“My book of the“ julvern ”type has come out – or an educational book for teenagers. Parents interested in the intellectual development of their children, remember – in a fierce war for the minds of adolescents, every shell counts. And I’m on your side. “

The author does not hide the fact that the book was written for older schoolchildren and adolescents in order to interest the younger generation in science, but not in its pure form, but on the pages of an adventure novel. In fact, “Astrovityanka” by Nick Gorkovago can be safely recommended for children from six years old if they are passionate about products of modern technologies in the form of computer games, and the upper age level of the readership can be left open. It is no secret that some of us remain children until we are very old.

The plot of the novel is built around the main character Nicole, who, after the death of her parents, survives alone on a small asteroid. Long-term relationships with artificial intelligence and the genetic abilities of the girl leave a special imprint on the development of the heroine of a science fiction novel. Nicole is found at the age of 13, and her future fate depends on how she goes through the rehabilitation course and whether she can enter Einstein’s school. Competitions are an integral part of the future, because the world should not be controlled not by money, but by intelligence, moreover, human. Most readers of the novel instantly go to comparison with the famous works of other contemporary writers. But on the one hand, Nick Gorky did not hide the fact that Einstein’s school was built on the model of a school where his friends studied magic and other disciplines. On the other hand, most science fiction books are written with a certain degree of similarity, and the characters resemble certain characters of already created literary and cinematic works. But these circumstances do not cancel our reader and viewer interest in general, and indeed – everything is known in comparison.

The book is primarily, in my opinion, intended for those who are studying in a modern school and today decide for themselves the natural question of adult life beyond the threshold of an educational institution. Even the most striking scientific events and the most impressive thermonuclear reactions cannot obscure human feelings, and here it is – that is, about youthful love and true friendship – is narrated reverently and brightly, purely and truthfully. As a rule, a book is in demand if it successfully and skillfully combines truth and fiction, good and evil, fiction and reality, real feelings and the development of technological progress, life and death. In other words, even science fiction literature for adolescents or those who care about the world of a growing up person cannot be just a fairy tale or a popular science publication in its purest form. The world needs emotions, and they fully exist in the novel “Astrovitanka”.

It seemed indicative to me that this novel was written by a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the American International Space Center, the author of the scientific publication “Physics of Planetary Rings: Celestial Mechanics of a Continuous Medium” and a dozen popular science articles in the Children’s Encyclopedia. And I understand his words:

“A book is like a letter thrown into the ocean in a sealed bottle. You throw these messages into the waves, realizing that most of them will break on rocks or be swallowed by sharks. But you throw and throw them, because you have no other choice. After all, you live on a desert island. “

I recommend reading the Astrovityanka novel to everyone who lives a child-adult life or takes it very seriously, and also loves science fiction and adventure trips to the future.

First of all, it is very difficult to determine its genre: despite the fact that in 2008 the Union of Jewish Policemen received the Hugo Prize, awarded for the best science fiction, it can hardly be attributed to this genre with a clear conscience. Most likely, this is a black detective story, because it’s not without reason that the book begins classically: a corpse of a man, a chess player under the name Emmanuel Lasker, was discovered in a hotel room. Nevertheless, almost immediately it becomes clear that the novel is based on the principle of an alternative story – it turns out that US President Franklin Roosevelt opened the doors of his country to Jews fleeing countries captured by Hitler. True, they had to settle in Alaska, leased to them, but this, nevertheless, significantly reduced the number of Holocaust victims. As a result, the state of Israel is absent on the Earth’s map (it was formed, but was defeated in the Arab-Israeli conflict), but on the territory of the northernmost state of America there is a prosperous colony whose inhabitants perform rituals of Judaism, wear paisas and black bowlers, and most importantly, they say and think in Hebrew – or rather, in Yiddish.

A typical representative of this mentality is the policeman Meir Landsman, who loves to drink and reason. It is he who is entrusted with investigating the murder committed in the hotel, thanks to which he is drawn into a whole chain of events and even into an international conspiracy. But despite all the intricacies of the plot, the main thing in the novel is precisely the stream of thoughts of this hero, who not only tries to find the criminal (however, he is a very successful detective), but also wants to solve his own problems.

