AUTHOR: Paullina Simons
STARTED: November 19, 2013
FINISHED: January 12, 2014
PAGES:894
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: Light came through the window, trickling morning all over the room.
SUMMARY: [From BN] The golden
skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise
of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this
city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha
Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their
brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler's
armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad. Yet there is light in the
darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red
Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled
past, he is drawn to Tatiana—and she to him. Starvation, desperation,
and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the
merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander's impossible love
threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous
secret Alexander so carefully protects—a secret as devastating as the
war itself—as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will
change the world and their lives forever.
THOUGHTS: It might have taken me two months to finish this book, but I enjoyed the ride. This is, for the most part, a romance novel masquerading as fiction. It works.
Tatiana, Dasha, and Alexander are in a love triangle to end all love triangles. They live in Leningrad... and, oh look!, World War II has started. While I was not in love with the characters (they were a bit high on the whiny scale), I thought they came across as realistic for their time and situation. Our two leads play well off one another, and the secondary characters help move the story forward without feeling like cardboard, play-actors. The characters move through quite the emotional roller-coaster, and the journey is over all too quickly.
This story was structured for high-drama - and that is exactly what it delivers. The book begins with slow pacing and deliberate action. The feeling of anticipation builds and builds with each page. Then, the action starts flying. This structure fits with the ebb and flow of the war in which the book takes place. Once the action threshold is crossed, there is no going back. Once I hit that tipping point in the novel, I kept trying to find time to read. The steady build-up leads to a power-packed ending that completely delivers.
This is the type of book to lose yourself in. It's certainly not literature or a masterpiece, but it is an all-consuming read. If you're looking for a good book to fill lots of hours, then pick up The Bronze Horseman. It will stick with you have the last page is done.
RATING:7/10 [Very Good]
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