Renia's Diary by Renia Spiegel - Bookin' It With Jen

It's a little difficult to review this one because while it does take place during WWII and the author was Jewish, ultimately it is a teenager's diary. Which means endless entries about boys and friendship drama. I felt really bad while reading this because it was hopelessly banal and I found Renia to be *slightly* annoying and shallow and it made me feel really guilty because of knowing her fate. 

For most of the book there is almost no mention of anything happening outside of her boyfriend and friend groups, maybe it was a form of escapism, or maybe she was just an oblivious teenager in love. I can't say that if I opened my niece's diary that it would be filled with anything of substance either. And that in itself is why I continued to read this one even though it wasn't enjoyable. Because unbeknownst to Renia, these daily recaps and poems would be her only legacy and when it comes to Holocaust stories we tend to deify the person for what became of them, and to forget that they were once just ordinary people like you and I and deserve to be remembered as such. Yes many of them did extraordinary things in times of necessity, but for the most part they were mothers, daughters, fathers and sons leading regular lives until someone decided that their mere existence was affronting. These people were more than their circumstances and we owe it to them to remember that.

After the abrupt ending of Renia's diary (and her life), perfectly punctuated by the shot that killed her, we get a few entries from her beloved Zygu himself. I will say I *loathed* his treatment of her over the entirety of her diary, he was selfish and insulting and just not the best person it seemed, but he proved his worth in the end. Like I said, extraordinary in the time of necessity. Renia's sister Elizabeth/Ariana's notes added a lot of depth to this book, as well as much needed background information. I wish that they would consider adding a list of names/terms to the front of the book to help clear up some confusion as to who shes referencing in her entries. Especially with her parents names, I think it would have been helpful to have that information up front because she would often say Bulus and Mommy together like they were separate people. I do wonder too how Renia would have felt knowing people would be reading her most intimate thoughts, especially after how she reacts to Zygu doing so.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.