Everyone at our discussion agreed that there were parts of the book that were well-written. Ackerman is a skilled writer; however, it felt very much as if she added a lot of description and side bars to make the book long enough to bother with. The characters are compelling, but there is just too little of them and too much unnecessary detail.

Our book club thought the story was very interesting and certainly our discussion was very interesting...but...we were dissappointed the author didn't tell us more about the people that were helped. We heard so much about the animals and really wanted to hear more about the people. Others thought the book was rather wordy and filled with unnecessary details..

I felt like the other reveiwers, in that it was missing something. It was interesting reading about the animals and it did peak my interest in learning a little more of the Warsaw Zoo during the occupation, but the story was difficult to follow.

I enjoyed the content of the book, but I thought the style of writing did not flow. The book was very interesting and the characters were touching.

I was looking for more of a 'story' in this book, and instead got more 'pieces' of what happened there, like glimpses past in memory. Some of the book capitalizes on other pieces that related to the zoo, but were still more side stories than an actual part of the lives of the main people. But with all that, I'm glad that I've read it.

We loved this book, a true story about a little known hideout for 300 people (in zoo cages!) during WWII, the zoo-family that protected them, the cleverness of the Polish underground, and this one inspiring woman. A surprisingly readable, quite funny at times (animals share the house with people), and uplifting story. It led to wonderful discussions.

Our book club also loved this book. I was fascinated by the sensory details of everyday life in Antonina's world. Since it's history, not fiction, the details made it possible to really picture the events. And I was particularly surprised and fascinated by the environmental themes. I don't know what I would have done in Antonina's place, but I would like to have known her. Actually, I feel now that I do.

Very informative but difficult to slog through all the detail. The story is fascinating and and I really wanted to like the writing.

Very interesting story but incredibly poorly written...

This book couldn't decide whether or not it was going to be a story or a history book. The author had lots of opportunity to tell a good story, but failed to make us care about her characters.

This book contains gobs of information. I really felt like there was too much. Reads like a college lecture without the slides. Not well organized in presentation. Overall I won't say I'm sorry I read it, but certainly not enjoyable.

I would not recommend this book. I had to force myself to finish it to discuss at Book Club meeting.

very historical and I kept confusing people's and animal's names.

Detailed depiction of Warsaw. Craziness and brutality of the Nazis to not only create the perfect race but perfect animals was explored. Courage and ingenuity of the Poles, Jews, artists, was described.

Members of our book club enjoyed this book, but felt bogged down in some of the descriptive language. The writing was beautiful, and the author's love for animals and nature is evident. We had hoped to become better acquainted with some of the characters in the book. The ending seemed disjointed.

My book club enjoyed this book because we were unaware of this true story. Periodically we will choose a book about the Holocaust and never fail to learn something new about this horrific time period. We loved that Antonina was able to utilize her calm "whisperer" demeanor to deal with the Nazis like she did with the animals to pull off hiding her "Guests" in plain sight. The story was good but we felt it was dry and boring at times.

Opinions were very mixed. Some liked the history and information about the animals, the people, and WWII Poland. Others felt that it was poorly organized and included too much detail that wasn't necessary.

Written in a journalistic, non-fiction novel style, we thought the pace was slow. The stories are wonderful, but we missed the depth in character development that we love in books like THE NIGHTINGALE and ALL THE LIGHT YOU CANNOT SEE.

Super hard to stay engaged. Very slow read.

Was intrigued because I am a fan of reading about this time in history. This book was ok but not as good as others I have read. It was one I pushed through to finish it.

There were to many characters to follow and it was very slow.

Slow read; too many little stories.