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madisonambroise's review against another edition
4.25
- actually really interesting
- a mix of general history, memoir, family history, and food history
- lots to learn about the soviet union, but doesn’t feel like a textbook because it’s so intimately intertwined with the specific history of her family
- less focus on food than I expected— after the first chapter, there wasn’t really much discussion of food or cooking
- a few recipes at the end of the book!
leah_alexandra's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
This was a really interesting read, and a unique lens for a memoir. It was a little scattered at times, but well organized considering the scope. One issue I had with it was that sometimes part of her/her experience would stick out at me as atypical, and so it was harder to try to figure out how much of her experience was relatively universal, versus a more “elite” experience.
rozochka's review against another edition
4.0
As a family memoir and culinary history of a complex century of Russian/Soviet history, this book is wonderful. I would caution that it should *not*, however, be read as a definitive or objective social history of the USSR. It is very deeply personal, and that's the charm of the book. I have yet to try the recipes, but they look great.
headingnorth's review against another edition
3.0
Unexpectedly full of 20th century Soviet history and politics in addition to the food memoir aspect. My review is here.
obstinateheadstrongcurl's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.25
This was an interesting memoir, although it didn’t focus on the food as much as I was hoping. I enjoyed the intimate look at life in the USSR, both pre and post dissolution. I listened to the audiobook and wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator. I dislike when a narrator is cast who is putting on an accent for the whole book, it just feels weird not to cast someone with the correct accent. This one felt especially egregious, almost mocking, and I really didn’t enjoy it.
gnrunaway's review against another edition
3.5
I found this book a little bit repetitive. I didn't like the back and forth between present day and the author's memory, I'd preferred a more chronological telling of the events
melissa_who_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Read it on Kindle - loved it. Learned more about Soviet history than I had know before, and loved reading history from the perspective of the people, not the leaders. Loved the food as a way in to understand the culture of the times. Very much enjoyed the memoir of her life - especially given that the author is roughly my age, so it was fun to see the similarity and differences of our lives.
laila4343's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating memoir about growing up in 1960's USSR and her family's past history as well, told through the lens of food. I learned a lot and really enjoyed her narrative voice.