A review by lauraflora
Maya & Natasha by Elyse Durham, Elyse Durham

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense

5.0

This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. I listened to the audio version and was captivated from the start. The narrator did such a great job of bringing the story to life. The characters are rich and well developed and imperfect in a way that makes them human. I feel like it was a great example of how trauma is ongoing, and impacts people differently. The ending wasn’t neat, which worked because life isn’t neat, and I have been thinking about it ever since. If you love historical fiction, especially Soviet stories set in the Cold War era, this book is spectacular.

Maya and Natasha are twins, born in incredibly harsh circumstances, and raised their whole lives to be top ballerinas who represent Russia. When they reach the point in their training where performing around the world in Russia’s top ballet school is in sight, they receive the news that, due to a new law, only one family member may join and go abroad. This leads to hard choices, deception, and betrayal.

Thank you NetGalley, Mariner Books, and HarperAudio Adult for the advanced review copies.