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korka's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
rachelbookdragon's review against another edition
4.0
This is a coming of age story of grief, suffering, enlightenment, love, friendship, poetry, and self-discovery. Beautifully written and heart wrenching character growth of Marina, our protagonist.
Well, this book was very long. I didn’t expect the magnitude of the story of one young girl living through the Russian Revolution to be 800 pages and 30 hours of audiobook, but I’ve finally finished it.
There were so many things to love about the book. The prose, written by Janet Fitch, was spectacular. There were so many descriptive moments of gorgeous writing that I loved. The pieces of the story in which Marina fell in love and fought for revolution were my favorite pieces of the story. Her family is incredibly complicated, but her network of friends got her through.
There were some difficult moments, like her kidnapping and torture and her stay at the cult. Just when I thought her life couldn’t get more difficult as she starved and worked toward basic necessities, these experiences turned my stomach.
There is so much history to unpack on this tale, and yet it unfortunately held the least appeal to me. I don’t have that appreciation for history that I wish I did, but seeing the revolution told through Marina’s eyes was a really interesting approach as she, a privileged young woman, fought against her own privilege to help the working class and suffered and grew as a result.
I don’t know if I’m going to feel the need to continue on in the sequel. Though I felt the ending of this book unsatisfying because there is obviously so much more story to tell, I need a break from this world and to venture into more stories before I return to this one.
Well, this book was very long. I didn’t expect the magnitude of the story of one young girl living through the Russian Revolution to be 800 pages and 30 hours of audiobook, but I’ve finally finished it.
There were so many things to love about the book. The prose, written by Janet Fitch, was spectacular. There were so many descriptive moments of gorgeous writing that I loved. The pieces of the story in which Marina fell in love and fought for revolution were my favorite pieces of the story. Her family is incredibly complicated, but her network of friends got her through.
There were some difficult moments, like her kidnapping and torture and her stay at the cult. Just when I thought her life couldn’t get more difficult as she starved and worked toward basic necessities, these experiences turned my stomach.
There is so much history to unpack on this tale, and yet it unfortunately held the least appeal to me. I don’t have that appreciation for history that I wish I did, but seeing the revolution told through Marina’s eyes was a really interesting approach as she, a privileged young woman, fought against her own privilege to help the working class and suffered and grew as a result.
I don’t know if I’m going to feel the need to continue on in the sequel. Though I felt the ending of this book unsatisfying because there is obviously so much more story to tell, I need a break from this world and to venture into more stories before I return to this one.
tensy's review against another edition
2.0
I stopped listening to the audiobook around the 5th CD. I thought I would enjoy this lengthy novel about the 1917 Russian Revolution. However, while it showed the author's extensive research on this time period in history, the characters were thinly developed and put in situations where a sheltered 16-year-old could not possibly have been present for all those historic moments. Lots of literary and historical name dropping, but little that makes us care about the characters. The plot at this point goes nowhere except to place Marina in locations where history happened. There is a sequel planned, but I'd rather re-watch the movie Reds.
