A review by rosaliez_reads
Siberian Education: Growing Up in a Criminal Underworld by Nicolai Lilin

5.0

This is one of the most astonishing and unique books I’ve ever read… I can truly say I have never read anything even remotely like this and I had to remind myself numerous times of the fact that this is not a work of fiction but a memoir. The author wove this story in such a creative and masterful way; his storytelling seemed to demonstrate a part of the culture he was writing to us about without obviously doing so. I loved learning about a culture and people I didn’t even know existed, and this certainly will have you questioning traditional ideas of right and wrong!

TW (male rape and abuse): if you read this, there is one chapter which describes his time in juvenile prison that is extremely brutal and graphic and may be VERY disturbing and cause emotional damage