ARA Review by hsprings of The Cruel Romance

The ARA Review Exchange is a system in which authors review other authors' books, generlaly in exchange for getting their own book reviews by other authors. However, the person who reviews a author's book is not the same person whose book that author reviewed. This way, author reviews do not influence each other, such as by an author being inclined to reward a good review by deliving one in return or deliver a negative review as revenge.

Moderator: Official Reviewer Representatives

Forum rules
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
Post Reply
User avatar
hsprings
Posts: 5
Joined: 19 Feb 2018, 12:29
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 88

ARA Review by hsprings of The Cruel Romance

Post by hsprings »

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Cruel Romance.]
Book Cover
5 out of 5 stars
Share This Review


The Cruel Romance by Marina Osipova is a powerful historical fiction novel that brings to life the tragedy and pain of love and war. The story follows a young woman, Serafima, and her lover through the utter decimation of World War II and beyond. Serafima’s village is overrun with German soldiers and she and her neighbors struggle to survive both the winter and their hate. An evil event turns her life upside down, and she endures years of malice and snide remarks. She remains strong through it all, fighting to support her family and make a life for herself. Peace time brings her no relief. In a way, it makes her life more difficult. Her lover returns with enough jealousy to scorch an army and winds up destroying everything she holds dear. Unavoidable non-spoiler alert, the story’s heartbreaking ending hurt about as much as The Hunger Games conclusion.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars because it was perfectly written and told a harsh yet poignant tale of real life suffering and loss. The story made me mad, and it made me cry. It made me smile, and it would have made me laugh, I am sure, if there had been anything remotely funny in the lives of the characters in this book. Getting a reader to empathize with the emotions of one’s characters is the mark of a good story. Getting a reader to react with their own emotion is the mark of a brilliant one.

The only annoyance I had with this story, and the thing that made me briefly consider lowering my rating to 4 stars, was my frustration with Serafima, herself. She had major issues explaining to her lover what had happened to her. While this is totally understandable given her circumstances, her swift explanation may have wound up saving several lives and countless years of suffering. She was able to tell others in her life her dark and terrible secret, which leads me to believe that her lips were loosened by kindness and understanding. I also think pride may have kept it inside her. It would have been nice if the author had gone into more detail, i.e. Serafima’s thoughts on the subject. The questions haunt me.

Despite this uncertainty and the tragically sad conclusion, the novel ended strongly in a blaze of tear-jerking sorrow. I was flooded with the desire to read further books by the author and praying for happier endings in them. The depth of feeling this novel evoked, especially in its last, most powerful passages is a tremendous writerly talent, one I will strive to emulate.

I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction and to those whose hearts can take a sad conclusion now and again. It fills the reader to bursting with life lessons and the treachery of those who profess to love you. It also creates a calming certainty that though pain is found everywhere, it finds ways of mingling and co-existing with great love.

***
View The Cruel Romance on Bookshelves
Post Reply

Return to “ARA Reviews (Authors Reviewing Authors)”