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The Book of Lost Names


A heartrending novel of survival, inspired by an astonishing true story from ...
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What were your feelings about the ending? (Spoiler alert)

Created: 05/21/21

Replies: 24

Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lynne z

Join Date: 01/06/18

Posts: 65

The ending

What were your feelings about the ending? (Spoiler alert)


Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
marganna

Join Date: 10/14/11

Posts: 162

RE: The ending

Not wanting to have a spoiler alert...I was tense to the ending - hoping for a certain outcome - I smiled as I closed the book - 1 for satisfaction & 1 for “no way”


Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Marcia S

Join Date: 02/08/16

Posts: 537

RE: The ending

I like the ending, although I'm not sure how realistic it is. It reminded me of the ending of The Hotel on Bitter and Sweet. I think we all need a happy ending right now.


Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurief

Join Date: 09/08/12

Posts: 81

RE: The ending

I closed the book saying, "What a great book!" I can't say I was surprised but satisfied that Eva found closure.


Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Gloria

Join Date: 03/11/15

Posts: 128

RE: The ending

It's nice to have a happy ending, but I didn't find it very believable.


Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lynne z

Join Date: 01/06/18

Posts: 65

RE: The ending

I posed the question because I was surprised that I liked the ending and wondered if anyone felt the same. I usually complain about unbelievable "happy ending," but this was different. Everyone deserves happiness, especially those who have had to endure such agony - even in fiction.


Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews's Gravatar
Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews

Join Date: 03/30/19

Posts: 76

RE: The ending

I LOVED the ending, but felt sad that they didn't have much time to be together.


Posted May. 21, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Gabi

Join Date: 02/22/21

Posts: 111

RE: The ending

While this ending may have been a little "too good to be true," I enjoy a happy ending.


Posted May. 22, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
job

Join Date: 05/12/11

Posts: 27

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

The end didn't surprise me because it is fiction and the author is able to have the story her way. It's a plausible as not getting back together. Remember these are the years of no internet. It really a miracle that anyone found each other. I was disappointed that the book itself and and it's long term effects were not discussed. After all that is the title.


Posted May. 22, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
TerryPark

Join Date: 09/03/19

Posts: 42

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I liked it, though I certainly wasn't expecting it. Too good to be true, maybe, but the fact that there was so much sadness in their lives, and that they had never had much of a chance to enjoy their time together, was relieved by the ending.


Posted May. 22, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
barbarar

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 21

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I expected Eva to meet one of the children she saved, especially one of the two little girls she connected with. The ending was much better! I could not imagine her son’s reaction, though!


Posted May. 22, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyb

Join Date: 02/17/18

Posts: 17

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

This book was basically trying to be realistic so the "happy" ending that tied everything up was a bit much. But it didn't stop me from liking the book.


Posted May. 22, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
robertaw

Join Date: 04/20/16

Posts: 83

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

Completely unrealistic. I guess the author was trying for a happy ending so it felt forced.


Posted May. 22, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Theresa

Join Date: 06/22/20

Posts: 31

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I like the ending. Much of the book was sad and difficult to take and having a happy ending was good. As others mentioned in this thread, it would have been interesting to have her meet up with a few of the children she saved. One of my favorite lines in the book was when Eva was talking to the Otto Kuhn and said: "I hoped that one day, when the war ended, I could help them to reclaim who they'd once been. But we aren't defined by the names we carry or the religion we practice, or the nation whose flag flies over our heads. I know that now. We're defined by who we are in our hearts, who we choose to be on this earth."


Posted May. 23, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
marand

Join Date: 12/02/20

Posts: 9

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

Contrived, unrealistic, unbelievable and juvenile.


Posted May. 23, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
SusanC.

Join Date: 03/25/13

Posts: 50

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

Oh boy...I really loved this book until the end. Remy was alive all along? Really and he came to Germany to get the book and runs into Eva at the library at night when he claims the book. It really was too much to believe.


Posted May. 23, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
beckyd

Join Date: 07/31/19

Posts: 105

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

When I read it I thought immediately of a Hollywood ending, all tied up with a neat little bow.


Posted May. 23, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
marand

Join Date: 12/02/20

Posts: 9

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I totally agree!


Posted May. 23, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
annar

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 114

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I loved the ending. I only wish they had found each other much sooner. It was a beautiful ending.


Posted May. 24, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
linz

Join Date: 08/12/15

Posts: 205

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I thought the ending spoiled a believable story. I thought that the book, was believable and well done. People stepped up to help others. The Nazis had no moral compass. But the ending shattered that for me. It didn't seem possible.


Posted May. 25, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
robynn

Join Date: 05/21/21

Posts: 17

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I found the ending to be bittersweet. I was happy that they found each other again but sad that it took them so long to do so.


Posted May. 25, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeannew

Join Date: 04/23/11

Posts: 118

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

The ending took away some of the enjoyment of the book for me. It was completely unbelievable and unrealistic.


Posted May. 30, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
loisk

Join Date: 05/16/21

Posts: 18

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

The ending seemed very unrealistic to me. Beckyd summed it up perfectly when she wrote "Hollywood ending, all tied up in a neat little bow."


Posted May. 31, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
carolt

Join Date: 03/25/17

Posts: 190

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I, too, was glad for the happy ending. So satisfying to have something work out well after all the evil along the way.


Posted Jun. 04, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cynthial

Join Date: 04/13/21

Posts: 11

RE: What were your feelings about the ...

I loved the ending. Was it realistic? Maybe. Maybe not. The book is fiction. There's enough predictability and sad endings in real life. Don't we read fiction to distract us from real life? The only criticism I have about the ending is it seemed too abrupt and almost like the author tried to tie up loose ends to complete the book.


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