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A review by beardedbarista
The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
4.0
Well I was very excited to win this book from the Goodreads give-a-way and even more excited to know I was one of the first to read it before it hit the shelves.
Probably not a book I would normally pick up but sometimes you need those kind of books to break the monotony of your usual reads.
The Betrayers was excellently written. I was a little thrown off by the dialogue set up but very briefly. The foreign setting was probably the most difficult part for me but that is only because I am not educated on affairs in Russia and Israel. David Bezmozgis does a superb job of creating the characters in the story. Leora and Kotler were both easy to envision as well as Svetlana and Tankilevich. I really wanted to like Kotler even though he was kind of a scumbag and there is no lack of sympathy towards Tankilevich.
My main issue with the story was that I would have liked more. It was a very simple story in a very complex situation. I found myself not caring for the characters only because the story was so uneventful. It is a story of betrayal and coincidence... or providence? It has a decent enough ending to wrap it up but it leaves you wanting to see more of what happens after and hopefully some explosions might occur.
I may just be ignorant to the deeper picture that is underlying in the book about life in Crimea for the Jewish community and also the other denominations that seemed to live very poorly. It was just a very simple story and one that is very quickly resolved.
It was a short book and I will credit it with that. At least it was not 600 pages and simple. I will most definitely pick up Bezmozgis other work and really did enjoy his writing style. This book just makes me want to be more educated on worldly affairs.
I may have to read it again once I am less ignorant to the world :)
Thanks for reading my review of The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
Love,
Justin
Probably not a book I would normally pick up but sometimes you need those kind of books to break the monotony of your usual reads.
The Betrayers was excellently written. I was a little thrown off by the dialogue set up but very briefly. The foreign setting was probably the most difficult part for me but that is only because I am not educated on affairs in Russia and Israel. David Bezmozgis does a superb job of creating the characters in the story. Leora and Kotler were both easy to envision as well as Svetlana and Tankilevich. I really wanted to like Kotler even though he was kind of a scumbag and there is no lack of sympathy towards Tankilevich.
My main issue with the story was that I would have liked more. It was a very simple story in a very complex situation. I found myself not caring for the characters only because the story was so uneventful. It is a story of betrayal and coincidence... or providence? It has a decent enough ending to wrap it up but it leaves you wanting to see more of what happens after and hopefully some explosions might occur.
I may just be ignorant to the deeper picture that is underlying in the book about life in Crimea for the Jewish community and also the other denominations that seemed to live very poorly. It was just a very simple story and one that is very quickly resolved.
It was a short book and I will credit it with that. At least it was not 600 pages and simple. I will most definitely pick up Bezmozgis other work and really did enjoy his writing style. This book just makes me want to be more educated on worldly affairs.
I may have to read it again once I am less ignorant to the world :)
Thanks for reading my review of The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
Love,
Justin