Shawn
This one surprised me. I expected a straightforward WWII rescue story and got something much richer — Ackerman writes like a naturalist, all sensory detail and close observation, and she uses that gift to build the prewar zoo world so vividly that when it gets destroyed you actually feel the loss. Jan and Antonina Żabińska are remarkable people, but what makes the book work is the small stuff: a badger using a training potty, a muskrat stuck in a chimney, a carnivorous attack rabbit named Wicek, a sculptor who hides from the Gestapo by running for the closet every time someone plays Offenbach. The weight of what the Żabińskis were doing never leaves — Hans Frank’s death decrees hang over every page — but Antonina’s insistence on filling the house with animals and music and humor is its own kind of argument about how to survive.
This one surprised me. I expected a straightforward WWII rescue story and got something much richer — Ackerman writes like a naturalist, all sensory detail and close observation, and she uses that gift to build the prewar zoo world so vividly that when it gets destroyed you actually feel the loss. Jan and Antonina Żabińska are remarkable people, but what makes the book work is the small stuff: a badger using a training potty, a muskrat stuck in a chimney, a carnivorous attack rabbit named Wicek, a sculptor who hides from the Gestapo by running for the closet every time someone plays Offenbach. The weight of what the Żabińskis were doing never leaves — Hans Frank’s death decrees hang over every page — but Antonina’s insistence on filling the house with animals and music and humor is its own kind of argument about how to survive.
The premise is great — six crime writers stuck on a luxury train, one drops dead mid-panel, everyone’s got motive. Stevenson is clearly having fun with the meta-commentary and the fourth-wall nudges, and the Archie Bench / GHOST code payoffs are genuinely clever. But I found the mystery itself a bit too crowded. Too many threads, too many reveals, and by the time Harriet stepped forward I felt more relieved than surprised. The proposal disaster is the most entertaining stretch in the book. Worth it for fans of the first one, but I’d temper expectations going in.
The premise is great — six crime writers stuck on a luxury train, one drops dead mid-panel, everyone’s got motive. Stevenson is clearly having fun with the meta-commentary and the fourth-wall nudges, and the Archie Bench / GHOST code payoffs are genuinely clever. But I found the mystery itself a bit too crowded. Too many threads, too many reveals, and by the time Harriet stepped forward I felt more relieved than surprised. The proposal disaster is the most entertaining stretch in the book. Worth it for fans of the first one, but I’d temper expectations going in.
Really enjoyed this one. Darker and more psychologically honest than most fairy tale retellings, and the found family that assembles to take down the villain is genuinely great — especially Hester and Penelope. The I am not Falada moment is one of my favorite things I’ve read this year. Slight drag in the middle but worth pushing through.
Really enjoyed this one. Darker and more psychologically honest than most fairy tale retellings, and the found family that assembles to take down the villain is genuinely great — especially Hester and Penelope. The I am not Falada moment is one of my favorite things I’ve read this year. Slight drag in the middle but worth pushing through.