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leelulah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
It felt a bit dense at first, but thrn it gained momentum. Its so sad that in the end the USSR got its way even after WWII. The denial narrative, the accusations of fanatical nationalism and Nazism against Ukraine, while Nazis planned to do the exact same, and there were Ukrainian soldiers in the troops that helped defeat Hitler are ridiculous. They, the USSR, even got away with reshaping the definition of genocide so that they wouldn't get accused of it.
Memory eternal to all victims, dissidents and truth bearers who dared to speak out.
Memory eternal to all victims, dissidents and truth bearers who dared to speak out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Deportation
annikalula's review against another edition
4.5
I usually don't go for books like this but read it for my Abitur (German high school diploma) as I did a project on the Holodomor and its presentation in media. And BOY this was a tough read!!!! I can say quite confidently that I did not enjoy reading this book. Firstly it is a brick of a book filled with information to its last page which makes it quite hard and exhausting to read and secondly deals with awful contents. However Anne Applebaum did her research so well and actually managed to portray the complex historic events in a relatively accessible way. I've also read a variety of other books on the Holodomor and have to say that it was my favorite- also because it was only published quite recently and contents more accurate information than other books.
However this book is SO important!!! Before reading it I've never heard of the Holodomor let alone its brutality. While working in my project and telling people about it I did not come across a single person who knew what the Holodomor was, I even had to explain it to my history teacher.
So I hope this book gets even more attention that it already got as the Holodomor probably one of the biggest crimes of the 20th century and the education about it is beyond problematic. Please read it!!
However this book is SO important!!! Before reading it I've never heard of the Holodomor let alone its brutality. While working in my project and telling people about it I did not come across a single person who knew what the Holodomor was, I even had to explain it to my history teacher.
So I hope this book gets even more attention that it already got as the Holodomor probably one of the biggest crimes of the 20th century and the education about it is beyond problematic. Please read it!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail