I was excited to read this book. I have only recently become aware of the Zabinskis (actually through a Facebook snippet!); a brave Polish couple who helped hide and smuggle Jews to safety during WW II. I was so disappointed with this. The story telling is such a mis-mash mangled mess I was tempted to set it aside without finishing it several times.

I could see what the author was trying to do. She wanted to tell the story of the central family while also making sure the reader understood the history of the time and the dynamics and differences of Poland and the Polish people from Germany and other European countries during WWII. What this became though was a disjointed mess. One moment she was directly quoting from the wife's personal journal, one moment she was telling the story as if it were a fictional thriller, one moment she was providing a history lesson, and one moment she was inserting herself into the text. This kept me from emotionally connecting with the story while at the same time keeping me from feeling like I was learning interesting facts about the time/place.

This is a great story, but they way it was written did not always hold my interest. I appreciate the author's effort to remain factual, but the writing style sacrificed some emotional interest.

This is the true story of the Warsaw Zoo during WWII. Warsaw was heavily occupied by German soldiers who took most of the animals. The zookeeper and his family continued to live in their villa at the zoo, and they were able to take in several "guests" who were actually Jewish people who were hiding from the Germans.

I became interested in this book after seeing a trailer for the movie. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I suspect it may be better than the book in this case.

Timing is everything, and reading this book now during the current climate is not the best. It was a bit depressing, and concerning. But well written.

I am a huge world war II fan so this book was just my ally. Since I've been living in Germany I have gotten the rare chance of seeing some of the most horrifying places up close and it takes that topic out of story and into real life. This Spring I spent a lot of time in Poland and learning of it's history and sites. This is a wonderful story that gives you first hand account of a Polish zookeeper and his wife who smuggle Jews into their bombed out zoo as part of the underground. They believed not in hiding people but putting those who stayed with them in plain site on the zoo and so it makes the hidding place a little diffrent then most Jews were forced to stay in during the war. I was sad to see how it ended but it was a worth the read.

I tried to reread this book...for the second time and looking at my first review was gracious. I didn't care for the book it was lacking in relationships . I love the topic, I think so much more could have been added to the book had it not been so full of animal histories.

Phenomenal!

I like Ackerman's writing style, but don't think it was best suited to this story of a zookeeping family in Poland during WWII. I would have liked the book to be a little more straightforward and linear.

Superb! Who knew zoos were so cool, let along zookeepers, but throw in some Nazis, the Polish resistance, live prehistoric animals, trained badgers, and a vampire bunny...loved it.

When you think you're having a bad day, read about Warsaw during WWII. What a strange and interesting story, though somewhat fragmented in the telling.

This reads like a research paper and I just couldn’t connect to it

I didn't actually finish this book. I couldn't get past the writing. The author needed to pick a writing style because the constant switching between a more narrative style and actual quotes from journals was distracting from the story.