Welcome to Litsy!

I finally got around to this #auldlangspine pick from @Karisimo and it was well worth it! I‘m actually glad I waited to read this one until the weather was cooler since I didn‘t get to it at the beginning of the year. I very much felt like the chilly mornings added to the atmosphere of the book.

The way the alternating current and past stories began to weave together with the little fairy tale stories in between had me captivated. ⬇️

5 Stars • "The Last Russian Doll" by Kristen Loesch follows three generations of Russian women:
• Tonya lives through the 1917 Russian Revolution, falling in love with a Bolshevik, Valentin, amidst political chaos and later Stalin's purges.
• Rosie (Raisa), in the 1990s, returns to Russia to unravel her family's secrets, particularly her mother Katya's mysterious past. ⬇️

I came in with really high expectations for this and maybe that was the problem. I don‘t think there was anything wrong with it per se, it just wasn‘t as compelling as I hoped for.

⭐️⭐️💫

#botm

There is no torture like childbirth

This book had a fairly promising start, with a young woman in 1991 looking for answers, and two people coming together during the Russian Revolution. While it‘s a fairly quick, mostly entertaining read, there are too many dangling plot lines and the ending is a combination of unsatisfying and just silly. But I have my BOTM backlist down to 2 books!

Been waiting all week for this…brunch and a book!

I‘m not sure about this one and maybe my head just wasn‘t in the right place to track the story. I thought there was too much going on and I couldn‘t decide where to focus- who was dead, who was alive, who and if anyone was danger, who was hiding, and just how pivotal where the dolls to the story. Sometimes it just… Read. Okay. Next. But the cover is all sorts of gorgeous!

So top marks for cover. And this would have been a 5-star read for me if the story didn‘t depend on so many people living into their mid90s. And I get it - Loesch wanted to link the Russian Revolution with the fall of the Soviet Union but I just don‘t see how all the key players who were in their 20s in the 1910s were still kicking in 1991. Fantastic otherwise, though.

Roll 17 for #Roll100

2️⃣2️⃣ Where the Road Bends ➡️ 2️⃣3️⃣ The Last Russian Doll

#ThingsInCommon: back of woman‘s head (with hair in bun) on covers

#awesomeapril

Floofy and I really enjoyed this one. There are two timelines and eventually, they do connect. I would've loved a little more historic detail, but I'm a geek when it comes to history. This, in my opinion, was a strong debut.

This book could have been so good. Parts of it were very good. The writing was excellent, but way above the average reader‘s ability to follow. I consider myself to be at least an average reader, and felt very very lost many times in this story. I still have to ask exactly what this book was about.I wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, this is not one I‘d recommend. I honestly think this author is too smart for fiction, if that makes sense

I read this pretty much in one sitting — very readable and interesting — ties together 2 different storylines, one present and one past, until the stories connect. I like stories like that. In the end, I wanted more historical details (love learning history with my fiction 😉) and it left a huge unanswered question. I assume the point is that it‘s not possible to really know *everything* that happened, but personally I felt a bit dissatisfied.

“In her sweeping debut, American novelist and Putin resistance scholar Kristen Loesch delivers a timely and topical novel—one that spans three generations of Russian history, from the 1917 revolution to the last days of the Soviet Union.”

FULL SPOTLIGHT: https://tinyurl.com/bdcnyvz5

@kristenloeschwriter
@berkleypub

With how expensive BOTM is for Canadians, it only makes sense to get a box when I add on 2 more books.

When my pre-order of The Writing Retreat got tied up in The Great Indigo Debacle of 2023, it was an easy add to go with the gorgeous cover of The Russian Doll and the buzz about Pineapple Street.

I definitely liked this. It's a quick read. Dual timelines spanning about 80 years of Russian history, this follows an interesting group of characters that get caught up in all manner of political nonsense while trying to live their own lives. +creepy porcelain dolls for the win.

#BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks

US pub date is 3/14/23
#ARC #Netgalley

New month, 3 new book of the month books! And a new book mark. Though you should probably read great as horrible because I fall for the red flag characters.
Other books for this month:
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala