Powerful and poignant.

A beautiful, hopeful, heartbreaking account. 

It’s much more than the traumatising history I expected. In some ways it’s a charming coming-of-age story. Hearing the very real trials and tribulations of a ‘normal’ 13-year-old - stuck in a room with a bunch of ’stupid’ adults - can, at times, be very funny and charming.

But it has a menacing countdown throughout, and the final pages were always going to have me in tears.

But it’s as inspiring as it is depressing. Faced by the worst events imaginable, Anne is so wise and forgiving. She writes beautifully about life and love and humanity and hunger and purpose and society and family and friendships. And the Dutch people who support those in the Annexe are a source of great hope for the future.

I hope we’ve learned from this period of history.

Such a sad read, knowing her fate while reading her words about being optimistic about the future. Although it makes me very appreciative of my life even though it may be hard it’s nothing compared to having to be in hiding and fear for my life just because of my beliefs.

Read the Anne Frank's Diary is something that everybody must to do one time thier life. She was so inspiring, brilliant, brave but also a teenager who dealt with very hard situations. There is so much to learn from her words 

“People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things“ is one of the beautiful things she wrote with this one being just a month before she was captured, on July 6th 1944. Such intelligence and emotional maturity strikes from this young girl to write with such knowledge on both herself and the world around her. Her essence of normalcy in such hard times really advocate for her personality.

The reasons this weren’t a five star review from me is because I didn’t exactly find myself completely compelled to go onto the next page nor do I think I would have typically picked up a book about a 13 to 15-year-old’s life besides the political and historical context. For the context however, I think this is a vital read to understand just one person’s perspective of eight people in this mass genocide.

Now I know why most people read this book at least once in their lives. Anne's self-awareness, reflection, compassion, ability to self-soothe, and still find gratefulness in her life in one of the most horrific times in history is so humbling. She held onto her own convictions and self-worth with such strength, no matter how hopeless and lonely things became. So many of these qualities I'm only just getting the hang of in my 30s. Again, truly humbling.