This novel took me a while to read. It’s a little too heavy
(subject-wise) for one sitting. Marra’s novel The Tsar of Love and Techno
takes place in Russia from 1935 to present day.
The setting is described perfectly - in a way that makes you even more depressed to
be there with these characters.
And boy are there a lot of characters. Marra weaves a
tangled web of a time-jumping story. I actually had to stop about halfway
through the book, get a piece of paper, and draw myself a timeline/web of the
characters. Brothers, fathers, uncles,
and grandmothers come in and out of the story line, and rarely do they make it
easy and reveal their connections. This is what makes this book so very
readable – the subject matter is grim, but the novel reads like a mystery, and
you’re just waiting for the author to lead you to the conclusion.
Unfortunately, there is very little conclusion. The portion
of the story that takes place in present day serves to connect some people and
solve some small mysteries, but for all the time-hopping this books does, there
is not a satisfying end at all. Many storylines and characters are left hanging
– which is not inconsistent with the general feel of the book. The penultimate chapter would have been a
good way to end the book, with one family getting some closure and hope. But
then the space-themed hallucination/dream of a dead man comes and I’m left
wondering why that chapter even exists.
Overall, this was a good read. Depressing, but if we only
read happy books we would be deluding ourselves. Give yourself some time to work through this
one. And feel free to skip the last chapter.
**I received this book from Blogging for Books in return for this review.**
**I received this book from Blogging for Books in return for this review.**
