"Between Shades of Gray" Book Review

I originally decided to read this book because of a favorable review (perhaps in Real Simple magazine but I'm not truly sure). I requested the book from my local library and yesterday I picked up Ruta Sepety's Between Shades of Grey to read it and I simply couldn't go to sleep until I'd finished. It was an amazingly well written, gut wrenching and eye opening tale of human love, compassion, cruelty and horror. Ruta Sepety has that special gift of writing heroic yet real characters so you feel as though you are experiencing what they experienced and find yourself keenly hoping they beat the odds. I highly recommend this book.

Here are two quotes from the book that I felt were worth pondering:

1) "We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer (page 307)." Even when faced with unspeakable circumstances and seemingly impossible obstacles some people find it within themselves to persevere and hope. Some people give up. The heroine was one who persevered and, although my challenges are minor compared to hers, she inspires me to persevere as well.

2) "Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy - love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit (page 341)."  This wasn't part of the novel, but part of the author's notes at the end of the book. In my opinion, it was the absolute perfect ending sentence for this book. Love really is paramount.