I have mixed feelings towards this book. When I started reading it, it of course mentioned heavily the famous novel Lolita. I thought cool, establish that this drew inspiration and move on... but it didn’t. At least not fully. I don’t think the title is misleading, but I was expecting more about Sally Horner’s case. In fact, that’s what drew me into the book. It turned out to bounce around between both Horner and Nakabov’s stories. Which is fine, just wasn’t expected. I think I would’ve minded less if Sally’s story was written in full, and then Nakabov’s was written afterwards instead of bouncing back and forth.

Now, is there connections to the real life story and Lolita? Yes. Does this book make leaps at times to those connections, also yes. I probably would’ve given the book 3 stars, but the research and writing are quite good.

Overall, if you liked reading Lolita, or want to know about it’s history this book is one you should read. If your just in it for Sally Horner’s story... I would say read just her parts.