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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
"Being exceptional is nothing but a trap. It makes you obsessed with your own significance, and also, it riddles you with doubt. You do harsh things when you believe yourself one of a kind. You push away those who love you and you sneer at those you deem are not good enough." p. 147
The setting was exactly what I picture 1980's Russia like, but I can't say that I connected with the characters.
True to the form of all Russian novels I have ever read, get ready to read about the arduous journey through love, spite, hate, guilt, and the spiral into self loathing. That's not to say it isn't a good book! But lord, Russian books are always the most internally painful to read. And while we're talking about Russian novels, why do they all have to have the communist font on their covers?
challenging
emotional
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:
Complicated
"A moment comes, Kat thinks. A moment came. You're a glitch in a plan, an unfortunate error, and even your parents don't like who you've become. And once this knowledge sinks in, nothing else out there can scare you." [p.247]
"Except, Kat knows, it won't happen. Because being exceptional is nothing but a trap. It makes you obsessed with your significance, and also, it riddles you with doubt. You do harsh things when you believe yourself one of a kind. You push away those who love you and sneer at those you deem not good enough. She's seen it up close. She's done it herself all her life - believing that she had some sort of promise." [p.346]
This is a little gem of a book. It deserves more stars but I'm hesitant because of the way it made me feel.
The story opens when Kat is young, just getting ready to begin school, to enter into the magical world of her glamorous, intellectual, slightly subversive teacher parents. She longs to become a pupil in their school and bask in their attention and praise for her exceptional intellect. An unexpected medical diagnosis derails her plans, sending her, instead, to a residential clinical school, where she is neither beloved nor special. By the time she is an adolescent and her parents have joined the faculty at her school, a distance has grown between them and she eventually becomes disenchanted.
Fascinating for the details of life in 1980s Russia. Deeply heartbreaking for the details of Kat's longing for the attention her parents lavish on other students, and for the terrible mistakes she makes while trying to get it.
"Except, Kat knows, it won't happen. Because being exceptional is nothing but a trap. It makes you obsessed with your significance, and also, it riddles you with doubt. You do harsh things when you believe yourself one of a kind. You push away those who love you and sneer at those you deem not good enough. She's seen it up close. She's done it herself all her life - believing that she had some sort of promise." [p.346]
This is a little gem of a book. It deserves more stars but I'm hesitant because of the way it made me feel.
The story opens when Kat is young, just getting ready to begin school, to enter into the magical world of her glamorous, intellectual, slightly subversive teacher parents. She longs to become a pupil in their school and bask in their attention and praise for her exceptional intellect. An unexpected medical diagnosis derails her plans, sending her, instead, to a residential clinical school, where she is neither beloved nor special. By the time she is an adolescent and her parents have joined the faculty at her school, a distance has grown between them and she eventually becomes disenchanted.
Fascinating for the details of life in 1980s Russia. Deeply heartbreaking for the details of Kat's longing for the attention her parents lavish on other students, and for the terrible mistakes she makes while trying to get it.
It wanted to be an epic like Doctor Zhivago or Anna Karenina, but it was more of a review or an abridged book. The pace was fast and years slipped by. The characters aged, but with little change. I couldn't sink into plot, or relish in characterization. That said, it was short and sweet and had interesting glimpses of 1980s Russia.
I picked this book up off the new release shelf at my library based solely on the cover which usually people would tell you not to do but in this case worked out quite well for me.
Kat is a little girl of two school teacher parents who are deeply in love and deeply loved by their students. She looked forward to the day that she can go to the same school that they teach at and take part in the conversations with their beloved crowd. Her first year of school is about to start, she got a new brown skirt and a new bag to keep all her books in, all she needs to do is pass the prescreening physical and she will be in the clear. The one problem is, as she leans over getting her back tested the nurse realizes that she will not pass with her back. She had scoliosis, curving her spine.
Heartbroken and her life now taking a turn in a direction she had never imagined possible Kat is sent to a boarding school for children with the scoliosis. Kids in back braces, laying down instead of sitting up in chairs, swimming lessons is what she is met with. Here is where she changes.
The book goes through the story of Kat and her parents. How one crooked back changed the path of all of their lives and how they grew up and apart.
I would recommend reading this book. It’s one of the books that, as I have mentioned before, will be on my daughters to read list as she grows up.
Kat is a little girl of two school teacher parents who are deeply in love and deeply loved by their students. She looked forward to the day that she can go to the same school that they teach at and take part in the conversations with their beloved crowd. Her first year of school is about to start, she got a new brown skirt and a new bag to keep all her books in, all she needs to do is pass the prescreening physical and she will be in the clear. The one problem is, as she leans over getting her back tested the nurse realizes that she will not pass with her back. She had scoliosis, curving her spine.
Heartbroken and her life now taking a turn in a direction she had never imagined possible Kat is sent to a boarding school for children with the scoliosis. Kids in back braces, laying down instead of sitting up in chairs, swimming lessons is what she is met with. Here is where she changes.
The book goes through the story of Kat and her parents. How one crooked back changed the path of all of their lives and how they grew up and apart.
I would recommend reading this book. It’s one of the books that, as I have mentioned before, will be on my daughters to read list as she grows up.