[Read for BSB] 
 A long book (just over 650 pages) and I want to pick up the next one which is just as long. Except I kind of don't at the same time. 
 Anyway, a quick overview. Tatiana is our heroine, living in Leningrad (present day St Petersburg) with her mother, father, grandmother, granddad, twin brother and older sister. The story starts in 1941, during the second world war, just before the seige of Leningrad. I haven't read any books set in the war, nor set in Russia, so I have no basis to say that there are better or worst books out there around this time. This book is powerful though, suffering, starving, death, illness, it's all here and made me thankful that I have never been hungry. I had to keep myself from stocking up on canned foods. 
 Alexander is a soldier and our hero of the book. For me though, the real hero of the book was Tatiana. She started out as naive, fairly immature, seen as weak and frail by her family. She turns out to be the strongest, with a stubborn nature and a heart of gold. She is, I'd say, probably too loving, too forgiving. 
 There are continuing themes throughout the book, for me particularly these were truth vs lies and the concept of sacrifice. 
 There is one thing that prevented me from giving it 5 stars and pissed me off so much (view spoiler)[WHY WAS ALEXANDER WITH HER SISTER? WHY NOT, AS SOON AS HE MET TATIANA, BREAK UP WITH DASHA? WHY ONCE HE FINALLY BROKE UP WITH DASHA, DID HE GET BACK WITH HER AGAIN? WHY DID HE ASK DASHA TO MARRY HIM? DIDN'T IT OCCUR TO ALEXANDER THAT TO BE ONE STEP CLOSER TO TATIANA, MAYBE NOT BEING WITH HER SISTER WOULD HELP? THIS IS UNNECESSARY ANGST. TATIANA ASKED HIM NOT TO HURT HER SISTER, SO WOULDN'T THE PLAN BE TO BREAK UP WITH HORRIBLE, ABUSIVE, SELFISH DASHA, STAY AWAY FROM HER AND LET HER GET OVER HIM, THEN COME BACK ON THE SCENE? (hide spoiler)] 
 This book really plays with your emotions, angry one page, then sad, laughing, worried, happy etc. Which is why I don't really want to start the next book. I know that they will have much trouble and hardship to go through but at the same time, how can I not start the next one, straight away?