Thursday, July 9, 2015

Summer Reading Challenege: Pieces by Maria Kostaki




This summer, members of the Vise Library are participating in a Summer Reading Challenge. We have received copies of several books from publishers for honest reviews. We hope that you enjoy these reviews (and books)!



This week's book is Pieces by Maria Kostaki.



About the book:

When her mother, Anna, abandons her to move abroad with her new husband, Sasha is passed around her three grandparents in Cold War-era Moscow, attending first grade with a Lenin star pinned to her breast. Five years later, Anna and her husband reappear and whisk Sasha off to a “better life” in Athens, Greece. But they are not the gallant rescuers they first appear to be, and Sasha soon finds herself caught between a violent stepfather and a psychologically abusive mother. In her struggle to survive in her new world, Sasha turns to a world of invisible friends—even as she continues to long for something real. At turns haunting and uplifting, Pieces is the story of one girl’s survival and self-discovery—and her continual search for love in a world where she has been given none.
I enjoyed the way this book was written as a letter and I loved the dialogue throughout the book.  This book is both sad and funny all in one.  Sasha has a tumultuous relationship with her family.  There are themes of domestic abuse and emotional abuse.  Because of these relationships with her family, her other relationships suffer in a way.  The relationship that she has with a boy from Greece named Nikitas is straight up crazy and heartbreaking.  She experiences abuse in this relationship as well and is constantly forgiving him.  There are are things Sasha goes through, often times alone, that are just so sad.  Throughout the book she is in a dark place and eventually learns to get out of it.  Sasha prevails in her own way and I think it was perfect.
Buy the book:
     Amazon
       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books





About the author:

Maria Kostaki is a native of Moscow, Russia, but has spent most of her adult life on a plane from Athens, Greece to New York City and back. She holds a master's in journalism from New York University, where she was a recipient of a grant from the Knight Foundation. She has worked as an editor and staff writer for Odyssey magazine in Athens and New York, and her nonfiction has appeared in publications including Elle Décor and Insider Magazine. Her fiction has appeared in Flashquake and Mediterranean Poetry.
Connect with the author:
   Twitter
   Website

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