As a Slav myself, I'm always a little hesitant to pick up literature about Russia written by those that haven't lived there, especially historical fiction. I like the nuance my culture holds, and while it's funny to see foreigners fumble with it, I'm getting sick of those stories. This book does feel authentic, and I enjoyed large portions of it, until it introduced Vika. 

I see this a lot with male authors; they will introduce a femme fatale/not like other girls character, and suddenly the protagonist is in love while he's watching her treat other women like garbage. Because she's "different" and he's "never felt like this before". Russian women, regardless of how "tomboyish" (or whatever weird phrase any given author chooses to use to describe a short-haired girl going about her day in ww2) they are, have friendships/relationships much different to American women (or the women imagined by an American author). Vika's treatment of

the women in the farmhouse

was completely uncharacteristic of the way most women, especially Slavic women, would act in that scenario. Vika's role in the story took me out of it immediately, and while the book is an otherwise captivating read, I struggled to connect with the characters after her introduction.