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lilcoppertop's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War
kktaylor11's review against another edition
I picked it up because of the cover - so maybe that's a lesson in this? But it's so beautiful! And it's long -- 944 pages -- which is great because it will hold me over for awhile. And it's about Russian history, one of my passions. All the things were going for it....and then I started reading it. Disclaimer - I LOVE long books. The length did NOT scare me off here -- check out the books I've read for proof. I lean into epics. I made it more than 12 hours into this audiobook before finally throwing up my hands and saying "forget it."
From the very beginning the premise is weak (and becomes super annoying.) The book is supposedly a "letter about our family history" the narrator is writing to her niece after going to pick the niece up when she ran away. It's an awkward and forced frame story -- made even more so by the fact that it quickly transcends into an omniscient narrator. She knows the thoughts, feelings, urges, and details of every single character - including some that are only slightly connected. OK, so you let go of the frame and dig into the story itself...BUT NO! Because at TOTALLY random moments the narrator will break the narrative to say "or so I imagine, Brillka, since I wasn't there..." WHAT? Not 2 sentences before you were telling us what the character was thinking, or what kind of liqueur they were drinking. It's jarring and unnecessary and breaks the continuity of the story.
And then there's the story itself. The general basis without spoiling anything is that there have been 7 generations of a family that have an embedded curse because the patriarch somehow found a recipe for "magic" chocolate and anytime you MAKE this chocolate something horrible happens as "payment" for the delicious chocolate. Ummm...OK...except he made his fortune off the chocolate and nothing really horrible happened to him? (With one exception
Also, interspersed between the narrative itself are random sections highlighting Russian/Georgian history. There are not-so-subtle references to historical figures (IE: "The Generalissimus" = Stalin, "The Little Big Man" = Beria) and moments of almost historical lecture (although really only minimally accurate -- from a historical standpoint it's definitely a writer giving a brief summary of her understanding of history not a historian telling a story) which try to turn this into a multigenerational historical novel....and instead leading to more disconnection from the novel itself.
Finally, it really didn't need to be 900 pages long. What it needs is a good editor. Maybe the author thinks that she is writing the "next War and Peace" (I literally saw a review with that title -- whoever wrote that never ACTUALLY read War and Peace.) but the truth is that she is FAR FAR from the Russian Epics. There are so many side characters that fill 10- 20-50 pages and could be easily completely cut out of the story. (
So - bottom line:
1) Bad frame story interrupts narrative for no reason jerking you out of the progression of the story.
2) Crappy characters who have nothing to connect the reader to them, leaving little investment
3) Weak historical asides that add little to the story and don't adequately teach history - so what is their purpose?
4) Poor plot structure too reliant on convenient coincidences and unsupported causation.
5) 1000 pages of this -- at least 500 of which could be easily edited out and you'd STILL have a book that's too long for the story it's telling.
I give this 1 star because it's so bad I resent the fact I'll never get back the 12 hours I spent on it.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
galerieanna25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Abortion, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
laura_cat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Deportation
scifipunk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Rape, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Suicide, Antisemitism, Dementia, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Deportation
Note that all minor warnings refer to usually less than a page of content, not explicit and are easy to skim or skip. Grief is not particularly explicit, only tagged as major because it is a recurring theme for several characters. Alcohol (and alcohol abuse) is mentioned several times with different characters, including as response to trauma, but not explicit. Death is never explicit, but given that the novel takes place within 107 years, to be expected. Medical trauma refers to a long scene early in Kitty’s part of the book, which involves a traumatic encounter with the soviet secret service. Can be easily skipped, as consequences are addressed later on. Several wars are mentioned, multiple characters experience a traumatic rape, though most of both happens off-screen or is somewhat censored by the narrator.frietje9's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Death and Abortion
wlarianna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Police brutality, Abortion, Death of parent, and Deportation
fourmi's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Rape, Torture, Abortion, Death of parent, and War
elenek14's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, and War
Moderate: Bullying and Abortion
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Genocide
katewhite77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is quite a commitment in both length and graphic content so won't be for everyone, but if you feel able to commit then it will give you a really good story whilst also teaching you something of the history of the USSR. In particular through the eyes of thè female line of a fictitious Georgian family.
However it really does not shy away from the brutality of life behind the iron curtain and tells a tragic tale in many particularly given the geopolitical situation we find ourselves in at the moment.
Please proceed with exstreame caution if you are struggling with your mental health. I don't know whether I would have started the journey had I been fully armed with the facts before doing so but I was too gripped to stop once I had started. A masterpiece.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War