Review: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys


Between Shades of Gray
Ruta Sepetys
Series: None
Released: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Philomel Books
Rating: 4.5 stars
Word Rating: What do I do with my life now?
Reviewed by: Mel

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Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

"We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean."

I feel like I've been stripped from all the humanity I'd ever had (If I had any). I feel like ripping my hair out, I feel like screaming into my pillow. I feel unsettled. I feel naked. That's how raw this novel was. So raw it made me feel stinging clean to the bone in nakedness. And, if it were my choice, I'd do this all over again because Between Shades of Gray was so, so worth it.

It's the year 1941 during World War II when Lena's family is torn apart. Separated from her father; Lena, her mother and ten-year-old brother are labelled as criminals by the soviet officers as they are thrown into a dishevelled train car. This is where they begin a journey that never seems to end. The conditions are dire, working under severe weathers become Lena's daily routine. Food and water are expectedly scarce. And Lena has no idea if her father is still alive; however her passion for art seems to help her along the way. In numerous aspects, Between Shades of Gray is a powerful novel that people across all ages should read.

There are many themes Ruta Sepetys addresses that make this novel utterly whole. Death, sacrifice, but more importantly, hope. This unwavering, strong element practically jumped out of the pages. Hope and trust definitely became something awfully valued during the war, and Ruta certainly flourished and expanded on it to something so outstanding, and so impacting. Hope for survival, life, family. It's a never ending, never dying element. It's always there, yet it depends on whether you acknowledge it or not. Whether you'll cherish it, or ignore it and be faithless. And in Between Shades of Gray, we get to see different people dealing with hope on varying degrees.

What hit it home for Ruta Sepetys’ debut was her characters that she built. These characters seemed to actually come off the ongoing themes that appeared throughout the novel. Lina's narrative point was touching, the way she spoke and told her story made her seem wise, yet still young and strong with faith. I fell in love with Lina after only a few pages in, her selflessness and heart kept me enthralled. However Lina could be bitter, nonetheless it was at understandable times, it was over dramatic-ised as such. Her words are concise and blunt, they aren't necessarily sugar-coated when Lina speaks, for she speaks of what she sees.

Another favourite of mine was the relationships, some strengthen, others weaken and there are the few that begin. It's truly amazing how fast relationships grow during harsh times. Lina, her mother and brother's relationship was evidently the firmest. The three of them were welcoming and sweet, all caring and gosh, I must say, one of my favourite families of all time. However there's also a romance, it wasn't a focal point yet it was bittersweet and truthful. There isn't irrelevant drama, it's authentic to the time period.

My only issue with this book was the slight slow pace in the first half of the novel, other than that Between Shades of Gray was phenomenal. Something everyone needs to try.

17 comments :

  1. Beautiful review, Mel! I really enjoyed this one and started crying at the end for no particular reason. I second every word you said about Lina, she's a strong person to withstand so many challenges.

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    1. Thanks! I totally get what you mean even though I did not cry in this one. :)

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  2. Your first paragraph is exactly the reason why I've put this book off for so long. It sounds like a fantastic read... but I'm kind of terrified of what it might do to me. Still, I hope to pick it up eventually once I've plucked up the courage. Brilliant review, Melanie!

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    1. Oh read this ASAP Sam! It's not as heart breaking as The Book Thief but the element of hope is the same. I look forward to your thoughts :D

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  3. I couldn't have said it better. This book is beautiful and tragic and moving in a way I'd never experienced before, and your review just brought back vivid memories of reading it the first time all over again, and the powerful emotions it pulled out of me. Well done!

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    1. I was rather torn at the end of this one- fell asleep still thinking about it

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  4. I have this one and it's on my list of books that I need to read this fall! So, I'm going to make it happen. Your review was brilliant!

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    1. You need this one in your life!!! Thank you, hon <3

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  5. The cover for this book is really beautiful yet simplistic in a way. I love how there's a little plant in the midst of the ice- seems to represent the hope like you said in your review. Have you read her acknowledgements/author's note? I hear it's pretty heartbreaking.

    Lovely review Melanie! :D

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    1. Exactly my thoughts! The plant is so strong and stands out nicely unlike the neverending white.

      Yes I did read the author's note and I got a little teary- Ruta has her way with words, fiction or not.

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  6. Oh, Between Shades of Gray sounds absolutely amazing! Beautiful and heartbreaking and tragic. Like Sam, I'm a bit scared of what it may do to me when I do find myself a copy, but I'm definitely going to make it happen soon. Great review, Melanie!

    Chri @ Fathomless

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  7. Wow, sounds like a really amazing novel Mel! Think I'll save this one for when I need a deep and meaningful book.

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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  8. This novel was powerful and beautiful - I loved it. I thought it was interesting to read about the unknown slaughter of people outside of Germany. It really opened my eyes to the time period, and what was happening.

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  9. This book is really something else... I can't even describe how poignant it is. Superb review!
    -Scott Reads It

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  10. I remember crying after this story was over. Beautiful review! Lina's family is amazing.

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  11. I was planning on reading Between Shades of Gray but for some reason or another I read Out of the Easy first, and I hated that. I think I might give it a chance, but I'm so wary now. I keep seeing positive reviews though, so I feel compelled to read it. Great review.


    Aly @ My Heart Hearts Books

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  12. Ms. Sepetys is deft at portraying acts of love and kindness among strangers in the midst of pain and starvation. This is a must read book for it serves to remind us of arbitrariness of tyranny. The Holocaust stands as a giant reminder of the horror of genocide committed against the Jews by Hitler. In the shadow of the Holocaust stands an equally abhorrent slaughter of twenty million innocents by Josef Stalin. This should not be forgotten and this work by Ms. Sepetys is a beginning at setting the record straight.
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