What else do I like about this book? She is not politically correct. It is so politically incorrect that, it seems to me, write her representative of a different nationality, they could accuse him of anti-Semitism (however, as well as of glorifying Great Israel). But such an ambiguity as nothing else indicates that we are talking about the Big literature.

Well, now a little criticism. First of all, for me personally, this novel lacks an alternative story: I would like to know more details about the Third Russian Empire, as well as about John F. Kennedy, who happily escaped the assassination attempt in Dallas. However, perhaps these are my personal troubles, and the detective motives of this work will be closer to someone.

The second point is related to the translation. One can understand what a difficult task the translator faced: after all, in the original, the novel is full of words in Yiddish – the language of East European Jews, and the language of Michael Chabon himself (by the way, it seems to me that his last name would be more correct to translate as “Sheybon”) is clearly different in its originality . In addition, the translator Y. Balayan would need to further understand the realities of Judaism and to respect the Hebrew words, interspersed with which are also found in this novel. Perhaps then he would not replace the word “hupa” (Jewish wedding) with some incomprehensible term “chuppa” (and this is just one example). In addition, in some places the translation is simply messy – it seems that the linguist simply lost some of the words.

And yet I repeat – the book is good. And its main advantage is its special atmosphere, ironic and at the same time somewhat sad. It is this feeling that remains from reading the works of other great masters who wrote in Yiddish – first of all, Sholom Aleichem. Times have passed, the professions of heroes have changed, but features of a national character and mentality have survived. And it pleases, especially in our era, when there is a leveling of culture, the desire to negate the differences between cultures and races, instead of realizing the full value of such diversity.

There is information that the Coen Brothers intend to film the book The Union of Jewish Policemen. I think the project can be very interesting.

In general, reading a book that is famous and its name has already been imposed on its teeth is a disastrous matter. And when I first took up the “Unbearable Lightness of Being”, already celebrated at that time, I experienced a natural disappointment. Firstly, the poetry of the title has already drawn in my head certain vague outlines that the real book for some reason did not want to match. Secondly – and I realized this only now, after repeated reading – I was still too small. I think that I will be right in assuming that readers leaving comments about the meaninglessness of the novel simply have not accumulated enough everyday experience. After all, a person likes stories that describe himself in some way. But to understand the heroes of Kundera – Tomasz and Teresa, Fritz and Sabina – and only a person can sympathize with them, who, though not at all like in this story, but experienced love, separation, betrayal …

Unlike many famous works of modern classics, amazingly pretentious forms, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” is a novel in this sense absolutely standard. Here, the life of several heroes involved in love triangles and other figures is described sequentially and without excessive metaphoricality, there are no special jumps in time or any other technical decorations.

What has elevated this book to the zenith of fame? After all, millions of love stories have been written … It seems to me that the fact is that, in fact, the novel is not primarily about love. And not about politics – although there are lots of interesting observations on the times of the Prague Spring and political movements in general. And not even about how our childhood and our parents are inseparably pursuing us, managing decisions and actions – albeit about that too.

The book about betrayal is not in a tragic-epic sense, but in everyday, banal, daily. Tomas loves Teresa, she is the only one in a series of his countless love adventures with whom he lives, sleeps, cares about. But he betrays her not so much by incessant betrayals (in the end, for him it is completely different, his mistresses do not at all compete with his wife’s place in his life), but by reflections on the fact that this woman was brought into his life as many as six independent from each other random events. Unable to deny the peculiarity of his feelings, he never ceases to wonder – but did he invent it? Perhaps, with the same success, there could have been any other random woman in Theresa’s place? But Teresa herself, who bound his hands with her weakness and vulnerability, bewitched by the bizarre beauty of her nightmares – isn’t she betraying herself, trying to endure intolerable jealousy?

However, Sabina is closer to me – the eternal lover and traveler, running away from any attachments, betraying any connections. A thorough and boring Fritz will begin to pray and be equal to her all his life, admiring the level of freedom inaccessible to him and not understanding that everything is not so sweet from the inside.

A book about loneliness, which catches up even with happy mutually in love, which is why it speaks to each of the readers who have already managed to feel it. The book is about that we are doomed to doubt and ask questions, being never completely convinced of anything, because life is lived right away and no one will explain whether our choice was right or best. Or perhaps the most important happiness, promising that same notorious lightness, was around the corner, for which we did not turn? The book that we all see the same thing in different ways, and our path is marked by a series of miscellaneous betrayals, and no one will tell you the only true answer.

