My Real Name Is Hanna

Suzanne Toren’s performance is the heart of this audiobook, and she delivers a masterclass in restraint and depth. Her portrayal of Hanna—startlingly young at the outset, then hardening into something resembling steel by the end—never feels like an act, but like a confession pulled from the bones of a girl who refused to break. Toren’s tone is intimate, as if she’s whispering directly into your ear, which makes the moments of unbearable tension even more excruciating. The pacing is deliberate, allowing the horror to unfold in slow, suffocating waves rather than rushed drama, which only makes it more devastating. My only quibble is the occasional abruptness in scene transitions, which can jolt you out of the immersion—though that may be intentional, mirroring Hanna’s disjointed sense of time. The production value is top-tier, with no distracting background noise, and Toren’s pronunciation of Yiddish and Ukrainian phrases adds an extra layer of authenticity. If you’re looking for a Holocaust story that lingers because of its humanity rather than its brutality, this is it. Just keep a tissue box nearby.