This book is so intensely emotional. It is a beautifully written story, but it is also immensely heartbreaking. Sepetys has a way of writing history that makes you fall right into the story, despite the hardships, despite the way everything tears your whole being to pieces. I was surprised at the brazen way with which she described the atrocities given that this is intended for YA audiences. But it does present a historical story that needs to be told and understood. There are a lot of WWII historical fiction novels out there, but very few address the Russian gulags. Having the story of the Baltic states presented in such a gripping fashion is an important contribution to literature.

The historical content itself is importantly delivered, but also serves incredibly well for the plot. Nothing felt forced, info dumpy, or irrelevant. Regardless of how bad things got, it was all presented in a way that felt as if it was a realistic representation of actual events and experiences.

The use of Lina as a YA protagonist is such a smart choice. She is smart and accomplished and very strong. The terrors of WWII affected all ages and it is important that the stories are told to all ages. Like middle grade has Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, young adult has Between Shades of Gray.

I kept thinking to myself as I read through horror after horror how impressed I am that people actually survived this. I cannot imagine the immense inner strength and will to live that must have taken. Similarly, I cannot fathom how there is such evil and lack of compassion for other human beings among people out there. How there could have been so many people who allowed these things to take place, who perpetuated the level of violence, starvation, mistreatment, and murder is completely beyond me.

There are some who have been upset by the romantic aspect of the novel, but I found it appropriate for Lina's age. Humans still crave affection in the worse of circumstances. A teenage girl could realistically still be expected to desire that kind of relationship. And there are known stories of individuals who fell in love in concentration camps. In fact, I enjoyed the hope (and maybe normalcy?) that this piece of the novel brought and I think the story line of Lina and Andrius's relationship was handled very tastefully.

The ending does come up quite abruptly. At first, that really bothered me. I needed to know what happened between the end of the main story and the start of the epilogue. However, the more I reflected, the more I decided that this story does what it needed to do. There is a good sense of completion in that way. While I do want to know more, it's really wanting to know more about the actual history. That instillation of curiosity in the reader about historical events is important, especially in cases representing history that we should all learn from. I loved this novel. Thank you to Ruta Sepetys for writing something so immensely touching and important.