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This was a book that I have really tried to like.  In fact, I have come back to it numerous times, and every time I have found myself trying to talk myself into liking the book.  After all, the story is ideal for a great read!  Between the political intrigue, court life among Henry VIII, Sex, corruption, scandal, divorce, murder, beheadings — there really isn’t much that is missing from this story.  And in the hands of the right author, this story can really be something!  I just didn’t find that magic in Ms. Mantel’s rendition, however.

Thomas Cromwell, as presented in this book is a great character.  The insight into a man that for may was a real mystery is superb.  The strong arm for Thomas Wolsley, and eventually for the King.  Cromwell was shrewd, insightful, and certainly a lone wolf.  But Ms. Mantel does an excellent job of presenting the softer side of this infamous man.  Devoted to family, and loyal to a fault he comes across as a man struggling to constantly put his past behind him, while at the same time survive in the constantly upwardly mobile cycles of the upper class of the Tudor world.  This is a man that lost everything, and even in the face of the greatest of devastation, he was able to rise to become one of the most powerful men in England.  Both of these sides of Cromwell are beautifully portrayed in this book.  And the reader comes away with a much fuller picture of the man behind the legend.

The drawback to this book, however, is the writing style.  There was just something very awkward about the prose, and it made it very hard to read.  The shifting in points of view, and the stilted passages of conversation just made this book really hard for me to get through.  There is a stutter in the flow of the writing, which for me was very difficult to get past.  In the end I was more frustrated with the writing style, and it detracted from the story enough that I couldn’t connect sufficiently with the characters to get personally invested in the book.  When the difficult writing style is combined with a very weighty story, this book becomes almost daunting to get through.  There is just so much that it tries to tackle.  The politics, the convoluted connections of the royal court, the subtle machinations of all the people involved — and this book becomes more of an effort to read than it does an escape.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Contemporary Authors

The New Yorker Book Review

The Guardian Book Review

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

The title character of this haunting historical novel is Carrie McGavock, whose farmhouse was commandeered as a Confederate field hospital before the tragic battle at Franklin, Tennessee, in November 1864. That day, 9,000 soldiers perished. This tragic event turned McGavock into “the widow of the South.” She spent the rest of her life mourning those lost, eventually reburying nearly 1,500 of them on her property. Robert Hicks’s first historical novel captures the life-altering force that war exerts even on noncombatants.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book that I found very surprising! Usually I avoid Civil War era books, and stories. I find that the subject is so much popular tripe, and the stories become cliche, and disappointing. However, this story proved to be an exception to the rule.  It is based on an unusual point of view — a woman, Carrie McGavock, whose home was commandeered as an army hospital, because it was at the site of one of the last battles of the war, the battle of Franklin, Tennessee. The story does more than break the saga of this war down to them against us, the North against the South.  Rather, this story takes a very real look at the human side of war, particularly a war that nearly destroyed this country.  And through out the story we are introduced to the medical practices of the time, (or lack thereof), and the devastation that was visited upon the cities of this country.  Most of us do not stop to realize that many homes became hospitals, and military bases.  Many acreage became cemeteries, and many people didn’t just hear about the war — but they lived in it, as it moved through their front yards, and destroyed everything in its path.  They were not just side line spectators, but on the front lines of complete devastation.

Mr. Hicks has done a very good job of portraying the growth and development of all of the characters, without dropping the story, or loosing track of the course of the action. This book offered an interesting insight into the death throws of the old South as it was, before the war shredded the remains of a dying lifestyle. This book also does very well at demonstrating the difficulties encountered in the South, during the course of reconstruction; particularly the difficulties encountered by people in letting go of the past, and forging a new, and to them, unknown future. Ultimately I found this book to be a great picture, in historical fiction form, into the difficulties encountered by a dying gentry, as America struggled to move into a new age that was dependent on mechanized production, and not genteel trade sustained on the backs of slaves.

This book helps the reader look at the elements of a culture that defined the racial difficulties existing in the United States, and forces the reader to think about the origins of those differences — many of which have continued to survive into modern day. Few people realize that in some ways the scars of this era continue, and in some cases they even fester and develop into modern day struggles for racial equality.  We like to think that this lifestyle, and this dark era of our history died with the last of the Southern plantations.  However, a careful reading of this book allows the reader to realize how close to the surface these questions of race, and equality really are.  By understanding their origins, we come to see  that we, as a nation are still struggling to heal the wounds that nearly tore this country apart.

I found myself really enjoying this book, and would recommend it for anyone that enjoys reading historical fiction.  Not only is Carrie McGavock a really fun character, but she gives us a front line view of a struggle that continues throughout this country today, and she also allows us to see the death throws of the old South, as a once great culture struggled to adapt and change in a rapidly shifting world.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Interview with Robert Hicks

The Killing Fields Book Review article

The Historical Setting

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Book Review: ★★★★★★
What a fun read — for children and adults alike! I try to keep as wide a variety of types of books as possible for this blog, because I know that there are as many different tastes in books, and there are books themselves. And since I started, the area I have always been weak in is the books geared to younger generational audiences. And yet, I consider these more than just important. The world we live in is losing interest in reading. With the advent of television, the internet, video games, movies, videos — it is simply information overload — and the real importance of reading is being lost. And unfortunately — if it isn’t something that is introduced to children when they are young, they will rarely grow up loving books — since there is so much more in the world that is clamoring for their attention. The unfortunate side effect is the lowering of people’s ability to read, think, and reason. Books bring so much to our lives, and the less reading that is done, the less our cognitive abilities are. The reason for this is that reading requires more than simple reading skills. It also taps into the reasoning, as different ideas and beliefs are encountered. It demands the engagement of the imagination, the thinking, and comprehension abilities of our minds. This is why I am trying to put an emphasis on finding books that are great reading material for not simply adults — but children, and young adults as well.

This book is a great one to fit that bill. A complete re-creation of the fairy tales, legends, and many of the fantasies that most adults grew up loving. There are appearances from giants, Jack and his infamous beanstalks, Prince Charming, Snow White, Glinda, The Three Little Pigs, The Big Bad Wolf, The Magic Mirror, The White Rabbit, and the Queen of Hearts. The list goes on, and it is all based on the legend of the great Grimm legacy, handed down from the original Brother’s Grimm — and set in a modern setting, amongst a world that no longer believes in fairy tales and fantasy.

The writing in this book is spectacular, and the story line is very well done (even for adults!). It has completely revived the fairy tales, and has allowed them to live again, in another context that still remains true to their original settings. The characters are not only fun — but there is more depth than you would expect to find, and dimension is added to even the old characters from the fairy tales. Jumping from the old two dimensional world of the fairy tale page, even they are given life, and the reader is able to see them as real people, in a real world.

And the premise of the story — a modern day mystery, surrounded by fantasy characters is completely enjoyable. As the sisters Sabrina, and Daphne Grimm discover their heritage, and learn to step into the life they don’t believe in, but are meant to inherit, as fairy tale detectives in their new home of Ferryport Landing — the old Grimm legends take on even more entertaining meanings. And be prepared for some surprises in your preconceived ideas of who the original fairy tale characters were. There are some great twists in the story.

This book is a must read that is fun, and enjoyable reading for all ages!

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

The Sister’s Grimm Website

Michael Buckley Website

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Book Review: ★★★★★★
This is a book that I have actually picked up, and started no less than ten times. And the strange part is I never got past the first three paragraphs, before putting it down, and moving on to something else. And the crazy part is, once I actually picked it up, and started to read it in earnest — I fell in love with the book!

This book is all about perception. The duality of images, and how the actual image and the interpretation of those images are not always one and the same thing. And while the story is an excellent one, what impressed me the most about the story is not the characters, or the mystery, or the story line itself — all of which are excellent — but it was the use of the story to convey the importance of perception. Even the story itself is not what it appears to be — and if you want an interesting trip through a mind warp, this is the story to do it.

This constant revisiting of the duality of perception is present not only in the story itself, but the symbolism of the characters, the perception of reality and fantasy, memory and fiction, the images seen in the lace — and the images created through the perceptions of life. The bottom line always comes back to it isn’t how you see the images — but it is also in how you interpret them that is important.

And even with all of this to try to pay attention to, the constant duality of people, roles, and images this book also offers an incredible look into not only the history, but the legacy that is Salem. This unique heritage of ultra-conservative religious views, and the stigma of witchcraft that has developed into a living phenomenon gives the reader not only a feel for this unique town, but this entire setting once again reinforces the idea that not everything is as it appears. The town that was once synonymous with heresy and witchcraft has actually become a haven for those that believe in witchcraft today. Once again reinforcing the idea that the ideal and the actual are almost never the same.

This is a hard book to explain, and I know I haven’t given you much about the story, as much as about what I felt was the ultimate goal of the author. However, you will have to forgive me, but even the smallest of explanations of the story line itself would take away the unique understanding that comes through trying to figure out what is actually real, and what is imagined in this book. This is not your run of the mill story with static characters, a predictable plot line, and superficial literary tools to try to keep the reader’s attention. This book is full of depth in the plot, the characters, and the symbolic images that infuse this story with a life of its own.

Simply put, the opening line tells the reader right from the beginning what kind of story you are in for — and the main character means exactly what she says, right from the get go. “My name is Towner Whitney. No, that’s not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time.”

This book is an excellent read — and one that I highly recommend! A must read that you won’t want to miss. For more information about this book, and its author, be sure to visit the following websites:

The Lace Reader Website

Brunonia Barry’s Blog

Brunonia Barry’s Website

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Book Review: ★★★★★★
I love to read about World War II, and particularly about the Nazi’s and the Holocaust. So when I picked this book up, I was really looking forward to a great new story, in this area. Boy, what a disappointment. I can’t say if this was a result of just a poor story all the way around, or if it was a really bad translation, because I know this book had really good reviews in its native language of French.

For starters the simple construction of the writing really gave me a hard time. There were paragraphs in this book that literally went on for three and four pages. I found myself having to read, and re-read just to figure out if something pertained to the paragraph it was in, or if the author was talking about something else entirely. It made the book really confusing, and hard to follow.

Another thing that I found that was very weird was the obsession of the main character in the area of his gastro-intestinal difficulties — on a very graphic nature. The main character would spend literally paragraphs describing his bowel movements, and the digestive problems that he had. Talk about a huge turn off.

He also seemed to be obsessed with his descriptions of his sexual exploits with men. Now, not that I am being prudish — but what I found strange about this is the time frame and era. I mean, homosexuals in Nazi, Germany fared only slightly better than those of Jewish descent. And yet to read this book, you would think that this was a regular pastime of the military personnel of the entire Nazi military. I really had a hard time getting that to compute. How did all of these men spend so much time in their sexual encounters — without ending up in a labor camp, Nazi jail, a torture chamber, or worse yet — in a gas chamber? It just didn’t ring very true to me. I’m sure it went on, it is human nature. But to the extent that this book implies — I find a little hard to believe.

I guess I just had a really hard time reconciling this story with my understanding of Nazi Germany during this era. This of course really detracted from the story, in a very significant way.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

The Washington Post Book Review

Salon.com The Kindly Ones Review

The New York Times Book Review

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

The lie Celia told to conceal her misdeed became the accepted truth: everyone assumed Djuna had been abducted, though neither she nor her abductor was ever found. Celia’s unconscious avoidance of this has meant that while she and her longtime boyfriend, Huck, are professionally successful, they’ve been unable to move forward, their relationship falling into a rut that threatens to bury them both.

Celia returns to her hometown to confess the truth, but her family and childhood friends don’t believe her. Huck wants to be supportive, but his love can’t blind him to all that contra­dicts Celia’s version of the past.

Celia’s desperate search to understand what happened to Djuna has powerful consequences. A deeply resonant and emotionally charged story, The False Friend explores the adults that children become—leading us to question the truths that we accept or reject, as well as the lies to which we succumb.

Book Review: ★★★★★★
I’m still not sure what to make of this book. I have been seeing it on a lot of book reviews lately, and it is in many of the book lists that I receive. And now that I have read it, and started looking over some of the other reviews that are out there, I find that the opinions are all over the place. And there is a lot about this story that is both captivating, as well as a big let down. But I can say that what I liked about the book, I really liked. But I don’t know if I could say that I liked it enough to offset the turn offs once I had finished reading.

