A review by byrdies
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexiévich

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book was emotionally devastating to read. It took the tragedy of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which is most often discussed as an example of the consequences of Soviet self aggrandizement, and placed it at the feet of the survivors. It placed it within the homes and minds of regular, normal, every day people. It forced the reader to confront the fact that yes, the world goes on, but that doesn't mean it wasn't irrevocably changed. At least for the people who lived through it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Medical content, Suicide, Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood, Chronic illness, Infertility, Pregnancy, Gore, and Miscarriage