I liked it more than I expected to. There was a lot of information about what is was like to live in occupied Poland and I had never heard before.

Oppresively beautiful. I would read this book again.

Fascinating story but long winded

Don't ask why but I'm a huge fan of books that tell the story of people's lives and how they were affected during WW2. Naturally when I heard about this story I couldn't wait to read it. I really enjoyed the story as it gave me an insight into the details and history of the Nazi ideology that I hadn't really thought of before. I found myself fully engrossed in the chapters about the actual story and main characters, but, found myself bored in the chapters that to me were unnecessary and over detailed, with reels and reels of background information about characters who were not integral to the plot in my opinion. I found these tedious and found my concentration slipping away. I'm not one to not finish something I start reading and thankfully the chapters I was engrossed in were enough to keep me interested.

It's interesting for me to be able to compare this having read Schindler's List. While there is still a bit of information and names to keep track of, this was much easier to read than Schindler's List and was written with a more smooth flowing narrative. The storyline is incredible, especially as it is based on a true story (and I am all the more excited to see the movie adaptation that will be out this March).

I really enjoyed the extra details and descriptions of the animals, locations, and people in this book.

This is a fascinating tale of wartime Poland (WWII). Great descriptions of Polish culture and the heroic actions of several member of the Resistance, focusing on the zookeeper's family in Warsaw.

This book will make you want to travel to Poland. And if you happen to be Polish by heritage, this really is a must read.

Given the time period, there are atrocities described within the pages. Ackerman does not sugarcoat, but neither does she dwell on these (as Wiesel does in "Night"). Don't let the subject matter put you off.

Good read. Definitely recommend. However it reads much more akin to an essay than a novel. So while it tells a mostly historical [non]fiction story, the voice does not romanticize any plotline or narrative aspectic for the sake of drawing in readers.

This book didn't do much for me. I felt like it jumped around way too much, tried too hard to attach meaning to various events, and just generally disappointed me.

And, of course, reading Unbroken simultaneously, which I thought was superb in every way, didn't do this book any favors.

I thought this book was going to be written more consistently like a fiction novel. That being said, I actually appreciated the infusions of straight fact and historical reporting. Those moments made life at the zoo more real and I felt like I could really understand Antonina and all the zoo residents predicament. I also admire Antonina for being so brave in the face of nazi occupation and for staying at the villa as long as she did! Jan was also brave, but as a Woman with two kids and a house to lead I admire Antonina more.

Good story that I had not heard before. It reminds me that there were, and still are, good people in the world willing to stand up to the terrible injustices happening all around.

Once in a while I luck upon a book that helps ground me. The Zookeeper's Wife was definitely one of those. It is more than an interesting work of history, more than a fascinating look into the past. It is a book that reminds us of hope in the middle of despair; that even when fear is a constant companion--the goodness and heroism of people can shine brightly; and how fortunate we are to live in this country, at this time, with the problems we face now, because there have been many periods and places in history that are so much more terrifying than the things we face living here in the U.S. today. It also reminds me that we cannot turn a blind eye to the atrocities that others, in less "safe" countries, deal with everyday, even in our modern era. This book, based on the life events of Antonina Zabinski, the wife of the Warsaw Zookeeper during the WWII and the Nazi Occupation reveals the strength of a woman and her family who helped save over a hundred Jews and intellectuals through their most prized possession, the zoo. There may be times that Ackerman adds a tad too much flourish and I would have liked a bit of additional general information about Warsaw during the war. But overall what I loved most about this book is that although it takes place during a period of time when the far extreme of human cruelty and hatred was reaching its destruction across our world, it exposes one of the many pockets of hope and light and goodness that would not succumb to the evil around them.