Oh my god, this book.

I can't explain it, or describe what I felt while reading it. At times, I grappled with it, both because I haven't read a book in my native language since 2017 (but I'm of the opinion that translations always, always pale in comparison to their originals, no matter how good, so here I am, picking it apart in Russian), and because my brain wouldn't cooperate with some of the concepts presented in it. But I loved every moment. I thought of this book when I wasn't reading it, and my dreams were full of it these past few weeks.

I will say, there is something about the Russian-language version that made it a much more engaging read for me. I got the humor; I related to the mundanity. I've experienced a summer in Crimea followed by an autumn in Moscow, and this familiarity, this connection - from the very start of the book -  with Sasha's own life made me understand her as a protagonist a lot better than if I'd read it in English.

As an aside, it's nothing like Harry Potter - I don't know why it's marketed that way. If anything, the metamorphosis at the crux of the book would give transphobic Rowling an aneurysm.