Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Tarp pilkų debesų by Ruta Sepetys

58 reviews

acupofmouie's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

"My husband, Andrius, says that evil will rule until good men or women choose to act. I believe him. This testimony was written to create an absolute record, to speak in a world where our voices have been extinguished."

This book is a testament to what the Baltic countries silently endured during Stalin's regime. It may not be the loudest part of history that most of us have heard of but I hope this book finds its way to more readers and remind that it happened, they exist, and they are now free.

This is a story of hope and of families who lived and loved amidst the horror of a ruthless ruler.


Full review: ✨ https://acupofmouie.blogspot.com/2021/01/ook-review-ashes-in-snow-by-ruta-sepetys.html?m=1

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

michelle1912's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Rape

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense fast-paced

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

5.0

“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch.”


This book broke my heart. This is a very important book to me though because I am Lithuanian and my great grandmother was born there. I learned a lot. Like I didn’t even know this happened and it disgusts me. Like how did the world come to that? Everyone should read this!! I’m going to be shoving this down everyone’s throat telling them to read it.

Reread
I honestly enjoyed this more the second time. I think it’s because of the state of the world. I just love all the characters and how strong they are. I just can’t believe this even happened. I loved how these people found happiness or hope in little things to keep going. It’s very inspirational. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Death of parent, Excrement, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and War

awells96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

bwritesreviews's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

 

Spoiler-free thoughts: Truly one of the best books I’ve ever read. It was so sad, but felt so important. Honestly, I think everyone should read it. Also, the copy I had of the book has lots of educational resources which made me super happy! It could easily be used for history classes and honestly should be. This is the second book that I’ve read by Ruta Sepetys and my already high opinion of her was once again proven true. 

Characters: 5/5

I truly believe this may have been some of the best well written characters I’ve read in a book in a long time. Every single character is complex and reacts to their trauma in realistic ways. Some of them are downright mean to others, but they remain sympathetic because Ruta Sepetys makes sure they are. Lina, the main character, remains strong through the horrible things she goes through but her reactions to what happens to her is also realistic. My personal favorite character in the whole novel was Lina’s mother, she stayed strong for her kids and became the leader of their group of people. The villains felt like villains too, and even when they’re “sympathetic” they aren’t immediately forgiven. 

Writing Style: 5/5

Ruta Sepetys knows how to throw an emotional punch. The writing style of the novel made me feel like I was going through an emotional roller coaster…I cried several times. One of the most interesting parts of her writing style is it’s written in third person omniscient, but the writing feels like your seeing what Lina is seeing. I think this is a really good idea for the topic of the novel. The ending felt “incomplete”, but I personally thought that matched the tone of the book perfectly. Speaking of tone, the book’s tone felt like it matched how traumatic it was. It remained serious and sad throughout the whole thing, but there were moments of happiness and hope that felt so real, it hurt.

Plot: 5/5

This book was so sad overall, so it feels a bit weird to be giving the plot any rating at all. But I think this book is one of those that are important everyone read. Despite the hurt of the book, I was glad I read it. Ruta Sepetys is a self-proclaimed “Seeker of Lost Stories” and I think she did a wonderful job doing that. The plot remains heavy and does not shy away from the horrors that these characters endured. The build-up to what was happening was short, but I think that was a good decision, when a book is as serious as this you don’t need too much exposition to set the tone. This story was character-driven and not necessarily plot-driven, but that doesn’t mean the plot wasn’t good. It felt like everything happened for a reason, there were no throwaway scenes. All of it was important.

Overall, a really, really excellent book that I suggest everyone read. Usually I would do a recommended for here, but I think this is such an important book that even if you don’t like this kind of thing, you should read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

my_username's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Torture, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Rape, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Abortion

TRIGGER WARNING: One of the characters mother needs to prostitute herself to save her son. That was honestly the hardest part for me to read

lenaricharz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, War, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Medical content

terezsch's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Story of Lithuanian people deported to Siberia, emotional, descriptions of the working camps, despair, very good description of the psychological evolution of the charachters. Not unnecessarily descriptive. Important and not so often talked about consequences during WW2.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Rape