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A review by caylinchronicles
Winterland by Rae Meadows
4.0
A very moving story about the life of a gymnast who grew up in the 70s-80s of Soviet Russia. Anya's determination and ability to fight through the pain and fear the average child or adult would never even think to endure, pulled at my own experiences in the gymnastics world and I did not have the misfortune of doing it during an age where gymnastics was one of its worse selves.
The story starts slow and has struggles in finding its pacing and true identify, but I think it's because of the dual POV the author chose. The story switches from Anya to her neighbor, an old woman named Vera, that is a Russian rebel of sorts- who was forced from camp to camp finding a way to somehow survive through betrayal of herself and everyone she's ever known. Because of the switching back and forth between the two leads in a book that is barely 300 pages, you get characters that are only halfway flushed out.
Besides that, the author strives in her ability to make us feel the harshness of the Siberia setting. Sitting in my own home in New England in January makes me feel warm and cozy compared to the bite of the cold that happens in these pages. A place that the only thing containing life was the gym where Anya had lived and was raised in for her whole childhood. All of her early blood, sweat and tears were hidden in the mats beneath the bars, beam, vault and floor. It's where my own lay for the first 13 years of life.
Overall, a moving story that I could actually see being flushed out better as a movie. Provided that the right script that gave us a better insight on our two characters that I thought deserved more detail in their storylines.
The story starts slow and has struggles in finding its pacing and true identify, but I think it's because of the dual POV the author chose. The story switches from Anya to her neighbor, an old woman named Vera, that is a Russian rebel of sorts- who was forced from camp to camp finding a way to somehow survive through betrayal of herself and everyone she's ever known. Because of the switching back and forth between the two leads in a book that is barely 300 pages, you get characters that are only halfway flushed out.
Besides that, the author strives in her ability to make us feel the harshness of the Siberia setting. Sitting in my own home in New England in January makes me feel warm and cozy compared to the bite of the cold that happens in these pages. A place that the only thing containing life was the gym where Anya had lived and was raised in for her whole childhood. All of her early blood, sweat and tears were hidden in the mats beneath the bars, beam, vault and floor. It's where my own lay for the first 13 years of life.
Overall, a moving story that I could actually see being flushed out better as a movie. Provided that the right script that gave us a better insight on our two characters that I thought deserved more detail in their storylines.