Between Shades of Gray in Crazy Challenge Connection

Feb 12, 2021 Elle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-reads

This book is so intensely emotional. It is a beautifully written story, but it is also immensely heartbreaking. Sepetys has a way of writing history that makes you fall right into the story, despite the hardships, despite the way everything tears your whole being to pieces. I was surprised at the brazen way with which she described the atrocities given that this is intended for YA audiences. But it does present a historical story that needs to be told and understood. There are a lot of WWII hist This book is so intensely emotional. It is a beautifully written story, but it is also immensely heartbreaking. Sepetys has a way of writing history that makes you fall right into the story, despite the hardships, despite the way everything tears your whole being to pieces. I was surprised at the brazen way with which she described the atrocities given that this is intended for YA audiences. But it does present a historical story that needs to be told and understood. There are a lot of WWII historical fiction novels out there, but very few address the Russian gulags. Having the story of the Baltic states presented in such a gripping fashion is an important contribution to literature.

The historical content itself is importantly delivered, but also serves incredibly well for the plot. Nothing felt forced, info dumpy, or irrelevant. Regardless of how bad things got, it was all presented in a way that felt as if it was a realistic representation of actual events and experiences.

The use of Lina as a YA protagonist is such a smart choice. She is smart and accomplished and very strong. The terrors of WWII affected all ages and it is important that the stories are told to all ages. Like middle grade has Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, young adult has Between Shades of Gray.

I kept thinking to myself as I read through horror after horror how impressed I am that people actually survived this. I cannot imagine the immense inner strength and will to live that must have taken. Similarly, I cannot fathom how there is such evil and lack of compassion for other human beings among people out there. How there could have been so many people who allowed these things to take place, who perpetuated the level of violence, starvation, mistreatment, and murder is completely beyond me.

There are some who have been upset by the romantic aspect of the novel, but I found it appropriate for Lina's age. Humans still crave affection in the worse of circumstances. A teenage girl could realistically still be expected to desire that kind of relationship. And there are known stories of individuals who fell in love in concentration camps. In fact, I enjoyed the hope (and maybe normalcy?) that this piece of the novel brought and I think the story line of Lina and Andrius's relationship was handled very tastefully.

The ending does come up quite abruptly. At first, that really bothered me. I needed to know what happened between the end of the main story and the start of the epilogue. However, the more I reflected, the more I decided that this story does what it needed to do. There is a good sense of completion in that way. While I do want to know more, it's really wanting to know more about the actual history. That instillation of curiosity in the reader about historical events is important, especially in cases representing history that we should all learn from. I loved this novel. Thank you to Ruta Sepetys for writing something so immensely touching and important. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2012 J.P. rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

This is such a sad novel. It tells of a family's forced exile during the beginning of World War II and all the trials and tribulations they have to endure to survive. There is no hope in this novel for many of the characters just as there was none for a lot of the people facing the same terrible ordeal in real life.
The story was extremely good. What made it short of 5 stars for me was the writing. Like with many beginning authors, this book leans heavily on dialogue. Although there are flashback ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 23, 2013 Gina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: print-books, fathers, psychological-fiction, history, psychology-children-s, 5-00-rating, teen-issues, romance, conspiracies, library

Goodreads Description- Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother, Jonas, slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are f Goodreads Description- Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother, Jonas, slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

This is one of those stories that describes historical events that I had little to no knowledge of even happening. I feel like at some point I have read something about this part of WW2 history but this book really gave me all of the information that I was missing and it was vital information at that. I had no idea that Stalin was targeting the Baltic States specifically and deporting those deemed "anti-Soviet" to remote labor and prison camps in Siberia. Most of the history American's hear is about the Nazi horrors but I think this story is absolutely a must read not only for the historical information but for the actual writing itself.

