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A review by isabellarobinson7
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
I really did enjoy Between Shades of Gray, but the plot and/or storyline felt like one straight line. There was literally nothing substantial happening. It felt like the characters were doing one thing, then they moved to another place, then did a similar thing in that place, then moved again to a similar place and did the same things there... There was no major plot developments occurring in any of the locations, and it felt like the book was just moving to the different places because that was what happened historically, or to show the reader that this place over here is also pretty bad and so is that place over there.
I also had the same issues I had with Salt to the Sea where Ruta Sepetys' writing style just didn't wow me. It almost felt like it should have wowed me, and that it was supposed to, but it just never did. I would read a sentence and be like, "That was good, I should be impressed by this," but I just... wasn't. I suppose this may be because Between Shades of Gray, like Salt to the Sea, was written in first person rather than third, which I prefer personally, but also I feel that third person narration is just more suited to the historical fiction genre as a whole. That being said, there were some gems in Between Shades of Gray:
So yeah, there were some good quotes like that, but then again, they felt forced or fake coming from a 15/16 year old's perspective. Like she wasn't meant to be able to think of things like that to say.
Ok, enough ranting. I loved this book. The basis of the story was great (even if the storyline was a bit lacking) and the characters were well rounded and developed. Between Shades of Gray was primarily a character-driven novel which, again, is against my preference, but I enjoyed it all the same. A solid three stars for a solid book.
I really did enjoy Between Shades of Gray, but the plot and/or storyline felt like one straight line. There was literally nothing substantial happening. It felt like the characters were doing one thing, then they moved to another place, then did a similar thing in that place, then moved again to a similar place and did the same things there... There was no major plot developments occurring in any of the locations, and it felt like the book was just moving to the different places because that was what happened historically, or to show the reader that this place over here is also pretty bad and so is that place over there.
I also had the same issues I had with Salt to the Sea where Ruta Sepetys' writing style just didn't wow me. It almost felt like it should have wowed me, and that it was supposed to, but it just never did. I would read a sentence and be like, "That was good, I should be impressed by this," but I just... wasn't. I suppose this may be because Between Shades of Gray, like Salt to the Sea, was written in first person rather than third, which I prefer personally, but also I feel that third person narration is just more suited to the historical fiction genre as a whole. That being said, there were some gems in Between Shades of Gray:
"Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch."
"People I didn't know formed a circle around me, sheltering me from view. They escorted me back the our jurta, undetected. They didn't ask for anything. They were happy to help someone, to succeed at something, even if they weren't to benefit. We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that is we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer."
So yeah, there were some good quotes like that, but then again, they felt forced or fake coming from a 15/16 year old's perspective. Like she wasn't meant to be able to think of things like that to say.
Ok, enough ranting. I loved this book. The basis of the story was great (even if the storyline was a bit lacking) and the characters were well rounded and developed. Between Shades of Gray was primarily a character-driven novel which, again, is against my preference, but I enjoyed it all the same. A solid three stars for a solid book.