Rest of the book

[Melanie]

Final thoughts

[Melanie]

This book utterly floored me, I will need a bit to process it all to be honest.

[Linda]

I agree. It is terrifying and devastating. And yet, i gave it 5 stars.

[Britta]

I finished the book last night, and I agree with Mel & Linda. This was a difficult read. Very harsh.

[Justyna M]

It was very difficult to read but life was difficult then (I mean Soviet Union countries after the Second World War and after it collapsed) I'm sure so I appreciate that the book wasn't trying to make it more "readable" by skipping some horrifying elements; and I also appreciate that it dealt with a massive sex trafficking problem that increased in the early 1990s- when young girls from Eastern and Central Europe thinking they were going to work as waitresses abroad, ended up as sex workers. It was a quite gloomy book, the feeling of hopelessness was overwhelming (and I'm glad I read "Secondhand Time" a few months ago- it was very helpful to understand the historical/ social background of this novel)

[Jennie]

I found the last section a bit confusing. The tone changed so much and the code names threw me off. I liked the book a lot, but the ending and the love triangle kept it from being a 5 star read for me.

[Jo]

Just finished, I’m not sure the last bit with the files worked, I don’t think it added much but I did race through the last one hundred pages whereas I got bogged down a bit in the middle. It was definitely heartbreaking and heart racing at times and I think I need more time to process.

[Stacey]

It sounds like I need to read this! If it caused such strong emotions there must be something to be learned. I read the first few pages, with the fly 🙄, and was so bored I decided not to continue. Obviously, it’s quite captivating unlike the start.

[Beatrizmallow]

It was a very interesting and hard book. I liked a lot how much I wanted to keep read about Aliide despite how much I disliked many of her choices. That said, Part 5 didn't really work for me and that made me give it "just" four stars.

[Marie]

I thought this was really excellent.

As I was reading the final section with the secret files, code names etc. I wasn't convinced. It felt jarring, unbelievable somehow. Turning these characters completely around when I'd got to know them over the course of the book. But actually having given it some thought, I think that it's a clever way of showing exactly what life must have been like in those days. Literally anyone around you, your closest friends and family, could have been gathering information on you or reporting to some authorities. People growing up in Estonia at that time must have known full well - Don't. Trust. Anyone. But as modern readers we tend to be much more trusting of the initial story we're told.

Did anyone else get cross about (in my opinion) a big spoiler on the blurb of the Atlantic Books paperback edition? Interested to know your thoughts about this kind of thing. I feel like if something's a major plot point that happens circa 280 pages into the book, it shouldn't be revealed on the back!

[Candace]

Oh that is horrible about the spoiler!

I have been working through this book during daylight and when I’m not reading it, the darkness of the story stuck to me like Velcro. I wanted to know what happened and I’m glad I pushed myself through the story even though I found Zara’s past horrifying and almost wanted to stop reading. I think it definitely showed the desperation and helplessness so many people felt.

I do think the book had a lot going on with all of the perspectives and time lines plus Hans’ letters. And then the ending with the reports. I’m still not sure what I think about the ending being in reports. Given how Oksanen wrote the book, I’m not really sure how I would have preferred the book to end either.

I was so mad at Aliide at various points over the story. I am so glad she decided to believe Zara at the end.

[Susan]

The file reports at the end of the novel were jarring yet necessary. I agree with Marie's assessment of the reports. Reading this book made me grateful for living in a country which provides me with safety, freedoms and rights. And, this story has given me an understanding of what the Baltic states endured during and after the Soviet occupation. I will read Secondhand Time that Justyna mentioned in her comments.
Overall a good read.

[Helen]

I loved the tainted heroine Aliide who at the end of the story and her live gives her niece at least a bit of breathing space to escape her life of forced prostitution. It comes full circle that finally Aliide helps her sister's family in some way. In all other ways she only thought of herself it seems. Such a hard life! The pimp/sex trafficking theme was hard to read, but interesting. All in all I enjoyed the read.