Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Ashes in the Snow by Ruta Sepetys

6 reviews

elisabeth888's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I recently read Ashes in the Snow for the third time as it is one of my favorite historical fiction novels. Ashes in the Snow focuses on the experience of people in the Baltic states, who were torn between Hitler and Stalin's aggression. Because of continued Soviet occupation in the Baltics following WWII, many survivors accounts were silenced.

Ashes in the Snow follows the story of fifteen-year-old Lina who is deported from Lithuania to Siberia, along with her brother Jonas and mother Elena. Despite the suffering, the innocent prisoners attempt to help one another and establish normalcy for the children. Throughout the novel Sepetys demonstrates how the line between good and evil is blurred, especially in the young officer Kretzsky who struggles with the immorality of the orders he is given.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and War

mayakay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

I loved this book, I read it in one weekend :)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, and Pregnancy

Lina's mother did not have to die(!!!!), does she find her father(???), and does Andrius find her??

I need a sequel but this book cannot have a sequel.

scholastic_squid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

The Soviets are f*cked up. I am glad I bought a historical non-fiction about all this part of history as I will continue my journey of learning about Russian and Ukraine. 
The story told here is fictional however many of the experiences that occurred throughout were from actual events that happened to those imprisoned by Stalin. Lina was deported from Lithuania to Russia up into the Arctic Circle along with her mother and younger brother. Lina turned 16 before heading to the AC, while her brother was still around 12. If the imprisoned didn’t die from malnutrition, they were shot by the NKVD (later known as the KGB). Stalin was arguably worse than Hitler and would have done far more damage if left to his own devices. He killed 20 million ppl around the same time that Hitler killed approximately the same amount. That’s 40 million people gone within an approx 10 year timeframe. That would be the entire state of California….

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

jessicaa_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Grief, Pregnancy, and Deportation

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide and Torture

_mya_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

my_username's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

TRIGGER WARNING: One of the characters mother needs to prostitute herself to save her son. That was honestly the hardest part for me to read