Reviews with content warning for Excrement - Ashes in the Snow

Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Ashes in the Snow by Ruta Sepetys

14 reviews

lexluth0r's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

This harrowing tale tells the story of a Lithuanian family who is deported to Siberia to work in a labor camp. Lina, her little brother Jonas, and their mother Elena are ordered from their home with just a few minutes to pack their belongings. They have no idea what has come of their father, Kostas, and whether or not he is still alive at this point. They are then boarded onto a cattle car with many other Lithuanians, whom we get to know during the journey, and transported to Siberia where they perform forced labor. Their treatment at the hands of the Soviet soldiers was horrifying, and the loss that these characters and the Lithuanian people endured cannot be fully encompassed in words. I could say so much more, but this is a book that I feel needs to be read to fully understand everything that the characters experience and I don't want to give away any spoilers.

This is a book that was powerful, moving, and heartbreaking. After finishing the book, I put it down and I had to process a lot. How could people treat one another this way? How could it happen over and over again throughout history? How did these characters (who represent very real people and very real survivors) endure? This story represents the story of millions of people whose lives were lost or stolen by the Soviets, and too few people know their stories. Too few people know this history.

This book is one that every living soul needs to read. There are stories and histories that are unknown, voices who have been silenced. And this book helps to give those people and their history a voice. That is one of the things that I love about Ruta Sepetys books; she helps histories be revealed. A beautiful, stunning book that is equally devastating.

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jennswan's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

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chelle22's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense

4.0

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alexxrose's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Very interesting and informative, even for fiction this was something I felt learned a lot from. I'd recommend it for sure, but I feel like it comes with some homework that you have to do on your own.

I struggled to connect with the main character's love of the artist Edvard Munch. This might be because I'm not well versed in art but I also felt like the paintings were supposed to be in reference to things happening in Lina's story but I couldn't make the connections very well.

I felt like the book shied away from some of the horrors of these camps. I don't know if this was a specific choice give the fact its a YA novel, or if the author didn't feel like it would be appropriate but it felt like it took away from the story. I don't need to see misery and death exploited on the page but it felt like there were grim undertones that were being purposefully looked away from. Which did disappoint me given the topic of the book.

The book also ended very abruptly.

once the doctor arrives and helps the prisoners at the camp, I thought there would be more about their continued survival at the camp or how they eventually left. Yes there was a set prison sentence but the text also implied it was indefinite, so its very unclear how one would leave a labour camp like this. I also wish there had been more closure with Lina's father and her relationship with Andrius and the sympathetic soldier. All of these end abruptly or get a one line wrap up that tells us nothing.</spoilers>

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