Sofi Oksanen is without a doubt one of the best Finnish contemporary authors, perhaps one of the greatest overall, too. Her prose is beautiful: the language is alive, it is never static or boring but always manages to describe the situation perfectly. It is a pleasure to read her books, every page is like an artwork but without being too complicated to understand.

I loved this book even more than I loved [b:Puhdistus|6050822|Puhdistus|Sofi Oksanen|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1292502837s/6050822.jpg|3426310] and cannot understand why it has received so much criticism. I think the characters were very interesting, right from the start I wanted to know what will happen to them. I loved Roland, wanted to know more and more about Juudit, and followed in disgusted fascination how Edgar managed to play his cards and survive time after time. The intervening relationships of the characters held my interest until the very end.

I also loved the way the book was constructed: how the narration from 1940s and 1960s alternated, creating a mystery that kept me glued to the book. I already knew there were going to be surprises at the end but still I couldn't figure them out until I'd actually read them. Brillian, brilliant work.

The themes of this book are gigantic. It was very intereting to read about Estonia's history, about the Germans and the Soviet troops, about a small land's longing for independece. I liked the contrast between Helmut and Juudit's love story and the way Helmut was in charge of the camps, for example, and also the contrast between the way the Germans were first seen as liberators and then as killers, and how Soviet's troops weren't any better. All in all, this is a grim book that unveils terrible events of the history of my neighbouring country. All I could think about was "Thank God this didn't happen to Finland".

I hope this book will be translated to other languages as well - it is one of the best Finnish books I've ever read and I can recommend it to you all.

Bravo, Sofi Oksanen!