Ashes in the Snow by Ruta Sepetys Published by Penguin ISBN: 9781984836748
on December 18, 2018
Genres: Historical, Holocaust, Prejudice & Racism, Social Themes, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Read it as: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life -- until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?
A moving and haunting novel perfect for readers of The Book Thief.
I say it all the time but I’ll say it again: this author really knows how to craft a story.
She just really needs to get better at writing her endings.
But before I get into that, don’t forget to check out my reviews of other Ruta Sepetys’ books Salt to the Sea, and The Fountains of Silence. Spoiler: I loved them. Specially Salt to the Sea, which is one of my favorite books of all time.
What I adored about this book
It does an amazing job of depicting the horrors of war in the least graphic way possible.
The book doesn’t shy away from violence, death, and abuse. We know more and worst things happened during this time, but the picture this story paints is precise and efficient in the way it takes us to that time and place.
The characters weren’t just there to have bad things happen to them, and they were all memorable in their own way. I gre to care about all the people who Lina met on her journey, and I hoped they would make it though their ordeal.
Because of the cover, I kind of expected more romance, but once I started the story, I was grateful for the balance. It wouldn’ve been weird to have more romance in the conditions they had to live. As it was, Andrius and Lina tried to support each other the best they could, and it was a source of hope and light that was much appreciated.
What kept the story from greatness
I just have one single complaint -a pretty major one though.
Where was my ending? This might seem spoilery, but I like to think it’s a fair warning. Ashes in the Snow has what we might call ‘an open ending’. It’s hardly that.
It was so abrupt, so… anticlimatic that if it wasn’t because of certain details in it, it’d have ruined my entire experience.
I won’t lie, I felt slightly deceived by this ending. The story was building towards something. I didn’t know what -I hoped it was the characters gaining their freedom- but something. The book sort of skips the ending and tells us, instead of showing us, how it ends.
And that made me mad.
I can see why maybe the author decided to go this route. But as a reader, it just doesn’t work.
Still, please don’t let this put you off reading it. It’s a very good book. And if you read this one first, and then Salt to the Sea, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them a lot!
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