Sascha is a vulnerable girl hiding behind a tough veneer. I couldn't help but admire her candor and her unflinching fight to deal with a disturbing childhood filled with domestic violence and childhood abuse. The author told Sascha's story without sentimentality but with a straightforwardness that was refreshing yet brutal in its honesty. The writing was sparse and lyrical. I couldn't put it down. Alina Bronsky did a superb job with writing in a teen's point of view. Sascha (the main character) is tough, tender, smart, acid, & painfully realistic. Her story is both heartbreaking & funny as it blows by you at a breakneck pace. (However, there is one point where the pacing changed somewhat & it threw me to the point that I flipped back a couple of pages, thinking I had somehow skipped a page or two....) An unflinching look at an immigrant life lived on the fringe, surviving violent circumstances, moving forward (sometimes backward) in spite of it all....
What do You think about Scherbenpark (2008)?
Excellent debut novel and excellent translation. I highly recommend going out and buying this book!
—dvirsara
Pretty good but a little dark. I might try reading it in German. :p
—Ash
Huh. Definitely not my usual thing, but that's good once in a while.
—Maranda
