Review- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray on Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

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. 

Release date:

Published by: 

Page numbers: 

REVIEW:

Wow. I don't know what to say. Humanity seems to be such a funny word after reading Between Shades of Gray. Who even invented it? Does it even exist? I am so speechless and so contemplative. All I can come up with is one of my most favourite quotes by Albert Camus that author Ruta Sepeteys herself has used a part of in the book and that fits Between Shades of Gray perfectly: 

Between Shades of Gray is an eye opener of the part of European history that remains untold and unheard of until one reads this book. The book was so real, so raw and so true. The characters are not the only people suffering. The reader suffers with them. Half the time, I just kept asking myself, what is happening? Why is this happening? This shouldn't happen! Not to innocent people. Not to anyone. Historical fiction really teaches us what history is all about. History is not just about the socio-political scenarios. It's about feelings and emotions. It's about how the surroundings of a person affect her or him. It is devastating, and it hurts just reading about it. Imagine being a part of it... 

I really have no idea what to say. I wouldn't say that Between Shades of Gray was out of the ordinary. But it moved me and it touched me. It taught me so much. I have really learned to value life because you never know what can happen and how one can go from hundred to zero in the blink of an eye. It taught me strength. I cannot even begin to imagine myself in the place of the characters. 

I know my review is of no help, but there are plenty of reviews out there that explain how incredible this book is. The only reason I decided to put down something is to let you, my dear reader, know that Between Shades of Gray is worth it. It will modify you in the most breathtaking way. And like my friend Tanja was there for me, I will be there to hug you once you're done reading this work of art. 

Buy the book: AMAZON / FLIPKART

Review- Orphan of Islam by Alexander Khan

Goodreads Summary:

"I've told you before, and I will tell you again, if you are unable to read the Holy Book you will be punished." The teacher’s face was a mask of anger. "Understand?"

Born in 1975 in the UK to a Pakistani father and an English mother, Alexander Khan spent his early years as a Muslim in the north of England. But at the age of three his family was torn apart when his father took him to Pakistan. Despite his desperate cries, that was the last he saw of his mother – he was told she had walked out and abandoned them; many years later he learned she was told he’d died in a car crash in Pakistan.

Three years on Alex is brought back to England, but kept hidden at all times. His father disappears to Pakistan again, leaving Alex in the care of a stepmother and her cruel brother. And it is then that his troubles really begin. Seen as an outsider by both the white kids and the Pakistani kids, Alex is lost and alone.

When his father dies unexpectedly, Alex is sent back to Pakistan to stay with his ‘family’ and learn to behave like a ‘good Muslim’. Now alone in a strange, hostile country, with nobody to protect him, Alex realises what it is to be truly orphaned. No one would listen. No one would help. And no one cared when he was kidnapped by men from his own family and sent to a fundamentalist Madrassa on the Afghanistan border.

A fascinating and compelling account of young boy caught between two cultures, this book tells the true story of a child desperately searching for his place in the world; the tale of a boy, lost and alone, trying to find a way to repair a life shattered by the shocking event he witnessed through a crack in the door of a house in an isolated village in Pakistan. 

REVIEW:

It has been a long time since I read a book that was moving and touching, which is why I find myself at a loss for words. If I am to sum up Orphan of Islam in two words, I would say that the book is a sad beauty. A sad beauty that made me contemplate about Islam more than what I do on a normal basis. A reflective, deep and raw story, this book has instantly and easily found a place in my heart, right alongside marvels like The Kite Runner and The Almond Tree. 

We all know what a brave soul Malala is. What she did, continues to do and will eventually do is admirable. If you like Malala, you will love Mohammed. He was a brave child who went through something that no adult, let alone child, should ever go through. I admired his courage and determination for never once did he accept what was thrown his way without questioning and reasoning- albeit in his own head- why it was being thrown his way. What I admired most about him was his righteousness, even when all his religion and his people gave him was harm and hurt. Never once did I pity this innocent child, but I only respected and valued his spirit throughout the length of the book.  

A beautiful story of an innocent child, an imposing religion, two interesting cultures and two idyllic countries, Orphan of Islam is a sad story about impressive character development which is what made the book really amazing for me. There are books in which characters are on the last page just the way they were on the first page. And then there are books like Orphan of Islam that show intense and incredible personal change. Mohammed grew so much as a man and as a human over the span of the book that it was hard yet amazing to believe how the lost child had grown to become such a wonderful man. 

What added to the beauty of the book was what I learnt from it as a reader, and that makes me want to genuinely and literally bow down to author Alexander Khan. I really felt like I travelled with Mohammed and that I was a part of his journey. Right from England to Pakistan and back again, I felt like I was living the story, almost feeling it, and when an author manages to do that through his writing, it is simply wonderful. After saying all that I have said, I feel that I am still speechless and I will never be able to convey how beautiful Orphan of Islam really is, and that is a shame, because the simplicity and beauty in Alexander Khan's storytelling demand to be conveyed. 

RATING: