Released: March 22 2011Publisher: Philomel Books
Page Amount: 344, US Hardback
POV: 1st Person (Lina)
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon
OVERALL:
Plot-17/20Characters-19/20
Creativity-18/20
Writing-18/20
Pace-7/10
Ending-9/10
=88/100 B
★★★★/5
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SUMMARY:
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. -Goodreads
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. -Goodreads
REViEW:
Let me begin by saying historical novels are not my cup of tea. I already can't sit through history let alone read historical books for fun. I knew that when I picked up this book, but it was on sale. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the plot and felt a lot of sympathy towards the characters. I didn't particularly like the flashbacks though. They had to do with the present, but I thought it slowed down the pace. I did, however, love the evident emotion and was surprised by how attached to the story I became.
The characters were very well written. I could easily relate to Lina and really enjoyed her voice. Her family all had a great personalities and I really loved her little brother. The drama surrounding being separated from some family really added emotion to the story. Andrius and his mother were also very vividly drawn. The romance in this book was heart-wrenching and very heart-warming at times. Overall the ending and the characters really contributed to my enjoyment of this book.
The ending was so amazing. It was really simple, but it really fit the story and left me content. I can't imagine the book ending any other way. Sometimes an ending can make a book 10x better, this book was an example of that. I am really glad I picked up this book, even though it isn't my favorite genre.
My Favorite Part: The ending, I absolutely adored it!
ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, it's touching and it's a little bit of history.
Thank you all for reading!
It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥
I don't read historical novels either, though I love history. ;) Which is why I've seen this around, but chose not to add it. I'm glad you decided to give this a go and that there's a good, well-rounded cast in here. So pleased you enjoyed it! Fab review, Macy. :)
ReplyDeleteNew follower. :)