by Ruta Sepetys
Genre: YA historical
My Rating: ★★★★★
Description: A young girl and her family are forced from their homes during Stalin's occupation of Lithuania. She draws what she sees, in the hope that someday, the tragedies that occurred in the labor camps of Siberia will not go unremembered.
My Review
I've put off reviewing this book for a long time, and I don't even know why, because I loved it so much! It's definitely not a light, easy read -- the things that the characters endure in this novel are horrifying and not sugarcoated, for which I was grateful. I'm glad that Sepetys used this novel to give readers an honest look at a period of history that has, for the most part, been forgotten.
I'm glad I read this book, because though I had heard of Stalin's labor camps before picking up this book, Between Shades of Gray showed me up close and personal the atrocities that were committed against the Lithuanian people during World War 2.
I would highly recommend this book to ages 15 and up.
TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual assault and rape.
Be aware going in to the book that there is a lot of heavy content. People are treated worse than animals, starved, beaten, and sold. Many characters die. Descriptions of dead bodies and blood. Nudity. A young girl is sexually assaulted by a soldier. Another female character is forced to have sex with her captors under threat (no actual scenes, but it is discussed.)
Depictions of tobacco use.
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