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A review by claudiaslibrarycard
Hard By a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Hard by a Great Forest is the story of Saba traveling back to his childhood home of Tbilisi to search for his missing father. Over twenty years ago, Irakli left Georgia with his two sons, Saba and Sandro. Their mother couldn't get papers to leave the country, so they fled to England without her.
Now Saba arrives in Georgia to find his father and brother, following a breadcrumb like trail of clues reminiscent of fairy tails. As he disembarks the plane, he arrives in a city in crisis. The recent flood has caused many of the zoo animals to escape and roam the town. And on top of that Saba doesn't even know where to begin to look, so he leans on the support of his cab driver turned friend Nodar.
This book is a beautiful, gut wrenching story of Saba and Nodar following the trail of clues to discover the memories Saba has forgotten and to try to heal the trauma of Nodar's recent past. Through absolutely harrowing challenges, this unlikely pair become family and stick by each other to try to solve Saba's family mystery.
I loved the vivid descriptions of the mountainous landscape and way Vardiashvili's characters persevere through brutality and loss. There are elements of imagination and so many metaphors, this book reads easily and tugs at your heart while it is also full of so much depth and intention that it begs to be read again. (And I plan to.)
Hard by a Great Forest will grab your heart and squeeze it until after you put this book down at its last page. I cannot say enough about this one. If this is his debut, I wait with baited breath for Vardiashvili's next novel.
Now Saba arrives in Georgia to find his father and brother, following a breadcrumb like trail of clues reminiscent of fairy tails. As he disembarks the plane, he arrives in a city in crisis. The recent flood has caused many of the zoo animals to escape and roam the town. And on top of that Saba doesn't even know where to begin to look, so he leans on the support of his cab driver turned friend Nodar.
This book is a beautiful, gut wrenching story of Saba and Nodar following the trail of clues to discover the memories Saba has forgotten and to try to heal the trauma of Nodar's recent past. Through absolutely harrowing challenges, this unlikely pair become family and stick by each other to try to solve Saba's family mystery.
I loved the vivid descriptions of the mountainous landscape and way Vardiashvili's characters persevere through brutality and loss. There are elements of imagination and so many metaphors, this book reads easily and tugs at your heart while it is also full of so much depth and intention that it begs to be read again. (And I plan to.)
Hard by a Great Forest will grab your heart and squeeze it until after you put this book down at its last page. I cannot say enough about this one. If this is his debut, I wait with baited breath for Vardiashvili's next novel.