Wrath Becomes Her

August 14, 2023
A golem created by a grieving father sets out to combat Nazis in this alluring fantasy horror novel by Polydoros (The Bone Weaver). In 1943 Lithuania, Jewish WWI veteran Ezra uses forbidden magic and parts of his teenage Nazi-resister daughter Chaya’s corpse to build Vera, a golem meant to avenge her death. When Ezra disappears and the family hiding him and Vera is murdered, Vera flees into the woods and encounters Akiva, Chaya’s comrade and lover. After murdering the man who killed Chaya, Vera searches for Ezra. She suspects that the answers to his whereabouts lie within the so-called archive, a compilation of Jewish texts currently guarded by Nazi forces. With the help of other resisters and partisan fighters, Akiva and Vera smuggle themselves into the Vilna ghetto, where they learn that the Nazis are seeking Jewish writings relating to ancient magic. Though Vera doesn’t understand their motive, when she realizes that the Nazis are shipping a powerful weapon to the area, she hatches a dangerous plan to intercept it and turn the tide of the war. Without sacrificing emotional impact or contemporary resonance, Polydoros implements frequently explored Jewish lore surrounding golems with a fresh and inventive angle. Relentlessly disconcerting ambiance adds to the novel’s eerie feel, making for an engrossing alternate history adventure. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sam Farkas, Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

September 1, 2023
A golem created during World War II to kill Nazis ponders the meaning of humanity. Vera was crafted not just from clay but also magic and body parts taken from Chaya, a 17-year-old Jewish girl from Lithuania who was murdered by Nazis. Seeking vengeance, Chaya's father makes Vera in his beloved daughter's image. He also gives her access to some of Chaya's memories so Vera can destroy the men responsible. Told through Vera's first-person narration, the story follows the nearly indestructible golem as she attempts to follow this command while questioning her own existence and purpose. Chaya was in love with Akiva, a Jewish Lithuanian boy, so when Vera meets him, she's unsure if her feelings are her own or just the remnants of Chaya's. Still, they work together, especially when they learn of Nazi plans to use knowledge stolen from Vera's creator. The historical setting is richly portrayed and doesn't shy away from atrocities as it focuses on the war's impact on civilian life. The fantasy elements are beautifully blended in, deepening the darkness and horror of the story, particularly as they relate to Vera's internal turmoil. She was built for wrath, and sometimes the tale leans into this anger and violence, but more often it's slower paced, occasionally meandering and lyrical, as it raises philosophical questions about human nature. A haunting and thoughtful World War II tale with a dark, magical bent. (content warning, map, glossary) (Historical fantasy. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2023
Grades 10-12 Vera is a golem, made from mud and water and the hair, teeth, and eyes of her maker's daughter. That maker is a man whose daughter, Chaya, was killed by the Nazis, and he used forbidden magic to create Vera with one purpose: to kill Nazis. Stronger than humans and impervious to bullets, Vera can only be harmed if the mark on her forehead, representing truth, is damaged. But when Vera leaves her maker's house and enters the world of 1940s Lithuania, she meets Akiva, a boy who loved the girl whose body and memories Vera is made from. Vera has to discover where Chaya ends and she begins, decide if she can--or should--try to live a human life away from the horrors unfolding around her, or if she exists only to fulfill her deadly purpose and return to the mud. Polydoros' historical horror fantasy, informed by Jewish mythology, is a terrifying, thought-provoking book that will linger in the reader's mind for a long time.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024
Vera, the first-person narrator of this historical horror novel, awakens in 1943 Lithuania and understands that she is a golem. Her creator, Ezra, has made her from the body of his teenage daughter, Chaya (a partisan fighter who was shot and killed a few months earlier), for the purpose of avenging Chaya's death. Vera can access Chaya's memories and emotions, and she is bound to follow her creator's commands. As Vera meets Akiva, who loved Chaya, and as she completes her mission, she and others wrestle with thoughtfully presented questions about where Chaya ends and Vera begins, and about Vera's desire for more autonomy. This dark tale grows even darker by book's end, but with its portrayal of proactive Jewish characters during the Holocaust and its emphasis on vengeance -- and on emet, the Hebrew word meaning truth carved into a golem's forehead -- it acknowledges that anger can be valid, especially in extreme situations. A glossary defines relevant terms, including those from the Jewish folkloric concepts the novel incorporates. Shoshana Flax

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from January 26, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Vera is not a human being; she's a "kishuf" golem, made immortal by the word "truth" inked on her forehead. Crafted by her creator Ezra from clay and pieces of his murdered daughter Chaya through an ancient, forbidden practice, she has one purpose-exact revenge on the Nazis who killed Chaya. This mission comes sooner than expected when Ezra disappears, and as Vera journeys closer to danger in search of him, she comes face-to-face with more of Chaya's memories and humanity. The questions she begins to ask about who and what she really is intensify when she encounters Akiva, the boy Chaya loved, though surviving the Nazis long enough to find Ezra may be impossible, even for a golem. As with previous books, Polydoros has a knack for creating works that are both grounding and transportive, creating a sense of shared humanity across gender, culture, space, and time while transporting readers somewhere (and some-when) else entirely. Specifics of Jewish lore, coupled with the impeccably researched history, informs and educates even as readers are swept along by all of the righteous violence of Inglourious Basterds with the important and illuminating inclusion of the actual culture being erased. Philosophical questions of humanity, monstrousness, and what counts as either (or both); horrific violence both psychological and physical; layer upon layer of fury and vengeance-and yet, the sum of the parts is as hopeful as it is desolate, and as lovingly crafted as it is furious and brokenhearted. VERDICT A gut-wrenching, eminently important Holocaust narrative that centers Jewish humanity, and a punch in the face to fascism.-Allie Stevens

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
Vera, the first-person narrator of this historical horror novel, awakens in 1943 Lithuania and understands that she is a golem. Her creator, Ezra, has made her from the body of his teenage daughter, Chaya (a partisan fighter who was shot and killed a few months earlier), for the purpose of avenging Chaya's death. Vera can access Chaya's memories and emotions, and she is bound to follow her creator's commands. As Vera meets Akiva, who loved Chaya, and as she completes her mission, she and others wrestle with thoughtfully presented questions about where Chaya ends and Vera begins, and about Vera's desire for more autonomy. This dark tale grows even darker by book's end, but with its portrayal of proactive Jewish characters during the Holocaust and its emphasis on vengeance -- and on emet, the Hebrew word meaning truth carved into a golem's forehead -- it acknowledges that anger can be valid, especially in extreme situations. A glossary defines relevant terms, including those from the Jewish folkloric concepts the novel incorporates.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)