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elviebird's review
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Beautifully written, but disjointed. I feel like several of the chapters could have been cut out but she needed 12 to make a whole year. If this had been a book of short stories centered around Kamchatka without the kidnapping subplot, it still would have been missing something…. The female “mains” were flat, one note, and mostly unlikeable. I felt no connection to any of them with the possible exception of Marina (the mom). The kidnapping basically frames the stories and keeps the reader invested.
purplepierogi's review
4.0
really good !! ah! like a bunch short story focusing on different women in a Siberian peninsula, including indigenous women, some more engaging than others but all written really beautifully
melodys_library's review
4.0
The story sets off with a bang, right into the disappearance. However, the remainder of the book is much less about the disappearance of the girls and more about how the disappearance affected the young women in the surrounding Russian peninsula. The author paints vivid pictures of the landscape and lives of the women in Kamchatka, including social and race relations. I appreciated the ending, which brought closure to the disappearance.
dokidoki's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
143colleen's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ellymc's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
kelseygancsos's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
emiroliase's review against another edition
1.0
i’m so pissed. this book was hard to follow and the stories bounced around too much. the ending barely spoke on what happened to the girls. all that for one chapter. i am so upset. i would’ve preferred if some of the chapters including the girls death was in perspective of the girls. i would have also liked some flash back chapters from lilia (or however you spell it). this book was such a fucking disappointment and julia phillips shouldn’t even be trusted to write a grocery or to-do list.
brookeekay's review against another edition
2.0
I had a VERY difficult time switching POVs so often and there were so many characters that it was hard to follow. As soon as I finally got interested in the new characters story, it would switch to a new character that I wasn’t yet invested in. There are also many POVs that we never get back to which is frustrating and I struggle to understand the point of them.
It took me a month to read this book because I found it hard to get connected to the characters since they kept changing (And I’m the type of person who can read a book in a day). The storyline kept changing as well, while there was always the underlining of the missing girls, there were side stories that were never finished or addressed again. I think each story was well written, but I think the structure the author chose to write it in was not conducive to an enjoyable read.
It’s also impossible to keep track of who people are since if they do reappear later in the story it’s MUCH MUCH later after you’ve already forgotten about them and reinvested yourself into new characters.
Overall, I think the book is in some ways well written but the plot is so bad that it is almost unreadable. I had to force myself to read it just so I could finish it and move on with it. I enjoyed the stories individually but I wish more time was invested into each of the individual stories instead of just throwing several stories into one book.
It took me a month to read this book because I found it hard to get connected to the characters since they kept changing (And I’m the type of person who can read a book in a day). The storyline kept changing as well, while there was always the underlining of the missing girls, there were side stories that were never finished or addressed again. I think each story was well written, but I think the structure the author chose to write it in was not conducive to an enjoyable read.
It’s also impossible to keep track of who people are since if they do reappear later in the story it’s MUCH MUCH later after you’ve already forgotten about them and reinvested yourself into new characters.
Overall, I think the book is in some ways well written but the plot is so bad that it is almost unreadable. I had to force myself to read it just so I could finish it and move on with it. I enjoyed the stories individually but I wish more time was invested into each of the individual stories instead of just throwing several stories into one book.
elienore's review
Listening as an audiobook. I keep hoping for stronger connections between the characters/updates on the sisters who disappeared, but they're too vague for me. I do like the vignettes and the emphasis on indigenous vs. white women, for the Russian authorities is powerful and parallels the US systems.