A review by emkaypee
Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was a difficult rating to assign. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this story. It was truly unique and unlike anything I've ever read. The added bonus of me being married to a Soviet Jew/Russian immigrant from NE Philly made it even more exciting, I felt like I was reading the story of her family in some ways. I loved the love story between Raisa and Daniel and thought the hint of Anna's queer love was an interesting twist. 

Despite the things I loved, this story was just REALLY slow. It felt like I was reading a history book at times, and it took me almost 2 weeks to finish. I just picked it up every so often and knocked out a chapter or two and mainly found myself wanting to finish it so I could be done with the story and move on to the next. There isn't really anything fundamentally wrong that I can pinpoint, I just found myself very bored and disinterested with "old Anna's" story in particular.