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margueritestjust 's review for:
Daughters of a Dead Empire
by Carolyn Tara O'Neil
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another book that tackles the legend of Anastasia, although this time in a wholly realistic manner.
Its main characters, Anastasia and Evgenia serve as foils to each other, each representing a side of the conflict of the Russian Revolution, and how their views are gradually influenced by each other as they both run from the Bolsheviks. The Russian Civil War is an incredibly complex subject, and various authors have handled the subject with varying grace in their retellings. O'Neil manages to handle the historical nuances of the conflict incredibly well, and for that subject matter in and of itself, this book lends itself to an older teenage audience. O'Neil shows how both the world of the Whites and Reds were cruel and dehumanizing in their own ways, how the peasants suffered under the imperial regime, and similarly how the communist uprising failed to serve the very people that it was purporting to represent.
I will say that the writing itself (from a craft level) was a little underwhelming, and I was not particularly racing to finish it. I mostly read this book while waiting for my father after going to the gym together.
This book tackles complex topics that centers young protagonists, and there's so much real, awful things that are covered that you almost wonder why this book is for teenagers at all, but I also think that the level of nuance and sociopolitical commentary will be really important for teenagers to read and internalize, and work to come to their own conclusions on the historical context and recognize how conflicts arise.
Its main characters, Anastasia and Evgenia serve as foils to each other, each representing a side of the conflict of the Russian Revolution, and how their views are gradually influenced by each other as they both run from the Bolsheviks. The Russian Civil War is an incredibly complex subject, and various authors have handled the subject with varying grace in their retellings. O'Neil manages to handle the historical nuances of the conflict incredibly well, and for that subject matter in and of itself, this book lends itself to an older teenage audience. O'Neil shows how both the world of the Whites and Reds were cruel and dehumanizing in their own ways, how the peasants suffered under the imperial regime, and similarly how the communist uprising failed to serve the very people that it was purporting to represent.
I will say that the writing itself (from a craft level) was a little underwhelming, and I was not particularly racing to finish it. I mostly read this book while waiting for my father after going to the gym together.
This book tackles complex topics that centers young protagonists, and there's so much real, awful things that are covered that you almost wonder why this book is for teenagers at all, but I also think that the level of nuance and sociopolitical commentary will be really important for teenagers to read and internalize, and work to come to their own conclusions on the historical context and recognize how conflicts arise.