Two stars for the interesting facts I learned about the Germans invading Russia in the 1940's...other than that it just was not up my book ally. Many readers I respect and follow their reviews absolutely loved it, but I simply did not. For me the story was excruciatingly slow paced and I did not connect with the characters at all...not even a little!!! In fact, I was aggravated most of the time with both Alexander and Tatiana (H & h)...seriously annoyed! Then I was irritated with myself for being exasperated with the characters when there was so much desolation and dying going on in the story which should have been much more distressing to me than the insolent and weak characters! I was just left feeling frustrated and depressed...since I read to relax and be happy, I did not enjoy it. If angsty historical fiction is your thing then do not let my review sway you as this book may be for you.
Two stars for the interesting facts I learned about the Germans invading Russia in the 1940's... other than that it just was not up my book ally. Many readers I respect and follow their reviews absolutely loved it, but I simply did not. For me the story was excruciatingly slow paced and I did not connect with the characters at all... not even a little!!! In fact, I was aggravated most of the time with both Alexander and Tatiana (H & h)... seriously annoyed! Then I was irritated with myself for being exasperated with the characters when there was so much desolation and dying going on in the story which should have been much more distressing to me than the insolent and weak characters! I was just left feeling frustrated and depressed... since I read to relax and be happy, I did not enjoy it. If angsty historical fiction is your thing then do not let my review sway you as this book may be for you.