a_r_e_l_i_c's review against another edition
2.0
09 roasted goose & Christmas pine
13 cherry tobacco {Dmitry}
14 rotting flowers {Vsevolod}
15 Floris Limes & cigars {Kolya}
17 lilacs & firecrackers {genius}
18 Après L’Ondée {Vera}
41 carbolic & human waste
68 warm honey & musk {Kolya’s armpits}
89 ozone before a storm
95 the sweat of their horses
98 roses kept in a box & illicit cigarettes {Mariya}
—-violet eau de toilette {Masha}
126 darkroom chemicals
165 fennel seeds
177 hay & fresh wood {Genya}
204 leather & wood smoke
231 peaty, scorched scent of scotch
246 gun smoke
273 wet wood & wet coats
278 graphite & paper & apple cores {Varvara}
400 centuries of incense & damp
413 cold cellars & decaying pines
457 antiseptic wormwood {Arkady}
647 cedar chests & old wedding dresses
685 yeast & lavender {Avdokia}
705 clove & sandalwood {Ukashin}
13 cherry tobacco {Dmitry}
14 rotting flowers {Vsevolod}
15 Floris Limes & cigars {Kolya}
17 lilacs & firecrackers {genius}
18 Après L’Ondée {Vera}
41 carbolic & human waste
68 warm honey & musk {Kolya’s armpits}
89 ozone before a storm
95 the sweat of their horses
98 roses kept in a box & illicit cigarettes {Mariya}
—-violet eau de toilette {Masha}
126 darkroom chemicals
165 fennel seeds
177 hay & fresh wood {Genya}
204 leather & wood smoke
231 peaty, scorched scent of scotch
246 gun smoke
273 wet wood & wet coats
278 graphite & paper & apple cores {Varvara}
400 centuries of incense & damp
413 cold cellars & decaying pines
457 antiseptic wormwood {Arkady}
647 cedar chests & old wedding dresses
685 yeast & lavender {Avdokia}
705 clove & sandalwood {Ukashin}
jemsizzleton's review against another edition
3.0
I am so confused and conflicted. I fell in and out of love with this thing several times. Lots of good in here, and I am just sprung on Russian stuff now, as a result. Definitely had some page-turning times, and some yawns on occasion. The confusion for me was the what in the hell is going on NOW sensation every 30 pages. This thing took more turns than trying to drive downtown with a lagging GPS. I have so much to say, but I don’t want to take away anyone’s WTH moments the way I experienced them. I will say that the ultimate turn was getting to the end and realizing that it is just part one, where we end in an abrupt LOTR fashion, and that kind of made me flip out. 800 pages wasn’t enuf?! Maybe Marina will join the circus, run for office, run a whore house, fight a war, and leave someone for dead in the next one, that would be appropriate considering the 17 lives she managed to live in the first. The most infuriating part is that I actually kind of want to read the next one. Ugghhh. GODDAMMIT!
filaret526's review against another edition
5.0
Very well researched ! As a long time Russian History fanatic, I can say that the author has done her homework especially with the feelings and divisions among the Bolsheviks, SR, anarchist, etc.
The book takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns for sure. I am eager to read the second book when it comes out.
The book takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns for sure. I am eager to read the second book when it comes out.
saintswitchblade's review against another edition
3.0
This book got real weird toward the end. If it had been two separate books, one about the revolution and another about a cult, I would have liked them both a lot more.
crypticartemis's review against another edition
Main character completely unlikable and was tedious to read most of the time.
v_hankins's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
scarletohhara's review against another edition
4.0
I finished this book a week ago but I didn't want to write about it. I loved reading Marina's story as she recounts her life as a bourgeois kid, as a rebel involving herself in the Revolution, as a girl in love, as a daughter, as someone who had to become an adult overnight and provide for herself and as an adult seeing the Revolution she so fought for not giving the desired results.
Absolutely loved it.
I also loved reading Fitch's prose. Literally poetry in prose, especially some passages as she describes how Marina feels about Kolya or the rebellion or Mariyno (this feels almost like Scarlett O'Hara's Tara) or about her younger brother. I loved Fitch's research into how life for a common Man in Russia could've been back around the Revolution in 1917.
I have read a few books about Russia, but none gave me an idea about the Russian Revolution as much as this one!
The only reason why I'd hesitate to read the next part of this book is because I did not enjoy the section where the Master lives in Mariyno and how Vera Borisnova takes the role of the Mother. For astory that was so grounded in reality, this angle is a little too much out of character, in my opinion. But I'll still read the next part of Marina's story, purely because I want to know how she got herself safe from the circumstances she got pushed into.
Absolutely loved it.
I also loved reading Fitch's prose. Literally poetry in prose, especially some passages as she describes how Marina feels about Kolya or the rebellion or Mariyno (this feels almost like Scarlett O'Hara's Tara) or about her younger brother. I loved Fitch's research into how life for a common Man in Russia could've been back around the Revolution in 1917.
I have read a few books about Russia, but none gave me an idea about the Russian Revolution as much as this one!
The only reason why I'd hesitate to read the next part of this book is because I did not enjoy the section where the Master lives in Mariyno and how Vera Borisnova takes the role of the Mother. For astory that was so grounded in reality, this angle is a little too much out of character, in my opinion. But I'll still read the next part of Marina's story, purely because I want to know how she got herself safe from the circumstances she got pushed into.