I loved Lina and her heart wrenching story of everything that happened to her in her 12 years of imprisonment. The imagery used in the novel added to the cold mood. I loved how the author occasionally wrote flashback scenes to when Lina and her family were still home in Lithuania. It really gave the reader an idea of the backstory as to why the family was deported and the events leading up to the invasion. It also alludes to the reader that these flashbacks Lina was having weren't necessarily things she understood or understood at the time they were actually happening. The flashbacks shine a light on the fact that Lina was really just a child...how could she understand...yet she was forced into these labor camps. I imagine that as a child she truly must have been terribly afraid and confused.

There were some lines at the end of the story that those who lived during this genocide want people to look and share the truth. This book is a fantastic opportunity to do just that. It is a simple, yet not simple writing, story that is easier to understand than some heavy history textbook yet the reader learns such an important part of history. It is our duty as a reader to turn to another reader and say "Look at this book and share it". I took the time to review this book to make sure that I do my part in telling other readers that this is a wonderful and important story that is a must read. 5 stars! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 31, 2012 Mary-Megan rated it liked it

Between Shades of Gray should not be confused with Fifty Shades of Grey. The one is about a teen's struggles through the Soviet's evacuation of Lithuania and the other is an adult romance novel, therefore they have no connection whatsoever.

Lina is fifteen-years-old and an aspiring artist when the NKVD knocks on her family's door one night and gives them twelve minutes to pack up and leave. She's then loaded up into a cramped train car with her mother and brother and given a daily bucket of food Between Shades of Gray should not be confused with Fifty Shades of Grey. The one is about a teen's struggles through the Soviet's evacuation of Lithuania and the other is an adult romance novel, therefore they have no connection whatsoever.

Lina is fifteen-years-old and an aspiring artist when the NKVD knocks on her family's door one night and gives them twelve minutes to pack up and leave. She's then loaded up into a cramped train car with her mother and brother and given a daily bucket of food and water for the entire car to share. Her father had been taken elsewhere and she's desperate to reconnect with him, believing that her art can lead him back to her through clues in her drawings. Lina bonds with her fellow evictees, especially a young boy named Andrius. Soon they are brought to a work camp and forced into hard labor with little rations. There they are encouraged to sign a document sentencing them to 25 years of labor and admitting that they are criminals. Lina and her family fight this and their time in the camp eventually comes to an end when a handful of the people in the camp, including Lina and her family but not Andrius, are loaded into trucks and sent to an area near the North Pole where they are sentenced to work and survive harsh conditions that many do not survive. Lina has to find the strength to survive and hold onto hope that she will make it back to her father and Andrius.

I have never been big on history but I've always known a fair amount about Hitler and the Holocaust although not very much about Stalin and what he did, which is what this book focused on. It was very eye opening to realize that the Holocaust was not the only genocide going on at the time. In terms of the book itself, it was a good story as you struggled with Lina to make sense of this unimaginable situation she's been forced into. I would have loved to have seen her drawings, however. I don't know if that would have detracted from the seriousness of the novel, but she constantly talked about drawings and leaving clues and I think it might have enhanced the story to give the reader a clear visual from the eyes of the survivor, especially because the drawings were mentioned so often. It might have helped us connect with Lina and her situation. I didn't like the ending of the novel. It ends abruptly and then there's a letter written about twelve years later that doesn't answer some of the important questions like: how were you honestly able to survive twelve years in the North Pole? what really happened to your father? how were you rescued? For me it was a very unsatisfying ending. There was some closure, but by no means enough.

This is a great book to help the world realize that the Jews under Hitler were not the only ones in Europe treated like criminals for doing nothing because Stalin was doing the same thing and all you had to do to be a target was live in the country he wanted. This books shows the struggles to survive and hold onto hope that it will all work out in the end. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2022 Megan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, wwii, russia, borrow-or-need-to-buy, read-in-2022, august-2022, lithuania

Wow! This was a touching and horrifying read. That this actually happened, at least in part, is just detestable and I'm saddened by all who were forced to endured it. I wasn't very aware of this side of WWII, so from an educational standpoint I enjoyed learning about it...I only wish this was complete fiction and no one had to have had it happen to them. I'm planning on watching the movie and hip it is as well done as this book. ...more

1 like · Like · see review