really is and find out why her parents are being so vague with details of her birth.

The one thing that I took from this book is that family is not always blood or genetic make up, a stranger can become family and have just as much good intentions and love for you as any family member.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advance read copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book #2 in Shari J. Ryan's trilogy, Last Words. Anna searches for her identity, never thinking her life began in Theresienstadt concentration camp, born to a woman imprisoned for her religious beliefs. The weaving of the stories is well done, and I greatly enjoyed this 2nd book involving these characters in a struggle for their lives.