krissyronan's review against another edition
4.0
Very good book about the immigrant experience for a Russian Gypsy who moved to America.
linda48's review against another edition
5.0
The book brings back memories of my childhood. Funny and heartbreaking.
dreamofbookspines's review against another edition
3.0
A little more rambling/meandering than I like memoirs to be, but it's interesting. Marafioti has had some fascinating life experiences. Overall enjoyable. Unlikely something I'm going to read again (mostly because of the rambling).
groundedwanderlust's review against another edition
3.0
This memoir started out very interesting. I couldn't wait to read what happened to Oksana next! But around the middle, her story got really weird (being a memoir, it is a true story, which makes what happened freaky, scary, and sad). By the end, the story was vague and it left off with an awkward cliff hanger.
dewey7962's review against another edition
5.0
An interesting look into what it's like to be an immigrant in an unfamiliar country and have to go through the process of reinventing yourself. Marafioti is an amazing storyteller, I loved everything about this book.
amdame1's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Oksana was a teenager when she, her parents, and her sister got their permission to emigrate from Russia and move to the US. They do have an uncle already living in CA, but he and his wife are reluctant (to say the least) to help Oksana's family due to prior disagreements - and Oksana's addiction to alcohol...
A fascinating account of prejudice against the Romani both in Russia and in the US.
Oksana was a teenager when she, her parents, and her sister got their permission to emigrate from Russia and move to the US. They do have an uncle already living in CA, but he and his wife are reluctant (to say the least) to help Oksana's family due to prior disagreements - and Oksana's addiction to alcohol...
A fascinating account of prejudice against the Romani both in Russia and in the US.
booksandcoffeerequired's review against another edition
4.0
I finally got around to reading this after owning my copy for *years*, and I'm so glad that I did. Marafioti has such a beautiful writing style, and I loved reading this slowly, taking it chapter by chapter to fully absorb her words and her story. I don't think there's another book quite like this one, and that's another part of its impact - we hardly ever see books from the perspective of someone from Romani culture, at least not any stories that aren't vastly overblown for pop culture consumption (think of the Romani wedding shows of the early 2010s). Marafioti is masterful at showing her family as what they are, both the ugly bits and the good bits. While her family does embody some stereotypes that follow Romani culture, she doesn't use them to demean her family, but to show the effects of dealing with pain and bigotry, and how one has to survive in a world pitted against you from day one. And hell - after living with the racism and prejudice that the Romani have dealt with for centuries, it's no surprise some of the choices her parents made of alcoholism, cheating, etc., etc.(not condoning, just saying that trauma shows up in these ways). The bravery and honesty possessed by the author housed within this memoir are what truly make it shine - I can only imagine how hard it would be to write this during certain parts. I only hope Marafioti ends up writing more.
lil's review
4.0
Enjoyed this book a lot. Very interesting story of a young half Roma/half Armenian girl immigrating to the US from the former Soviet Union. My only quibble was that we only got 2 years of story (until she went off to college) with quite a bit of backstory (which was good). My problem? I wanted more. Hopefully [ai:Oksana Marafioti|5060152|Oksana Marafioti|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1326660408p2/5060152.jpg] [a:Oksana Marafioti|5060152|Oksana Marafioti|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1326660408p2/5060152.jpg] will go on and write further about her experience.
More...