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lissi_k's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Torture
Moderate: Medical content and War
ramenfuneral's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
After putting this book down a few times to take breaks and finish other books, it is done. Inspired by a true story, this book was mostly heartbreaking but had moments of tenderness and resiliency. I think I enjoyed his writing more in his previous book but it’s also been long enough since I’ve read it that maybe my preferred writing style has just changed as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and War
tuesdays314's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, and War
Minor: Rape and Suicide
brookealleger's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, and Rape
emey_reading07's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Antisemitism, and War
Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, and Gore
Minor: Rape and Sexual content
mthereader's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
STOP IT SHUT UP these are the Martels of Martel Construction??? The fact that I didn't realize this until the literal last chapter of the book, until Sullivan literally spelled it out, has me mindblown. Anyone from Montana, anyone who's ever been to Bozeman or Missoula, has seen a Martel Construction project. They had a hand in building both of the universities' football stadiums! Hospitals! Airports! And that fact is now the least interesting thing I know about their family!
What an amazing feat, for their family to have made it from the bleakest days being starved in Stalin's USSR, leaving behind all of their land & possessions, parting from all their relatives, being separated from one another & in prison camps for years, to finally find their last green valley, truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. This tale does not disappoint.
What an amazing feat, for their family to have made it from the bleakest days being starved in Stalin's USSR, leaving behind all of their land & possessions, parting from all their relatives, being separated from one another & in prison camps for years, to finally find their last green valley, truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. This tale does not disappoint.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, and War
okiecozyreader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I started this book a year ago when it came out on audio and I had a difficult time following along (but in my bookclub tonight, another who listened said that she could follow along really well and she thought the audio was well done). I think, for me, it seemed like a really long journey / wandering almost and I had not gotten to much of the action yet. He spends maybe the first quarter to first third of the book building the backstory of the father and thus, the family, of their hardships with Russia.
Based on a true family story, this follows Emil and his wife Adeline Martel as they leave Ukraine for “the last green valley” of freedom in the west (during World War II).
“We’re going to a beautiful green valley surrounded by mountains and forests. And snow up high on the peaks. And below, there will be a winding river and fields of grain for bread, and gardens with vegetables to feed us, and Papa will build us a house where we’ll all live together forever and ever, and we’ll never be apart.”
Ch 1
A lot of their journey is on foot and wagon, until they join a group of those with pure Jewish blood who Germany wants to replace Jewish homes to re-colonize areas they destroyed. Emil is a tough worker and is appreciated for his ethic every where he goes.
“…but that was when life made sense. Now there’s nothing but madness.” Ch 2
“As a boy, he’d learned that the key to survival under Communism was to be silent, do your job, and not aspire to leadership of any kind.” Ch 5
Throughout their tough journey, their mom would say to them:
““This is the beautiful green valley where you get to live today, Will. So be happy and thankful for it.”
““Everything else is just a stop on the way to your green valley?” “Or a step in that direction. I think that’s right.” Ch 13
“What possesses men to do such evil? Are they even human? Can’t they see that when you kill someone or destroy a holy place, the faith always goes on? Don’t they see that in broken hearts and ruins, something always glows?” Ch 13
““At some point, you’ll have to decide where you want to spend your life—in slavery or in freedom—and if you choose freedom, you’ll have to run through a no-man’s-land with bullets zinging around your head to get there. I don’t think there’s any way around it. If we want that life, we’ll have to risk death for it.” Ch 18
“He was beginning to think that hate ruled the world. Hate was certainly in almost every terrible experience he’d endured endured in his life.” Ch 25
“Adeline’s cousin spiraled out of her life like a leaf caught in a gale.” Ch 26
“You have a hero’s heart, but you are a man. You have limits. Even you can’t go alone, can’t do everything by yourself.” Ch 30
One of the themes he said he felt went throughout the book:
“He noted often that everything difficult he’d had to do seemed to have prepared him for the next difficult thing.” Ch 41
One of the most interesting things to me was this idea that Himmler went to Ukraine and observed the killing and it made him sick - and he declared no one would be forced to kill Jews if they didn’t want to.
