Standoff by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Even better than the first book. This one dealt all the punches. Skrypuch takes us inside the infamous steelworks in Mariupol during the Russian siege and shines a light on a dark history of Russia's attack on Ukraine.

In this installment of the series, Daria's twin sister Rada is the focus. Separated from her mother and her sister on the first day of the invasion, Rada and her father have taken shelter in the steel mill in Mariupol where they will be holed up for weeks. Skrypuch does not hold back: she takes her reader deep into the bowels of the tunnels and carefully plots her story around the factual events and background of the siege.

Through a child's eyes, we see what matters; how resilient not only the characters depicted here are, but as a nod to the spirit of Ukraine's resistance in general. This story is positively a must for anyone who even wants even a little bit more understanding about what has been going on in Ukraine in one of the most devastating wars on the European continent since WW2. This novel could stand alone, but I suggest reading the first one.



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