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A review by beckybosshart
Blood on the Siberian Snow by C.J. Farrington
3.0
This is a DNF for me; I struggled to get to the 100 page mark. Although I loved the idea and was thrilled to read a female amateur detective in Siberia, I found Olga to be boring. Many of the author’s turns of phrases are poetic or just interesting. But too much of the story is packed with (imo) unnecessary details that drag out the plot. Even though the book opens with a flash forward of a mystery to come, it must be rather far ahead in the book because I’d still not gotten to it by page 100. Instead we get a train accident, which is described in such a way that defies logic. Why would a train suddenly derail right in front of a crowd of people at the station? How could the blood of two people who died in that accident be flowing out of the train and splashing over the “Siberian snow”? I rather think the writer added that detail just so he could title the book.
And also, given Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, I found the political references to be disturbing. I’m sure they’re accurate (probably), I just don’t personally want to hear it from Russian characters. Like the off-hand mentions of Putin. He’s a thug kleptomaniac dictator, and if you’re not actively working against him, then you are part of the problem. I know, I know, Russians have their own reasons for continuing to prop up his system, mostly to keep Tsarist law and order. But I don’t personally care right now when Ukrainian children are being killed and displaced and innocent people bombed in their sleep by supposed “brothers” for a land grab and an imperialist ideal. There should at least be a sentiment expressed about the on-going war. And if not, Olga should have some self reflection about and wonder why she doesn’t care about a war in which her own brother was actively involved in.
Which brings me to the one-off reference about the brother just returning from his station in Crimea. And no mention of the war (which started in 2014 with a land grab for UKRAINIAN Crimea)? No hint to a justification or reason for why this character was even there given that hundreds of thousands of people have died because of a shadow war initiated because Russia broke its long-standing strategic agreement over its military base there and instead just decided to steal territory that Russian leaders themselves agreed was Ukraine 20 years previously. And, btw, for a hundred years, Russia deported and exiled the native Crimean population and resettled its own (politically and militarily connected people) there. Crimea was never “naturally and always dominated by Russians .” That’s more Putin propaganda for the mindless who don’t know the history. Plus, This isn’t 1960, it’s 2023, and Crimea has been part of Ukraine longer than it was ever a “Russian dominion.” That’s Putin’s propaganda filling your head with lies. Soviet Russia doesn’t exist anymore, it fell apart in the 1990s for good reason. One being that such a large nation state homogenized into one (and the leaders in Moscow decided that would be Soviet Russia) wasn’t sustainable nor profitable for all those people who were absorbed and suppressed.
In an effort to make the book more inclusive, the writer has made this military brother gay. Alright. The only problem with that is then his oblique reference to “while the military says it’s ok, they don’t act that way, and you’ll loose your position.” Um. If you’re lucky. You’ll probably actually be murdered for daring to be openly gay. The homophobia in Russia is SO ACUTE, I don’t think this young guy would ever have 1. Realized he had a right to assert his sexuality and that he had a right to be a gay man 2. Admitted it to himself to then have done something to bring it to the attention of his superiors 3. Then escaped to tell the tale. I think news would’ve spread and he would’ve been killed, severely beaten even before he got on the train home. We don’t really know what happens in Russia and how open people are treated because it’s a dictatorship with 0 freedom of information. The media is state run. Gay people could be openly persecuted and we’d never know it. This detail may make the novel seem more inclusive and that there is some acceptance of non-cis lifestyles in some places in Russia. But I doubt it. And especially not tiny tail towns in Siberia where everyone seems to know this guy’s business and even his horrible father has denounced him. This guy is a goner.
Anyway, as you can tell I have personal feelings about the setup of this book; therefore, it does me no good to continue reading when I’ve got so many other books waiting.
And also, given Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, I found the political references to be disturbing. I’m sure they’re accurate (probably), I just don’t personally want to hear it from Russian characters. Like the off-hand mentions of Putin. He’s a thug kleptomaniac dictator, and if you’re not actively working against him, then you are part of the problem. I know, I know, Russians have their own reasons for continuing to prop up his system, mostly to keep Tsarist law and order. But I don’t personally care right now when Ukrainian children are being killed and displaced and innocent people bombed in their sleep by supposed “brothers” for a land grab and an imperialist ideal. There should at least be a sentiment expressed about the on-going war. And if not, Olga should have some self reflection about and wonder why she doesn’t care about a war in which her own brother was actively involved in.
Which brings me to the one-off reference about the brother just returning from his station in Crimea. And no mention of the war (which started in 2014 with a land grab for UKRAINIAN Crimea)? No hint to a justification or reason for why this character was even there given that hundreds of thousands of people have died because of a shadow war initiated because Russia broke its long-standing strategic agreement over its military base there and instead just decided to steal territory that Russian leaders themselves agreed was Ukraine 20 years previously. And, btw, for a hundred years, Russia deported and exiled the native Crimean population and resettled its own (politically and militarily connected people) there. Crimea was never “naturally and always dominated by Russians .” That’s more Putin propaganda for the mindless who don’t know the history. Plus, This isn’t 1960, it’s 2023, and Crimea has been part of Ukraine longer than it was ever a “Russian dominion.” That’s Putin’s propaganda filling your head with lies. Soviet Russia doesn’t exist anymore, it fell apart in the 1990s for good reason. One being that such a large nation state homogenized into one (and the leaders in Moscow decided that would be Soviet Russia) wasn’t sustainable nor profitable for all those people who were absorbed and suppressed.
In an effort to make the book more inclusive, the writer has made this military brother gay. Alright. The only problem with that is then his oblique reference to “while the military says it’s ok, they don’t act that way, and you’ll loose your position.” Um. If you’re lucky. You’ll probably actually be murdered for daring to be openly gay. The homophobia in Russia is SO ACUTE, I don’t think this young guy would ever have 1. Realized he had a right to assert his sexuality and that he had a right to be a gay man 2. Admitted it to himself to then have done something to bring it to the attention of his superiors 3. Then escaped to tell the tale. I think news would’ve spread and he would’ve been killed, severely beaten even before he got on the train home. We don’t really know what happens in Russia and how open people are treated because it’s a dictatorship with 0 freedom of information. The media is state run. Gay people could be openly persecuted and we’d never know it. This detail may make the novel seem more inclusive and that there is some acceptance of non-cis lifestyles in some places in Russia. But I doubt it. And especially not tiny tail towns in Siberia where everyone seems to know this guy’s business and even his horrible father has denounced him. This guy is a goner.
Anyway, as you can tell I have personal feelings about the setup of this book; therefore, it does me no good to continue reading when I’ve got so many other books waiting.