This book gets a strong 3 for a variety of reasons. The most glaring reason is that is just ends. There is no real resolution or end to the story it just stops without allowing the reader to gain any sense of where the main character or anyone else is at the end. There is an epilogue with a letter saying that she survived, but it still feels like they are just floating out there in the Siberia freezing to death. We never find out if her father actually survived or not, nor about her brother or any of the other people she was with except who she marries.Another reason is just that I personally have previous experience reading memoirs and historical accounts of those forced into the Gulag system for whatever reason. There was just not enough for me to truly feel like I developed a connection to the characters or become invested in their survival, except for the Mother I liked her. It is just a nit picky thing where it just didn't seem to have that grain of truth that I need in historical novels from time periods I have a strong interest in. In the same strand of thought, I felt as though Lina read much younger than fifteen years old. I felt as thought a more accurate age would be somewhere around eleven or twelve not the age she was given. It was that she was just too clueless about some of the things surrounding her. This could also be seen as a pet peeve thing of mine, however. Overall, Between Shades of Grey was readable, but I do not feel as though it will have that strong of a lasting impression on me as some other novels and memoirs about the struggles people went through during the Stalin's Terror I have read. This was a good book that shows what happened to many people in the earlier part of the 20th century. Since I'm now getting old, I realize that children today may not have a clue of all the atrocities that happened back then. Even I am too young to have experienced these things, but my parents and grandparents did. So these stories are still vivid to me.Half of me wants my child to read this. The other half wants them to remain innocent. In the end, I think this story should probably not be read until the child is mature enough. When that is, I don't know. I suggest reading it first as a parent, then suggesting it to your child when you think the time is right. It is gritty and frightening.
What do You think about Between Shades Of Gray (2011)?
This is the first book that truly broke my heart. You need to read it, trust me.
—redstrings31
I did like this book a lot, but hated the ending. It felt very rushed.
—basketball4
Everyone should read this book. That's all I'm going to say.
—eunjae
