Reviews

This book has me hooked and was so good! This was relentlessly sad but so rich in love and understanding someone deeper. I loved that there was a fairytale that helped to be able to tell a heartbreaking life story and get a glimpse into Vera’s sad past.

karenhillwood22's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.0

Sisters Meredith & Nina had a loving father and could never understand why their mother was so cold and uncaring. The only time they felt close to her was when she was telling them on of her fairy tales. They are devastated when their father dies. One of the things he asked of them was to make their mother finish her fairy tale story. Hearing this changes their lives.
I enjoyed this story. It was a little slow to begin with and heartbreaking to read at times. I liked learning so much about war torn Russia.

ladyrosiereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

planreadrepeat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I read this for book club and enjoyed it. We had a very mixed reaction for the group. I liked that it was historical and explored the relationships between sisters and mother/daughter. It made me think of the saying "hurt people, hurt people." The two sisters had a tense and distant relationship with each other and their mother. I liked the story within a story to explain the historical Russian timeline. The first half is very slow and the characters act like angsty teens instead of the grown adults they are supposed to be. But the second half really picked up and you started understanding what made these women tick.