What I liked? Well — Ms. Goldberg has an amazing gift for language. There is no question that every sentence is not just written, but crafted. Her ability to describe people, places, events, and something as illusive as relationships is nothing short of breath taking. I found nothing trite or cliche in this book. Every sentence challenges the reader to stay tuned in — not so much to the story or the characters, but to the eloquent use of language. Not only is Ms. Goldberg’s ability to wield an exceptional vocabulary with precision and fineness, but she is also able to use words to their best advantage so as to make the reader stop and take notice of the writing style.

What I didn’t like? Well — simply put the story. I kept thinking that something was going on in this book. I mean either Ceila’s memories were wrong, or everyone else’s memories were. And the book never did quite make it clear what went on to so completely mess up Celia that she had totally blocked out the events of the fateful day in question. Add to that the myriad questions that were raised, and never finalized, such as the issues with her brother, her relationship with Huck, and the strange interactions that she has with her parents — and in the end I just came away wondering if Ms. Goldberg had forgotten to finish the story.

This book does raise some interesting questions on the subjects of memory, and relationships. And the innate desire in individuals to always see what they want to see in those we love. This was clearly demonstrated with Celia and her parents. They could see no wrong in her. Or at least that is the way it appeared in the book. Especially when Huck would provide such a strong counterpoint as an insight into Celia’s character. But, I felt like this could have been much stronger in its use had the story been completed. As it is there is a lot to be said for the illusive nature of memory, and the perceptions that other’s have of us, when compared to how we see ourselves. But there is no hard and fast insight that is gained from this book due to the distracting nature of the unfinished storyline.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Myla Goldberg Website

Author Interview

New York Times Book Review

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Book Review: ★★★★★★
This book is a great example of why I LOVE to read historical fiction, and why I am NOT such a great fan of romance novels. At 650 pages, this thrillingly engrossing work of torture is both fun to read, and frustrating all at the same time. Even the writing is both amazingly well done, and horrifyingly crafted into a read that keeps the reader swinging not only from suspense, but also desperation for the story to move on at times.

The setting, and historical backdrop of this story is an amazingly well done presentation of the struggles of Leningrad during the Nazi siege of the city. With breathtakingly evocative images presented in horrifying detail of the simple struggle to survive, as this city was slowly starved to death during the brutal winter, in the middle of daily bombings and chaos — from the beginning the reader simply cannot walk away. Simons has developed a real feel for the painful struggle to survive during this tragic, and heroic time in Russian history. She has also given the reader a wonderful feel for the catch 22 of the residents of this city — caught between the oppressive regime of Stalin’s NKVD, and the Nazi’s violently prejudicial fanatics. The feeling of what it was like to live while being oppressively haunted from the inside, and systematically destroyed from outside is a living experience in this story that will stay with the reader for quite some time.

The characterization of Tatiana and Alexander are also very unique, and powerfully compelling. The concept of a wanted American working in the Red Army as a decorated military officer keeps the reader well attached to the dilemma of Alexander, and his unusual predicament of a precarious position. Add to that a best friend that is blackmailing him into defecting, and the love of his life working as a magnet to keep him exactly where he is — living a carefully crafted lie, and you have the ground work for a story that keeps pulling the reader in.

Where it finally became too much for me, however, was when Simons finally allowed the romance side of the story to completely take over the natural flow of it all. The obvious, and even overwhelming intrusion of the love triangle in the early part of the story was beyond frustrating. It was forced, and came across as the stuff of cookie cutter writing in a melodrama style. At times I almost considered the whole situation farcical and even offensive to my intelligence. Unfortunately, when Alexander and Tatiana finally do come together it didn’t improve. I felt like at that point the only thing Simons could think of to write about was sex, and the story was completely lost for no less than 100 to 150 pages. If Simon’s had simply stayed with the original development of the historical fiction line, this story could have been amazing! As it was, because of the romance intrusion, I felt like in the end I had been through a battle of my own, just trying to get through. And the ending didn’t help — after everything this amazing couple went through, I just felt like the fatalistic undercurrent of this story finally took over, and left the reader on a huge downer of an ending. And I realize that this is only the first book in a trilogy. But at the end of this one Simons has so far to go that I am almost afraid to read the next two.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Paullina Simons Website

Interview with the Author

Seattle PI Book Review

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