Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Ashes in the Snow by Ruta Sepetys

5 reviews

pastorscratchy1reads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Self harm, Racial slurs, War, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Genocide, Death of parent, Death, Violence, Deportation, Torture, Physical abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Antisemitism, Cursing, Blood, Child abuse, and Alcohol

I just wish the ending was a little more clear. Like did Lina's father actually survive? What happens to Jonas? How does Lina find Andrius again?

scholastic_squid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

The Soviets are f*cked up. I am glad I bought a historical non-fiction about all this part of history as I will continue my journey of learning about Russian and Ukraine. 
The story told here is fictional however many of the experiences that occurred throughout were from actual events that happened to those imprisoned by Stalin. Lina was deported from Lithuania to Russia up into the Arctic Circle along with her mother and younger brother. Lina turned 16 before heading to the AC, while her brother was still around 12. If the imprisoned didn’t die from malnutrition, they were shot by the NKVD (later known as the KGB). Stalin was arguably worse than Hitler and would have done far more damage if left to his own devices. He killed 20 million ppl around the same time that Hitler killed approximately the same amount. That’s 40 million people gone within an approx 10 year timeframe. That would be the entire state of California….

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Religious bigotry, Grief, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Deportation, Torture, Suicide attempt, Genocide, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death, and Chronic illness

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Wow, what an incredibly powerful and important book! I am so grateful Ruta wrote this, it is so important we do not forget what happened to these amazing people. 

The book begins immediately with Lina and her brother and her mother getting taken to start working in a camp. 

The story is told rather methodically, “I said this, she did this, this happened then that happened” which I did not think I would like. However, I enjoyed the simplicity and that there weren’t a lot of purple prose or anything, nothing to distract you from the direct words you were reading. 

This is Ruta’s first published book and it definitley sounds/reads different than her others that I’ve read. But I still enjoyed it, as much as one can enjoy such a heart breaking book. 

I am not a crier but I did cry at the end, it moved and touched me so very deeply. 

As Ruta is Lithuanian, this felt like an homage to those who endured in silence for so long. I’m so glad light is being shed on the truth of what so many that suffered in silence went through for so many years... 

Quotes: 
“Have you ever wondered how much a person’s life is worth? That morning, my brother’s was worth a pocket watch.” 

“We’d been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we’d get a little closer.” 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Police brutality, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Violence

maximauve's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, War, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Suicide

solaris_zip's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

The first book I have ever read from Sepetys was “salt to the sea” and I immediately fall in love with the writing style, the character, the flow of the words. Today I had the pleasure of finishing “between shades of grey “ and it did not disappoint. From the writing, to the character development Sepetys always knows what she is doing. The story is heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time, you can feel Lina’s emotions on your own skin. The desire of freedom, that little spark of hope that never fully dies in her. The book shows, in a way or another, just a small portion of what 1000, it not more, people had to go through during WW2. And how those events scarred them and the generations to come. The book itself brings awareness to something that should be spoken more about, not just the moral of the book per se, but also about the tragic situation that those people where put in. What they went trough, what they had to see, what they had to leave behind and what they have lost in between. Rita Sepetys never fails to amaze me.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, and Slavery