The stories of millions ended during the war and the concentration camps and it is inspiring to read that there are some survivors who were able to go on and have families and fulfilling lives after their near death experiences. Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

A dark and bleak but ultimately life-affirming journey, with hope in the darkest days, a determination to survive and to care for those that you love.For some, it is a case of not being able to move forward for another feeling guilty, for some a way to change and try to come to terms with things and all in all how one incident altered people's futures. The day I met Lale Sokolov changed my life, as our friendship grew and he embarked on a journey of self scrutiny, entrusting the inner most details of his life during the Holocaust. I will admit that I guessed the big twist at the end pretty early on, which I think took away some of my enjoyment. As children, the sisters made a promise to their sick father and to each other before he died to always be there for one another, no matter what! Little did I know that the purchase of The Tattooist would lay the foundation towards the fulfilment of my long-held dream.

But based on other reviews, a lot of people didn't see the twist coming and really loved it because of the ending.Owen Mullins, an author I have never heard of before, has completely blown me away with this novel and I cannot recommend it highly enough, it’s more than a 5 star read and people who take their chances on this will not be disappointed. They were never outspoken about what happened to them ‘before’, and us kids never really asked or were concerned about my mother’s arm tattoo. I thought the narrative read more like a gangland thriller, which is not a genre that I particularly enjoy.

This is a work of fiction, as it states clearly, but many of the characters included in this story were real people whose stories are shared through the creativity of Heather Morris. In Heather’s skilful hands, a compelling, inspirational story of the life of the three sisters began to form. When one begins to falter, the others are there to protect her, to nurse her back to health, or to remind her of their promise.This was one of my most highly anticipated novels of the year as I loved Books 1 and 2 in this series.

Magda had been sick and was in the hospital recuperating when the Nazis were making their selections for deportation. For example, Lewis's best friend and co-owner of their company Damian doesn't know where Lewis is hiding and has to threaten his lawyer to get the address of an isolated place in Scotland that Lewis hasn't visited in 10 years. Heather Morris interviewed and spent quality time with many members of the sister’s family and with each sister so that their story could be told in its entirety.This author has a raw talent for capturing every important moment but not overly describing it to make it boring. It is that love that helped them overcome the range of emotions – guilt, anxiety, fear – that Auschwitz caused. I felt so invested in the lives of the three sisters, and as a reader you become so connected to them, especially as this book spans more than just their lives in Auschwitz, looking at both before and after, meaning they become the three-dimensional people they deserve to be.