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Tough-O-Meter

We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)

(6) Tree Line

Briar Rose is an intricate book, but the good news is that it's not complicated or hard to follow. (Well, unless you count out having to sound out all those Polish names. So many consonants, so little time.) Emotionally, it's a rough one, as you'd expect from any book that takes on the events of World War II. The Holocaust is just a bummer like that.

That said, it has a relatively happy ending; it's a novel about a survivor, after all. At the end of the day, we're giving it a 6 because it's a little bit challenging, but don't worry—you've totally got this one.