Review Detail

When you read books set in the 1940-50's, they are mostly about Hitler in Germany. This one is not. It's about Lithuania, and how it was just as horrible as Germany then.

Between Shades of Gray is about a girl called Lina. Before one day changed her life, she was like any other Lithuanian around. Then. In 1941, one night, Soviets barged in, claiming that they were criminals. Herself and her family, her mother and her brother, were taken and thrown onto a train with many other people, and then is forced to work in a labour camp. This book is about her time in the labour camp, what she suffered there and how far she went to survive. It is so touching and heartbreaking.

I felt heartbroken all through this book, and cried a total of three times. The first time was when Lina was describing herself and those around her after a couple of months at the labour camp. The second time was when (SPOILER ALERT) Lina's mother died (END SPOILER) and the third was at the very end, when I was reading the letter.

I felt angry a lot of times during this book. I felt angry all the times those guards looked the other way as people were starving right in front of them, and also when I found out that the Americans knew about this.

I was so sad at the end. I was like "WHAT?! THAT'S WHERE YOU CHOOSE TO END?" Of course, with the end letter I knew she was all right in the end, but there was nothing on how she finally managed to escape. I am sad now. :(

This is an amazing book. All should read this, but be sure to be supplied with a few tissues if you're one of those people who cry easy.