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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A history spanning about 70-80 years. Three generations but two main characters. Russian history and folklore. A love story. A search for the past. Like many other multiple timeline books, The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch is about a woman with an artifact and a key searching for her past. Unfortunately, I find myself getting lost in the many characters and the history, and I end up not the reader for this book.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/11/the-last-russian-doll.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/11/the-last-russian-doll.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
While I really enjoy historical fiction, this novel had too many story lines. Instead of needing a family tree, I feel like a subway station map would have been needed to keep up with all the threads. The format of the book changes from past to semi-present, with names changing as well. It was very confusing. And at almost a month to finish, it was definitely a slow read.
Always a lover of historical fiction and this one did not disappoint.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Beautiful and haunting. I know so little about Russia, and there are so many tales to tell that aren’t about Anastasia. Lovely.
This was confusing and the ending was a major stretch. I listened on audio and I was never sure which timeline I was in. I connected with the Russian revolution timeline better, as our 1900’s main character was pretty boring. Overall this could have been set in any time period/any location. If you’re craving specifically Russian historical fiction, it didn’t hit that itch for me.
This book was a slow burn for me; I ended up loving it way more than I anticipated and am grateful to have selected this one as my March BOTM pick! As someone ignorant of Russian history, I enjoyed this glance into several eras through several storytellers, and was surprised by the way they intertwined. For the first 100-150 pages I had a difficult time tracking who was who, but by the end I was so invested that I kept it all straight.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is one of those books that I didn't necessarily like, but that had an undeniable emotional impact on me. I wouldn't necessarily say I enjoyed reading this book. But I wouldn't say that the book is bad.
This is frankly due to personal reasons. This book hits a little too close to home one too many times, and is also about a topic and a series of themes that are nearer and dearer to my heart than maybe anything else. Grappling with Russian history, especially now in an era where Russia is committing unspeakable atrocities on others countries - which, to be clear, is not new - is, unpleasant. And so reading a book which teases this out is... also unpleasant.
But I would be writing a poor review if I said that you shouldn't read this book. Besides being very readable with a very engaging plot, I do think it's the sort of book that people who don't know much about Russian history should read. Not to say that the book about the Russian Revolution and the Fall of the Soviet Union is topical, but, yeah, yeah it kind of is. Besides being topical in a more current events/historical way, it's also a really lovely meditation on belonging, on family, on legacy. I have to admit, I kind of adore stories that follow families through generations (my beloved Pachinko is a great example) and this book is no different. This balanced out the fact that Tonya and Valentin's continual missed connections made me want to tear my hair out - again, this book definitely had an emotional impact.
I can't really bring myself to give this more than a 3.5, but I think this is the sort of book that you have to wait and see on before you make a proper decision. Maybe I just don't want to admit how much I love it.
The ending also made me cry in public so, do with that what you will.
This is frankly due to personal reasons. This book hits a little too close to home one too many times, and is also about a topic and a series of themes that are nearer and dearer to my heart than maybe anything else. Grappling with Russian history, especially now in an era where Russia is committing unspeakable atrocities on others countries - which, to be clear, is not new - is, unpleasant. And so reading a book which teases this out is... also unpleasant.
But I would be writing a poor review if I said that you shouldn't read this book. Besides being very readable with a very engaging plot, I do think it's the sort of book that people who don't know much about Russian history should read. Not to say that the book about the Russian Revolution and the Fall of the Soviet Union is topical, but, yeah, yeah it kind of is. Besides being topical in a more current events/historical way, it's also a really lovely meditation on belonging, on family, on legacy. I have to admit, I kind of adore stories that follow families through generations (my beloved Pachinko is a great example) and this book is no different. This balanced out the fact that Tonya and Valentin's continual missed connections made me want to tear my hair out - again, this book definitely had an emotional impact.
I can't really bring myself to give this more than a 3.5, but I think this is the sort of book that you have to wait and see on before you make a proper decision. Maybe I just don't want to admit how much I love it.
The ending also made me cry in public so, do with that what you will.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Cannibalism