This Rebel Heart is set just at the beginning of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. It’s a lyrical story, part historical fiction, part magical realism YA story.

It has 3 POV, but the main character is Csilla. She lives with her aunt and they are planning to leave the country soon, all their other familiars are dead, whether at the hands of the Holocaust or the Soviet intervention.

The prose was beautiful, the author weaves a hard (and real) story with magic and metaphors. Budapest is not longer the colorful and vibrant city of Csilla childhood, is a grey and colorless place. Csilla is not safe, but she found reasons to stay and fight.

The others characters are Azriel, Tamás, one is a friend the other at first is a mystery.

There’s romance too, I didn’t expect it and it was one of my favorite parts of the story, it felt natural and it fits perfectly, without it becoming a romance novel.

It’s a slow story about courage and love, about finding your way and fight.

Read it if you want:
Learn from a historical event not so well known internationally
Historical Fiction with a little magic
Strong and diverse characters

When I say this book emotionally devastated me, I mean that I was sobbing so hard I could not breathe. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was not something that was ever covered in any of my history classes, so I went into this with no idea of what to expect. Csilla's grief, trauma, and survivor's guilt are visceral on every page and the book does not pull any punches about the brutalities of war, what it means to have friends and loved ones on the other side of the fight, and the anti-semitism Jews faced in the aftermath of the holocaust.

Even with the brutal backdrop of a city on the cusp of revolt, the story is beautiful. The slow, careful unfurling of color, the soft tenderness of Csilla's bond with Azriel and Tamas. Csilla's friendship with Zsu and Azil and how they support each other even through their differences.

From start to finish, the book was stunning. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

This is a beautiful story contains an amazing metaphor that the Danube river that divides Buda from Pest is the live blood of the city and it’s people and if you are willing to believe it can give you the strength to run over your banks.  

It is set in 1956 Budapest, Hungary and follows Csilla a young Jewish woman born in Budapest before WWII raised in the Jewish Ghetto’s, lived through the war, and in now trying to figure out life in a Hungary that was “freed” by Russia and living under the boot of communism. Every thing she sees are in shades of gray because theye have lost so much that their world is drained of color. Csilla looks into her past for advice to lead her and Hungary into the future. Her ideas of her parents change as she learns more and so does her opinion of herself and her country. 

My favorite quote from the book is “We know that tyranny can thrive anywhere. We forget that hope can too, and hope feeds rebellion.” 

I did receive this as an ARC copy for my honest opinion and review.