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What Members Thought
Dec 09, 2014
Denise
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
debut-novel,
2014-reading-challenge
I am so happy to be ending my 2014 reading year with this remarkable novel. Everything is perfect: the characters, the pace, the writing and the story. I wish I had not waited so long to finally read it. It's amazing.
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Feb 08, 2014
Kate
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
botns-recommendations,
2014-books
I won my copy of this from BookBrowse.com and will be posting in their online book club about this book. My friends' reviews here on Goodreads are so much more eloquent than I could ever be, and Anthony Marra's debut novel about Chechnya deserves their eloquence. It is so beautiful, yet heart breaking and I read it slowly to savor both his language and the incomprehensible situation that engulfs these characters. All I can add is: Just Read It!
...more
I think this book was/is over-hyped. Yes, there is some beautiful language here but I found much of it difficult to read. One reviewer commented that Marra feels he has to educate us on the Chechnyan wars. Granted I don't know much about what happened there but I'm not sure I needed to be schooled that thoroughly to appreciate the message. This made (for me) a difficult slog to get to the good, human interest parts of the story. There is a message of hope here amid some really graphic depictions
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Ok - here is my personal review - author's first novel, (thank you for the history lesson) - sentences go on and on, but he is never short for good descriptive words, a very interesting writing style. Content was war, and all the things I don't like about war, but important to grasp what the characters endured to get to the end, resulting in a page turner around 3/4 of the way through. Very interesting how the author intertwines the different stories for a full on emotional ending with great dep
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Jun 27, 2013
Betsy
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
fiction,
recommended-by-a-friend,
historical,
set-somewhere-else,
on-audio,
debuts,
war,
2014
i had a tough time getting into this. Started listening to it, switched to reading it and switched back to audio. I don't know why, but I kept finding myself easily distracted. I stuck with it because a good friend loved it and wanted me to read it. I know that's not an overwhelming endorsement, but I am ending up giving it a 4 stars. I wish I had paid closer attention, so many small details were related to others. I want to go back and reread it now.
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Good story. I enjoyed the flash back and forward structure and how the characters experiences were woven together. Sometimes my mind wandered and I lost track of a character and their tale. Knew little of the setting until this story. None of the themes were overdone--always a big plus for me.
Jun 22, 2013
Jen
marked it as to-read
Jun 28, 2013
Joanne
marked it as to-read
Aug 01, 2013
Amanda
marked it as to-read
Sep 05, 2013
Kirsten
marked it as to-read
Dec 03, 2013
Karen
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2014
Patti
marked it as to-read
Jan 04, 2014
Kathrina
marked it as to-read
Aug 25, 2014
Ellen Marcolongo
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-book,
fiction,
kindle,
historical-fiction,
bookworm-bitches-goodreads-group,
war,
russia
Dec 16, 2014
Rita
marked it as to-read