“In the months prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Heinrich Himmler did watch political prisoners being shot as a test for implementation of the Final Solution. Himmler was reportedly so shocked, he vomited, and later issued an order that no one be killed or sent to a concentration camp for refusing to murder Jews. He wanted true believers behind the guns.”
Afterward
Sullivan ends with
“This is an American story, an immigrant story, a spiritual and universal story. May we all dare to chase such dreams, experience such grace, and lead such miraculous lives.”
I went back and listened to Meagan’s Bookclub’s interview with Sullivan and recommend it.
https://youtu.be/Y-_g3Po-wpE
Based on a true family story, this follows Emil and his wife Adeline Martel as they leave Ukraine for “the last green valley” of freedom in the west (during World War II).
“We’re going to a beautiful green valley surrounded by mountains and forests. And snow up high on the peaks. And below, there will be a winding river and fields of grain for bread, and gardens with vegetables to feed us, and Papa will build us a house where we’ll all live together forever and ever, and we’ll never be apart.”
Ch 1
A lot of their journey is on foot and wagon, until they join a group of those with pure Jewish blood who Germany wants to replace Jewish homes to re-colonize areas they destroyed. Emil is a tough worker and is appreciated for his ethic every where he goes.
“…but that was when life made sense. Now there’s nothing but madness.” Ch 2
“As a boy, he’d learned that the key to survival under Communism was to be silent, do your job, and not aspire to leadership of any kind.” Ch 5
Throughout their tough journey, their mom would say to them:
““This is the beautiful green valley where you get to live today, Will. So be happy and thankful for it.”
““Everything else is just a stop on the way to your green valley?” “Or a step in that direction. I think that’s right.” Ch 13
“What possesses men to do such evil? Are they even human? Can’t they see that when you kill someone or destroy a holy place, the faith always goes on? Don’t they see that in broken hearts and ruins, something always glows?” Ch 13
““At some point, you’ll have to decide where you want to spend your life—in slavery or in freedom—and if you choose freedom, you’ll have to run through a no-man’s-land with bullets zinging around your head to get there. I don’t think there’s any way around it. If we want that life, we’ll have to risk death for it.” Ch 18
“He was beginning to think that hate ruled the world. Hate was certainly in almost every terrible experience he’d endured endured in his life.” Ch 25
“Adeline’s cousin spiraled out of her life like a leaf caught in a gale.” Ch 26
“You have a hero’s heart, but you are a man. You have limits. Even you can’t go alone, can’t do everything by yourself.” Ch 30
One of the themes he said he felt went throughout the book:
“He noted often that everything difficult he’d had to do seemed to have prepared him for the next difficult thing.” Ch 41
One of the most interesting things to me was this idea that Himmler went to Ukraine and observed the killing and it made him sick - and he declared no one would be forced to kill Jews if they didn’t want to.
“In the months prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Heinrich Himmler did watch political prisoners being shot as a test for implementation of the Final Solution. Himmler was reportedly so shocked, he vomited, and later issued an order that no one be killed or sent to a concentration camp for refusing to murder Jews. He wanted true believers behind the guns.”
Afterward
Sullivan ends with
“This is an American story, an immigrant story, a spiritual and universal story. May we all dare to chase such dreams, experience such grace, and lead such miraculous lives.”
I went back and listened to Meagan’s Bookclub’s interview with Sullivan and recommend it.
https://youtu.be/Y-_g3Po-wpE
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and War
Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Murder
jayjayjers's review
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, and War
Moderate: Death and Gore
Minor: Rape
impla77's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The true story of this is amazing, but this didn’t really grab me for something so hard hitting. Faux inspiration about if you really believe something it will happen… okay then
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, and War
kjulie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is true historical fiction - a story based on actual events, and by then end there are moments that read more like non-fiction history telling than story telling. I also found the book about 100 pages too long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Antisemitism, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape