Book Review: Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali

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Synopsis:

Baby Max is the perfect prototype of the Nazi eugenics programme; he is the ideal size, he has the correct colour hair and flawless blue eyes.

Raised in an ideology driven by hatred and ruled by fear, Max is taught to endure pain and be brave at all costs.

But as he is drawn further into the horror of war, Max must fight to untangle the truth from the lie.

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My Review:

I honestly can’t remember how I came to own this novel. I was going through a historical fictions phase and think I bought this then but never actually read it. I will warn that this novel is incredibly graphic, with highly detailed scenes depicting rape, child abuse, and racial discrimination.

I can see why people would despise this novel; the narrator is highly unlikeable. However, I found him fascinating. Here is a child raised in a fascist regime. As disgusting as his narration is, can he really be blamed for his views when he didn’t know anything else?

The novel follows Max, whose story begins in the womb, literally. Max grows up witnessing the cruelty of the Nazi’s and truly believes that they are the good guys. He tells us about the Lebensborn programme, and how he was carefully selected to be created for the Aryan race. The most fascinating thing about this is the programme did exist; it’s an important part of history where thousands of children were created to be genetically perfect. Thousands of women believed it was their duty to Hitler to create these babies and give them to the state.

The novel is written from the first-person perspective of Max and while it took some getting used to his voice. His personality came through from the first page. You see his flaws and cruelty but also see his tenderness. He is after all a child.

In the novel, Max befriends an older boy, Lukas (Lucjen), and the two quickly become close. Lukas is a Jew, hiding in plain sight and it leads to conflict with Max. Should he remain loyal to Lukas, or turn him into the Nazi’s? I loved the relationship that they developed.

At the end of the novel, I felt exhausted and heartbroken. I felt like crying for Max, for Lukas, for everyone who lived during this time and endured the horrors of the war. It is hard to believe that at the end of the novel, Max is only 9 years old given everything he witnessed and endured in his life.

The tone is gritty, and Max doesn’t sugar-coat anything that he witnessed – it was an awful time in history. Cohen-Scali managed to tell a revolting story in a fast-paced manner. This novel may be classed as YA, but it doesn’t shy away from showing the brutality of the war. It is designed to shock and horrify the reader. I believe that the book is well-researched and shows a perspective of the war that I haven’t seen before. One from a Nazi’s perspective.

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