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oceanwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I never would have guessed there would be a middle grade book with a Chernobyl backdrop. I’ve read a couple of nonfiction books about the disaster but none through the lens of fiction. Having it told through the eyes of two children gave a unique insight.
Pripyat girls Oksana and Valentina notice a change in the atmosphere on the morning of April 26th, 1986 and are particularly curious about the blue flames coming from the Chernobyl plant. They wonder if this fire is the reason why neither of their fathers have come home from their overnight shifts. Aside from their concern, their days go along as normal; Oksana bullying Valentina which leads to their school day beginning with a punishment.
Thoughts of their feud give way to more concerned whispers around town. Valentina’s mother isn’t fooled by the reassurances from the government and is the least surprised when the Pripyat citizens are eventually boarded onto buses and taken to Kiev. To Oskana's horror, she finds herself separated from her mother due to her elevated radiation levels and has no choice but to leave with Valentina and her mother. Valentina is none too happy about this, either, and is confused why her mother would take in the girl who has treated her so poorly.
From Kiev, the girls are sent to Leningrad to stay with Valentina’s grandmother. Valentina is nervous as she’s always been told she hasn’t met her grandmother because she does ‘dangerous things’. Oskana is nervous about being taken in by an old Jewish woman. Both of the girls’ worries are soon eased, albeit, not without Oskana being forced to face the reality of the abusive environment she’s grown up in and the prejudices she’s been told to keep.
The book also has a sporadic third point of view through Rifka, showing her life during World War II. Her trials echo some of what Valentina and Oskana are going through. Their stories and Rift’s are woven nicely, both empathizing themes of survival and unlikely friendship.
As much as I enjoyed the book, I will say it’s a tad misleading to say that Chernobyl is the main focus. While it’s the driving force of the story, most of the mentions of the disaster end by the halfway point aside from the odd mention here and there. It is more of a story about life in the Soviet Union and the effects of antisemitism, among other difficult subjects.
My favorite part of the book is the characters' growth, particularly Oskana's. There is a good balance of her favorable and less than favorable qualities. I also enjoyed Valentina’s openness to embracing the traditions her grandmother celebrates despite the risk of doing so.
While I did enjoy Rifka’s story and it did serve a purpose to the predominant plot, I also think the book could have done without it or at least could have given an abbreviated version. A lot of the book was spent on her when there was enough happening with Oskana and Valentina. In any case, I enjoyed the story immensely and I appreciated the frank exploration of heavier topics for this age group. I know I have another book by this author on my shelf and I am even more excited to read that one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child abuse, and Antisemitism
Moderate: War, Bullying, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcoholism, Genocide, and Abandonment
listen_learn's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and War
chickchick22's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Informative and amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Child abuse, and Death of parent
fizzy_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Police brutality, Genocide, and Toxic relationship
ollievera's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
In The Blackbird Girls, two girls (Valentina and Oksana) who were previously enemies have to go live with Valentina's grandmother after the Chernobyl disaster. They must leave their mothers behind and have to learn how to get along. There is a change of POV's throughout the story, mainly between Oksana and Valentina, but also a third character named Rifka whose story is set during WWII. The book kept me interested and guessing most of the time, especially when the two girls were forced to evacuate their home town to live with Valentina's grandmother, who she had never met before. It was interesting to see how the girls came to live with each other, even though they had differences. I didn't really dislike everything, and thought the book was written very well. I think this book could be aimed towards middle schoolers who want an interesting story about the Chernobyl incident and what happened because of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Death of parent
nighttgarden's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
ahriley's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Emotional historical fiction tying together events from WWII and Chernobyl, nice found family thread. I had difficulty connecting with it but part of that may be it was my first audiobook.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
jiulia's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- 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
3.0
A good book, I expected more about Chernobyl. I would highly recommend this book to young people in the phase of development as it has a lot of themes and topics.
If you are a teenage or over I wouldn’t necessarily say this book to you, but if you want a fast and emotional read with good writing and informations about the Soviet Union and the culture of some of it’s former states, then this is a book for you!
If you are a teenage or over I wouldn’t necessarily say this book to you, but if you want a fast and emotional read with good writing and informations about the Soviet Union and the culture of some of it’s former states, then this is a book for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: War and Genocide
postelwaith's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Incredible story, very timely considering the current situation in the Ukraine. Beautiful
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Bullying
katiekoo57's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse