Elena Gorokhova presents her world growing up in Russia. Her world is only one side but she does show how each side works a little bit by the people she meets and the friends she has in her life. The rules she follows are ingrained in her from childhood. It encompasses a lot of time and some of it is skipped. Yet I felt that the main part of her life was covered and all the important things are shown. I was blown away with how things are so regimented. Maybe this is only one point of view but that is not how it came across to me.
I had some difficulty believing how things are for them. Yet when dealing with kids from other countries they had the same reactions that I had while reading the book. So it helped me understand just the outside experience with the country. The repetitiveness got to me after awhile but as the story went along, it just seemed that is how they were taught to express themselves. So it fit in her world while it doesn't always fit in mine.
I was proud of Elena and all that she went through. And for the most part, she stayed as true to herself as possible. It wasn't always easy and she knew she might butt heads with her mother in some respects. But she still kept plugging along even if she had to keep secrets from her mother. I didn't agree with that, but then her life is different than mine. The one other thing I didn't agree with is the comparison to Angela's Ashes. While the book was very readable, I never had trouble eating while reading this book unlike Angela's Ashes. I was pleased to see that Mr. McCourt had liked the book. I never noticed it till I finished the book so that helped me like it a little more in the end. If you don't mind a little repeating of things and sometimes feeling a little left out, this is a good book for you. I enjoyed it for the most part and it gave me a great glimpse into a world I don't know a whole lot about. I would love to read more about this time through other people's eyes.
New Author/ Non-Fiction/Memoir/308 pages/Russia/3.5 out of 5
I am going to be posting a giveaway for this book since it is an ARC and I don't believe I'll read it again!
