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ablotial's review against another edition
4.0
Spoiler
Silvana had found love with TonyI found myself yelling out loud at the bitchy next door neighbor who didn't know the whole story but formed opinions and treated Silvana like crap anyway. And at Janusz for how he treated Aurek when he felt the boy wasn't behaving normally.
War changes people.
I have so many more feelings about this book but am unable to write them down. I think I'll want to read it again some day and see if I feel the same way about it.
minniepauline's review against another edition
3.0
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
4.0
trankin's review against another edition
3.0
anitaofplaybooktag's review against another edition
4.0
The story is about a married Polish couple and their son. The couple is separated when the husband goes off to war. Both parties are tremendously impacted by the war, and when they finally reunite, all is not smooth sailing.
This book does several things extremely well.
First, the narrative structure is fantastic. The book is written from the perspective of the two main characters, and it alternates between time periods. So you see the war time from the husband's point of view and then separately from the wife's POV. Then, you move into the present and look into their current family life. This structure just propels you through the book like a rocket. It definitely has that "I can't put this down!" quality . . .
Second, the book definitely has some revealing moments that I think are cleverly done and believable. You sense there's something there the whole time you are reading . . .and when these moments are revealed you aren't shocked. But they do make the book feel as though it has more impact than a simple narrative of husband and wife.
The characters are all very well drawn, both likable and flawed at the same time.
The writing is totally engaging.
What I didn't like is that there is one major relationship in the book that I found to be somewhat unbelievable, and unfortunately, this relationship is a cornerstone to the plot. I want to say more about it, but I am afraid I could spoil the book. It is interesting because in the end, the author does something that makes it much more credible, BUT that is after you have almost finished the book and have been skeptical the entire time. The rationale for this relationship is revealed so late in the game and so without warning that it just becomes harder to swallow at that point. Oddly, the author is so so careful with all the other plot points - - giving the reader enough fodder throughout the book to make it believable. But she neglects to do the same with this particular relationship when it would have been pretty easy to set it up a little differently.
At any rate, it truly is one flaw in an otherwise very outstanding piece of writing. I'm probably being a bit of a grinch not to bestow that fifth star
nlkdonahue's review against another edition
4.0
A little predictable at the end but still a good read.
ljjohnson8's review against another edition
2.0
charlie_rosannah_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
atippmann's review against another edition
4.0
A good read!
palliem's review against another edition
4.0