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The Rusmolovo Diaries
"Never has such a tragic book had so much sex"
This is a lost diary of an 18-year old girl that was found by a cleaning lady in the bar toilet in the small settlement outside St. Petersburg, Russia. Nobody has yet claimed it and it’s understandable, the girl is dark, promiscuous and drunk half the time, she has no morals or any desire to have such, she sleeps around and fights with her family. She isn’t a typical teenager obsessed with vampires, clothes and gadgets; she doesn’t care about this crap instead she is too busy going down the path of self-destruction. And in this diary, that encompasses almost a year of her life, she reveals all the shocking details and dirty little secrets that would make most people uneasy….
But if you keep an open mind you’ll find that behind all the sex and cynical observations, there is a vulnerable girl who, like all of us, strives for love but gets none.
This book is degrading, no kidding, and it will depress the hell out of an unprepared mind. So be prepared.
Due to explicit content – the book is for adults only.
This is a lost diary of an 18-year old girl that was found by a cleaning lady in the bar toilet in the small settlement outside St. Petersburg, Russia. Nobody has yet claimed it and it’s understandable, the girl is dark, promiscuous and drunk half the time, she has no morals or any desire to have such, she sleeps around and fights with her family. She isn’t a typical teenager obsessed with vampires, clothes and gadgets; she doesn’t care about this crap instead she is too busy going down the path of self-destruction. And in this diary, that encompasses almost a year of her life, she reveals all the shocking details and dirty little secrets that would make most people uneasy….
But if you keep an open mind you’ll find that behind all the sex and cynical observations, there is a vulnerable girl who, like all of us, strives for love but gets none.
This book is degrading, no kidding, and it will depress the hell out of an unprepared mind. So be prepared.
Due to explicit content – the book is for adults only.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 27, 2013
2 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 31, 2013
*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a review*
Katya is a typical girl, struggling with family, jobs, and life. She makes mistakes just like everyone else, but isn’t that part of life? Learning from one’s mistakes?
It is a gritty tale, one that is heart breaking and sad in some areas and then in others I would just shake my head and wonder. It is a clever book, with broken Russian writing, but that's what makes it good to read. You are transported to another place and another body.
Katya is a typical girl, struggling with family, jobs, and life. She makes mistakes just like everyone else, but isn’t that part of life? Learning from one’s mistakes?
It is a gritty tale, one that is heart breaking and sad in some areas and then in others I would just shake my head and wonder. It is a clever book, with broken Russian writing, but that's what makes it good to read. You are transported to another place and another body.
October 24, 2013
This book left me feeling disturbed. The main character is not very likable, I was really annoyed with her sometimes, her language is weird and her stories made me feel a little sick to my stomach on more than one occasion. I’m not sure how I felt about this book. It was weird but extremely engaging. Worth a read.
August 7, 2013
For some reason my imagination decided that the main character was Sasha Grey. She would be perfect in that role. Great book, respect to the author!
September 25, 2013
First impression - I wanted to say a big WTF to the author, close the book and never open it again but I had to see if it can get even worse. Katya is a head case who needs to grow up emotionally yet she’s fascinating in a sick, perverse way. Nearly everything is wrong with her.
My Katya and April:
Her friends and relatives are even worse or at least she makes us think so. Since the book is written in first person – Katya’s information is all you get and she’s not a very reliable narrator.
And that’s what I loved about the book –Shlychkova doesn’t care if we like Katya or not, in fact it’s easier to hate her than to justify her.
Classic Katya:
Once we persuaded our Mom to buy us some bananas as the New Year gifts. She bought two, but big ones. One for me and one for Natasha. Although they were green, Natasha ate her banana right away but I put mine under the pillow and decided to wait a couple of days till it gets yellow. Every night when I went to bed I would check it under my pillow and then lie down dreaming what it would be like to actually eat this banana. Oh, those fantasies….I think they were very close to sexual…Of course they had nothing to do with sex as it was, I didn’t know what sex was about then. What I’m trying to say is that it felt funny in a certain way and I have never felt the same to any other fruit or vegetable….Anyway on the third night I didn’t find my banana under my pillow as usual and you don’t have to be a Harry Potter to figure out who took it.
So it’s only fair enough that I fucked her husband. She deserved it.
REALLY? That’s how you treat your sister for eating your banana when you were a 5 year-old.
Highly recommend reading this book. It's weirdly addicting and makes me want to pour myself a glass of wine and have a smoke. In fact, that is what I’m going to do right now.
My Katya and April:
Her friends and relatives are even worse or at least she makes us think so. Since the book is written in first person – Katya’s information is all you get and she’s not a very reliable narrator.
And that’s what I loved about the book –Shlychkova doesn’t care if we like Katya or not, in fact it’s easier to hate her than to justify her.
Classic Katya:
Once we persuaded our Mom to buy us some bananas as the New Year gifts. She bought two, but big ones. One for me and one for Natasha. Although they were green, Natasha ate her banana right away but I put mine under the pillow and decided to wait a couple of days till it gets yellow. Every night when I went to bed I would check it under my pillow and then lie down dreaming what it would be like to actually eat this banana. Oh, those fantasies….I think they were very close to sexual…Of course they had nothing to do with sex as it was, I didn’t know what sex was about then. What I’m trying to say is that it felt funny in a certain way and I have never felt the same to any other fruit or vegetable….Anyway on the third night I didn’t find my banana under my pillow as usual and you don’t have to be a Harry Potter to figure out who took it.
So it’s only fair enough that I fucked her husband. She deserved it.
REALLY? That’s how you treat your sister for eating your banana when you were a 5 year-old.
Highly recommend reading this book. It's weirdly addicting and makes me want to pour myself a glass of wine and have a smoke. In fact, that is what I’m going to do right now.
September 21, 2013
I reached out to the author requesting a copy of this book in exchange for a review as I was intrigued by the book's description. I was eager to read this book, expecting to have a voyeuristic experience while reading someone's diary (even if the diary was of a fictitious character). I was disappointed to find that this book is not written in diary format but in chapters like any book. Because of this and the overall content of the book, I would not consider or call this a diary at all but would describe this book as the adventures of a young Russian woman. The book actually is a collection of short stories, one per chapter. In each chapter there is a different story about an event or person that the woman encountered.
I expected the Rusmolovo Diaries to be filled with shocking stories and taboo sexual exploits so was disappointed to find it to be far from that. There was some entertaining stories yet these were brief and not as detailed as they could've been. If this book had been written about a famous celebrity perhaps it would be interesting to hear about her friends or how poorly she treats her sister yet that is not the case.
I enjoyed the authors cryptic, often funny style of writing. I was also impressed with how well this Russian author writes in English. Due to the language differences and translation errors (occasional misuse of words and sentence structure), I could, "hear" a Russian accent. I personally did not feel that these grammatical errors created a negative but felt they actually made the story more genuine and believable. The only negative I found was that the author does not use quotation marks so it was at times very difficult to tell whether a character/person was speaking of thinking to themselves.
I think this is a great rough draft for a future book yet it needs quite a bit of editing and much more excitement and intrigue added to each chapter.
I expected the Rusmolovo Diaries to be filled with shocking stories and taboo sexual exploits so was disappointed to find it to be far from that. There was some entertaining stories yet these were brief and not as detailed as they could've been. If this book had been written about a famous celebrity perhaps it would be interesting to hear about her friends or how poorly she treats her sister yet that is not the case.
I enjoyed the authors cryptic, often funny style of writing. I was also impressed with how well this Russian author writes in English. Due to the language differences and translation errors (occasional misuse of words and sentence structure), I could, "hear" a Russian accent. I personally did not feel that these grammatical errors created a negative but felt they actually made the story more genuine and believable. The only negative I found was that the author does not use quotation marks so it was at times very difficult to tell whether a character/person was speaking of thinking to themselves.
I think this is a great rough draft for a future book yet it needs quite a bit of editing and much more excitement and intrigue added to each chapter.
August 26, 2013
ONE STAR or 4 STARS???
Well, I give one star. It was a very weird and not something I'm used to read but if you like that kind of book, it could also be a 3 or 4 stars.
My problem is definitely not because the author is mocking the reader but it's more the genre I've a problem with.
I see the main character as a lost girl, drifting in life and certainly not leading it.
Maybe she was defined by what her dad told her: "The best thig I gave you is your butt.If you really wanna achieve something in this life all you need is to just use it right".
But as some women use it right and take power and attain goals (as contreversial as it may be)Katya achieves nothing.
The book is full of stereotypes (but maybe they're not stereotypes after all...): the russians drink all the time (she's nearly drunk all the time), smuggle and the officials use their prestige and power to have sex with secretaries.
