Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada, July 6th 2021

Format: ebook

Pages: 384

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The New York Times bestselling author of the The Book of Lost Names returns with an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.

After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest—and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything.

Inspired by incredible true stories of survival against staggering odds, and suffused with the journey-from-the-wilderness elements that made Where the Crawdads Sing a worldwide phenomenon, The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a heart-wrenching and suspenseful novel. 

My Review:

Thank you Simon and Schuster for the copy of this book!
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Read if you like: WW2 stories, survival stories.
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The book follows Yona, who was stolen from her German parents and taught to live in the forest. This proves to be useful when the Second World War starts and she meets Jewish Refugees after they escaped into the forest.
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I loved learning about the Bielski Brothers and how they basically set up their own society in the forest during the war, so this book fascinated me. I loved Yona; she was sheltered and naïve in terms of some aspects of society, but she proves to be the only one who can help the group survive the winter in the forest. I also loved the discussion around are you born a bad person or is it how you’re raised/your environment.
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CW: violence, war, death, child abduction, torture, mild sexual content.