Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've read quite a few accounts of survival during deportation to Siberia, both non-fiction and novelizations, but this one added to my understanding with both details I've never heard and incredible depth of emotion. Lina is a wonderful character, both relatable and believable, her mother is determined and intelligent, and the fellow prisoners who create a community around them are a believable mix of strength, weakness, defiance and defeat. I was heartbroken when the story ended that I didn't get to witness Lina's eventual release and how she was reunited with those she loved. But in a way, the questions left by the novel mirror the questions left by the disappearance of so many people into the Soviet gulag system. For every story we hear, there are many many more that were never told, because so many people didn't survive. This is a great first novel, and handles a difficult topic with talent and grace.



View all my reviews

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ruby was sure she could make it the last few months of her senior year without anyone finding out her mother was gone. Why should she be sent off to stay with someone else when she was doing just fine on her own. Sure they'd turned off the gas, and the electricity, but she wasn't starving, and she could make it on her own. Here sister, Cora doesn't agree, and Ruby goes to live in Cora's perfect neighborhood, with her perfect husband and perfect house. Ruby figures this is no place for her, and the minute they take their eyes off of her, she's going over the fence. But it turns out life isn't so perfect for Cora either, and if Ruby decides to stay, she won't have a perfect life, but she might have a real family.



View all my reviews