Brilliant but shocking

The story is a horrifying look (though admittedly sometimes a guess) at what went on in Russia in the 50’s and 60’s, backed up by known facts. It has both pace and human interest to sustain the listener.
The reader is excellent.

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Brummies in the gulag!

An interesting story but the narration left a lot to be desired! Liverpudlian, midland and Irish accents were used for various characters. Some of the dialogue was over simplistic and difficult to believe. Pity.

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Fascinating story

Took a while to get into this book but it told a fascinating story about a period of time I knew nothing about.

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Loved every minute

At this point, Natasha Pulley could publish her shopping list and I'd rave about it, so I think it's fair to say I went in ready to be swept off my feet. It's her first one that has no magic at all to it - as she said herself, radioactivity is weird enough on its own, and while I was a bit apprehensive about that (because I love the magic, not gonna lie), I think she was right. It stands beautifully on its own without any magic at all.

It must be difficult to publish a book about Russia in 2022; even more so having written a book about Russia in 2021 and watching world events unfold as you preparing for the publication of this book. It didn't distract me from the story at all, however. It's set in Russia, of course, and the characters are Russians, but first and foremost it's a story about universal human things that could in a similar form be set anywhere. So if you've been hesitating to pick this up for this reason, please don't. You'd be missing out on a beautiful book.

She brings all her trademark features to play: the broken characters that have their light escaping at the seams, the wonderful worldbuilding, the masterful plot structure, the tender characterisation. Pulley just keeps getting better with every book that she writes, and it's such a shame that every book that she writes seems to receive a little less press than the one before. For me, she's one of the very few living auto-buy authors that I have.

If you loved The Kingdoms by the same author, if you enjoy warm and hopeful stories set in difficult times that never slip into being smarmy or feel-good, if you like stories dealing with adversity little by little one day at a time, still finding things to laugh and weep at; then this book is for you. There's a mystery to solve, but it's not a murder mystery; there's nucelar fission but it's not a science book; there are people falling in love but it's not a romance. It's all of these things, but its brilliance exceeds the sum of its parts. Do read it.

The only thing that did not quite work for me was the narrator - I was not a fan of his voice, and some of the characters were voiced oddly to my ears. But that's just personal preference.

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10 people found this helpful

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Normally a Pulley fan but struggled with The Kingdoms so I was hopeful that this would suck me in - and it did!

I enjoyed the narrator, the variety of British accents instead of Eastern European ones tickled me.

*Spoilers ahead*

Won't go into much detail, except for the Afterword. I always find it so impressive to get to the end of these books that feel fanciful and fictitious for it to be revealed some things are actual occurrences, it's quite brilliant. It just edges on historical fiction as well as sci-fi in this case.

The only thing that didn't sit right with me was the romance, it became quickly apparent that Shenkov was going to be the love interest and it felt ... boring. As it was clear then that this would follow the theme of her other books. And it really didn't need to have any romance at all for the story to work, instead the story started to bend around the pair.

I felt awful on Anna this long suffering wife who didn't want kids, didn't want to work in this radioactive city and had terminal cancer all because of her husband who she must have known was gay after he got arrested in the first place.

For her to get written out at the end was harsh. Plus Constantine "I'd do anything for my kids" Shenkov not really commenting or making an effort to contact his children after the stink he made about having them was disappointing.

The whole English couple dinner was also just a weirdly placed message, just crammed in at the end.

However, another great read.

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2 people found this helpful

Haunting

I was hooked throughout this, and I finished it a couple of days ago but can’t stop thinking about it!
The narration was excellent, really adding to the story.

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didn't think I'd enjoy it much but I loved it!

I bought this mainly because I've loved all of Natasha Pulley's other books but I was expecting it to be a bit of a slog because I'm not a fan of prison fiction. It was surprisingly gripping though, with adventure, bone dry humour, and a fragile love story all intertwined with the grim reality of the Soviet era. I don't know how she does it but she can make the bleakest and sometimes dullest of scenarios become completely absorbing. Her depictions of times and places are incredibly vivid without getting bogged down in over-long descriptive passages. And because she is a generous writer all of the characters are given space to come to life and aren't just written off as good or bad or exist only as plot devices. Like her previous novels, the story doesn't flinch from darkness so it's definitely not sentimental but it is romantic and you care deeply about the characters, flawed as they are. I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next

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Up there with Robert Harris

This is a very different book from the watchmaker of filigree street, but equally wonderful in its different way. An exciting thriller set in turbulent times, but also a story about enjoying the little things in life, hope, and the importance of human connections. A well researched historical novel that makes life in Soviet Russia very real.

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Well researched, eye-opening, and beautifully writen

Natasha Pulley's ability as an author is something to behold. Her understanding of the craft is refined and leads to smooth and addictive storytelling. Themes of gender and culture are dealt with expertly, and she still manages to treat us to the delights of octapodes and clockwork on the side. Thank you, Natasha! Also, brilliantly read!

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Pulley doesn't disappoint!

Pulley has become one of those authors where the second I see she has a new book out I will be buying it without a moment's hesitation! I loved how this book dealt with horrifying topics (all the implications of what radioactive materials can do to a human) in a sensitive way without it being sensationalised or voyeuristic. I particularly appreciated the historical note at the end explaining what was fact and what was fiction. I also liked how she compared different philosophical standpoints without implying one perspective was necessarily the correct one. I also feel she gets the perfect balance of writing about gay characters and capturing the lived experiences of forbidden love in that era without it dominating the narrative or labouring the point of moral judgments about this. It was how it was and she captures the reality of this period beautifully with characters you feel a real kinship with. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

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4 people found this helpful