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A review by pages_oflau
Nevertell by Katharine Orton
4.0
Firstly, can we just take a minute to stare at this STUNNING cover?...done? Good. If the synopsis on the back of the book hadn’t already grabbed me, then the cover would have.
When I saw the words ‘Soviet’ & ‘Siberia’ I knew this was going to be for me. SIGN ME UP! I literally said to amazon ‘TAKE MY MONEY’. If you know me at all then you will know anything even remotely to do with Russia, I’m there for.
Lina, our main character, is eleven years old was born inside a Soviet prison camp where she lives with her mother Katya. One evening on her wonder around the camp, Lina bumps into a trio of older men, also prisoners, who tell her that they are going to escape the camp with her, but only if she can prove that she is useful. They set her the task of stealing food from one of the camps greenhouses whilst her mother has the task of being a distraction to the guards.
When it comes time to escape, Lina’s best friend, Bogdan (AKA Bogey) follows them because he wants to make sure Lina is safe and doesn’t want to be without her. It soon becomes apparent that the escape is not going to be without its challenges, there is barely enough food, the snowy terrain and harshly cold weather is slowing them down and on top of that, they are being hunted by a pack of shadow-wolves that belong to the evil sorceress, The Man Hunter.
From the very start of this book we are thrown into such a rich, vivid, snowy setting that I’m totally here for. I truly felt for Lina and can only imagine what a nightmare it must of been for her to grow up in a Soviet prison camp. Everything in me willed the escape to go well and my heart did swell up when Bogey wouldn’t let Lina go alone because such a he’s loyal and caring best friend.
I loved the whole Russian vibe I got from this book, from the snow covered terrain, to the Russian folklore included in this book. The magic really flowed well with the story and the plot. The whole time I was reading Nevertell, I was lost in the same world as Lina and Bogey, trying to survive and outrun the evil.
Throughout this whole book the atmosphere was on point. The writing was beautiful and lyrical and the story was stunning, heartwarming and everything I wanted from a middle grade.
When I saw the words ‘Soviet’ & ‘Siberia’ I knew this was going to be for me. SIGN ME UP! I literally said to amazon ‘TAKE MY MONEY’. If you know me at all then you will know anything even remotely to do with Russia, I’m there for.
Lina, our main character, is eleven years old was born inside a Soviet prison camp where she lives with her mother Katya. One evening on her wonder around the camp, Lina bumps into a trio of older men, also prisoners, who tell her that they are going to escape the camp with her, but only if she can prove that she is useful. They set her the task of stealing food from one of the camps greenhouses whilst her mother has the task of being a distraction to the guards.
When it comes time to escape, Lina’s best friend, Bogdan (AKA Bogey) follows them because he wants to make sure Lina is safe and doesn’t want to be without her. It soon becomes apparent that the escape is not going to be without its challenges, there is barely enough food, the snowy terrain and harshly cold weather is slowing them down and on top of that, they are being hunted by a pack of shadow-wolves that belong to the evil sorceress, The Man Hunter.
From the very start of this book we are thrown into such a rich, vivid, snowy setting that I’m totally here for. I truly felt for Lina and can only imagine what a nightmare it must of been for her to grow up in a Soviet prison camp. Everything in me willed the escape to go well and my heart did swell up when Bogey wouldn’t let Lina go alone because such a he’s loyal and caring best friend.
I loved the whole Russian vibe I got from this book, from the snow covered terrain, to the Russian folklore included in this book. The magic really flowed well with the story and the plot. The whole time I was reading Nevertell, I was lost in the same world as Lina and Bogey, trying to survive and outrun the evil.
Throughout this whole book the atmosphere was on point. The writing was beautiful and lyrical and the story was stunning, heartwarming and everything I wanted from a middle grade.