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the_cat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
rebeccasreadingrambles's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately, this novel just didn't work for me. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why I couldn't quite get invested in it. It's an interesting story and I did really enjoy parts of it. I would say that marketing it as a spy story is a little misleading. There are some spies. There is spy involvement with Doctor Zhivago. But that almost seemed like a side plot. This biggest plot involved Boris Pasternak's mistress's POV. And the second biggest was that of Irina and Sally, the two spies. This book is way more of a romance than a spy novel.
For me to love a story, no matter what the plot, I have to connect with the characters or at least some of them. My biggest disconnect with this book was with the characters themselves. My favorite part of the story (and the reason I'm giving it 3 stars) was Irina and Sally because they brought me through emotions! Most of the other characters were either flat or so over the top for me that I just couldn't connect - but maybe this was just me. I did love the POV of "typing pool" and thought that aspect of storytelling was really well done.
The storyline also really through me. While I found it overall interst, much of it was out of order; the time line jumping around enough to leave me a bit confused about where in "linear time" each POV was while listening. We knew things had happened and then were given a big scene that should display unease and leave us nervous - except we already know what happens thanks to another POV. That style just didn't work for me personally.
For me to love a story, no matter what the plot, I have to connect with the characters or at least some of them. My biggest disconnect with this book was with the characters themselves. My favorite part of the story (and the reason I'm giving it 3 stars) was Irina and Sally because they brought me through emotions! Most of the other characters were either flat or so over the top for me that I just couldn't connect - but maybe this was just me. I did love the POV of "typing pool" and thought that aspect of storytelling was really well done.
The storyline also really through me. While I found it overall interst, much of it was out of order; the time line jumping around enough to leave me a bit confused about where in "linear time" each POV was while listening. We knew things had happened and then were given a big scene that should display unease and leave us nervous - except we already know what happens thanks to another POV. That style just didn't work for me personally.
hitch's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Cold War, Boris Pasternak, lesbian
larawade's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
moriahcarli's review against another edition
mysterious
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
3.75
janemylechreest's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.0
trin's review against another edition
2.0
Faux. A case where I believe the author meant well, and wanted to highlight forgotten women's stories, but this novel felt inauthentic to me from beginning to end. And not just inauthentic: weirdly cold and unemotional. Among the stories Prescott tries to tell is a forbidden lesbian romance between two spies--and I appreciate the attempt!--but it's utterly passionless on the page. Same with the romance between Boris Pasternak and his mistress Olga. Characters keep saying that what's made Doctor Zhivago a lasting work is the love story at its core, the depth of feeling between Yuri and Lara--but where is that here?
Here, there is simply a lot of flat, often-interchangeable first person narration--as well as a flattening of what I feel would have been the real issues of the time. I love the idea of the members of the CIA typing pool all looking out for each other, for example, but Prescott just drops in the fact that one typist is black--yet never alludes to the racial prejudice she must have faced, or the likelihood of her being welcomed easily into a gang of white women--shopping and dining with them, going out--in 1950s Washington, D.C. I visited a friend down there recently and there were still people flying confederate flags just over the border in Virginia.
Even outside the realm of politics and intersectionality: early on in the book, Olga, who's been taken to the gulag, writes a letter to the interrogator who landed her there, and it's so obviously and ridiculously something that no real person would ever compose (even if it's clear she never sends it) that I had to put the book down for a while, I was rolling my eyes so hard. I just didn't believe it. And I never could: believe in, or lose myself in, or feel anything for the characters and scenarios described in this book.
Worst of all, Prescott never manages to convey why the novel at the core of this story, the one she's lauding, was so important. What was it about Doctor Zhivago that so frightened the Soviet state? Why was it effective as a weapon? Why was it worth all this--because none of the previous are explained, seemingly silly--spycraft? This book will not tell you.
It may, however, succeed in making you wish you had just read Pasternak instead. I know I do.
Here, there is simply a lot of flat, often-interchangeable first person narration--as well as a flattening of what I feel would have been the real issues of the time. I love the idea of the members of the CIA typing pool all looking out for each other, for example, but Prescott just drops in the fact that one typist is black--yet never alludes to the racial prejudice she must have faced, or the likelihood of her being welcomed easily into a gang of white women--shopping and dining with them, going out--in 1950s Washington, D.C. I visited a friend down there recently and there were still people flying confederate flags just over the border in Virginia.
Even outside the realm of politics and intersectionality: early on in the book, Olga, who's been taken to the gulag, writes a letter to the interrogator who landed her there, and it's so obviously and ridiculously something that no real person would ever compose (even if it's clear she never sends it) that I had to put the book down for a while, I was rolling my eyes so hard. I just didn't believe it. And I never could: believe in, or lose myself in, or feel anything for the characters and scenarios described in this book.
Worst of all, Prescott never manages to convey why the novel at the core of this story, the one she's lauding, was so important. What was it about Doctor Zhivago that so frightened the Soviet state? Why was it effective as a weapon? Why was it worth all this--because none of the previous are explained, seemingly silly--spycraft? This book will not tell you.
It may, however, succeed in making you wish you had just read Pasternak instead. I know I do.
rduncan's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
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
3.75
shelbymarie516's review against another edition
4.0
Was expecting a historical fiction on book smuggling during the Cold War. Got that and a romance.
bibliocinephile's review against another edition
3.0
so the prose of this book was truly unique. it felt dense yet was a quick read, and striking that balance was really well done. however, in the middle, the plot became somewhat muddied by this desire to make some sort of esoteric prose of inner conflict. after that, the ending seemed a bit rushed for the build up of the story. the ending was the perfect amount of satisfying with a bit of a cliffhanger, and i mean hello it's gay