One of the best books I've read for a long time, Russian or otherwise. An intense and moving book that made me want to read more of Prilepin's work.

I started out really enjoying this book. The story was told through a series of short stories, but halfway through the book I stopped caring. Then towards then end I got back into it. It was a very strange reading experience for me.

I do love novels that are told in short story form, however, I had a bit of trouble connecting in this particular novel. The middle section was just so hard for me to read, I don’t know if it was the translation or just a boring story, but it’s unfortunate that I had that problem since the beginning and ending stories were fantastic.

This book was provided for the participation of Confessions of a Bookaholic in the book tour. All thoughts and opinions are my own.