Thursday, August 29, 2019

TLC Book Tours Book Review: Castle of Concrete

About Castle of Concrete

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Young Europe Books (June 11, 2019)
 Set in the final year of Soviet Russia’s collapse, this stunning debut novel tells the story of Sonya, a timid Jewish girl reuniting with her once-dissident mother and falling in love with a mysterious boy who may be an anti-Semite. All the while, Sonya’s mama is falling in love also?with shiny America, a land where differences seem to be celebrated. The place sounds amazing, but so far away. Will Sonya ever find her way there?


Social Media Please use the hashtag #castleofconcrete and tag @tlcbooktours and @katiawrites.





 

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound


Review: The setting of this book is perfect for me as I was growing up and graduating high school around the time all of these things were happening in Russia.  This was news that I have heard. Actually reading it made me sad, because I don't see a lot of change in the world

As Sonya told her mother "there's so much hatred in the world." I simply nod in agreement. Its 2019 and all we see in the news is hatred.

I didn't really much know about the goings on in Russia at the time, but I do remember Mr. Gorbachev and Mr. Yeltsin.

I loved Sonya, she was so much a typical teenage girl with her love triangle of Ruslan and Misha. I often found myself wanting to shake her, much like I would any teenage girl doing something stupid, and early on you could tell Ruslan wasn't the right guy for her.

This is a story that is more than a teenage romance. Its the story of Russian history and Jewish history that is seldom pretty. It is about a girl finding a New Life and herself.

I only wish the there was more resolution to her relationship with Misha.

This was such a beautifully written novel and a quick read for me. I simply couldn't put it down I really loved the characters.

Rating: 5 flowers



About Katia Raina

When she was a child, Katia Raina played at construction sites and believed in magic mirrors. She emigrated from Russia at the age of almost sixteen. A former journalist and currently a middle school English teacher in Washington, D.C., she has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives with her family just outside of D.C., and still believes in magic. Find out more about Katia at her website, and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

1 comments:

Sara Strand said...

I agree, this is beyond a teenage romance- that actually feels like a secondary plot in this book, and I think that's really great. It'll draw people in to read it but they'll get a bit of historical fiction at the same time. Win win. Thank you for being on this tour! Sara @ TLC Book Tours

 
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