This is a beautiful, but heartbreaking story of a teenage girl who is dragged from her home in the middle of the night and deported to Siberia.

I read this in one afternoon. It was so well written and compelling that I needed to know what happened. I needed to know whether Lina and her brother and her mother made it through.

I could really identify with the characters in this story. They were all incredibly real and honest, and even when I disliked them, I felt that they could have easily stepped off the page and started walking around. I loved Lina's mother, Elena, most of all. I loved how she refused to give up hope, how she refused to let the situation change her or make her bitter or cruel. She was able to see the humanity in people who treated her as if she was less than garbage, and I admired her for that.

I would have really liked to find out more about what happened at the end, in the epilogue, since the ending was rather abrupt. But even for that, this story is amazing. I would definitely recommend it. Read with tissues handy. And be forewarned, the writing is beautiful, but the things that are shown are not. Just like in real life.