Reviews

From a Kirkus review: “A gentle story of survival in a war-scarred land.”

Set in modern Ukraine (2016), this is the day-to-day life of a man living between war zones. It is much gentler than you’d expect, with lots of daily tasks: coal stoves, candles, eggs, vodka, snow, sun. Sometimes slides into dreamlike reflection, which sort of loses me. I really liked the prose overall though.

benjaminparris's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

hugo_minder's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

5.0

nik24's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

modeislodis's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

An interesting read in that we get a sense of the loneliness that choosing to stay in the neutral, or grey, area of a war zone might be like. I don’t understand the protagonist’s choices - leaving behind people that want him, not communicating with or seeking out people he loves. But there’s quite a bit of metaphor going on here and I did like the craft of it all.

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