Between Shades of Gray

I will not go into the details of the story, nor will I offer my opinion regarding the events described. This is hardly the place for me to do something like that. Instead, I will comment upon how Ruta Sepetys' novel made me feel.

I cannot remember the last time I cried over a novel. It must have been long ago. With Between Shades of Gray, it was hard to restrain myself from the very first chapters. During the last ten chapters, it became unbearable. Without spoiling a single thing, this book is harrowing, nightmarish, dark. Is it really YA fiction? Hard to say, it depends on what each one of us define as YA fiction. Would I give it to my daughter if I had one? Absolutely, without any hesitation.