It's certainly not a romance but not an erotic novel either. You've got a lot of sex not erotical in the least. It's sad and even degrading most of the time. She sleeps with men because she's tired fighting them and sometimes gives a one night stand, a quick fuck to be rid of them or because she is drunk or bored. And the man she really loves sees her as a friend.
At the end of the book, you've four generations of women (welle three, the last is too young) and none of them have accomplished their dreams but all have been used by men.
It's quiet depressing and at the same time, it was like a surrealist novel. The characters were so eccentric, so uncommon it was fascinating in a sick way.
And all the time, you feel a little depressed or moody, drifting like Katya.
Maybe it's the slav soul?
Well, I give one star. It was a very weird and not something I'm used to read but if you like that kind of book, it could also be a 3 or 4 stars.
My problem is definitely not because the author is mocking the reader but it's more the genre I've a problem with.
I see the main character as a lost girl, drifting in life and certainly not leading it.
Maybe she was defined by what her dad told her: "The best thig I gave you is your butt.If you really wanna achieve something in this life all you need is to just use it right".
But as some women use it right and take power and attain goals (as contreversial as it may be)Katya achieves nothing.
The book is full of stereotypes (but maybe they're not stereotypes after all...): the russians drink all the time (she's nearly drunk all the time), smuggle and the officials use their prestige and power to have sex with secretaries.
It's certainly not a romance but not an erotic novel either. You've got a lot of sex not erotical in the least. It's sad and even degrading most of the time. She sleeps with men because she's tired fighting them and sometimes gives a one night stand, a quick fuck to be rid of them or because she is drunk or bored. And the man she really loves sees her as a friend.
At the end of the book, you've four generations of women (welle three, the last is too young) and none of them have accomplished their dreams but all have been used by men.
It's quiet depressing and at the same time, it was like a surrealist novel. The characters were so eccentric, so uncommon it was fascinating in a sick way.
And all the time, you feel a little depressed or moody, drifting like Katya.
Maybe it's the slav soul?
September 23, 2013
Well, at first when my friend sent me this book, I was, let’s say it, skeptical and didn’t expect much. But when I started getting into it I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed it. The main character is a girl who lives alone and does pretty much whatever she wants. She drinks “anything that burns”
has lots of sex with random people for reasons only she knows, for example when she had sex with her sister's husband in the bathroom or when she gave a hand job to a guy she was teaching Russian.
It has it's fun, even laugh-out-loud moments, although her sense of humor may be vulgar and harsh at times. And it’s even more fun if you read it in a Russian accent :)
It’s certainly not Bridget Jones’ diary, this stuff is hardcore. Katya is self obsessed, irresponsible, rude and has issues, but I couldn’t but like her.
You are allowed into Katya’s most private thoughts and after reading this I felt better about the dumb things I do.
has lots of sex with random people for reasons only she knows, for example when she had sex with her sister's husband in the bathroom or when she gave a hand job to a guy she was teaching Russian.
It has it's fun, even laugh-out-loud moments, although her sense of humor may be vulgar and harsh at times. And it’s even more fun if you read it in a Russian accent :)
It’s certainly not Bridget Jones’ diary, this stuff is hardcore. Katya is self obsessed, irresponsible, rude and has issues, but I couldn’t but like her.
You are allowed into Katya’s most private thoughts and after reading this I felt better about the dumb things I do.
August 21, 2013
***I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review***
I will state that I give this book 4 of 5 stars because I loved the real, rawness of it. First the main character, Katya has such a sad life in general with no real positive spin or outlook for her future..... she truly does not seem to know what love is...... BUT I do believe that throughout the story she was in love with her friend April (Abe) even though he did not seem to feel the same for her.... he cared for her as a friend and nothing more. Just like her, on that second trip to Finland that she took with April, I secretly hoped that their feelings would be revealed and the world would end up a wonderful place for Katya...... but just like life, you do not always get what you want.
I did enjoy the writing style, although at first I was unsure if I would be able to read it. I quickly changed my mind when I got comfortable with the Russian dialect used throughout.... and actually felt like I was visiting with her at times. The dialect kind of transported you to Russia... to that particular culture, and I found it really interesting. I could not stop reading this story once I got into it. Very tragic at times and very "real". If there was to be a sequel I would definitely read it because I would love to know how things went for Katya. I would hope for her to find the love she craves and have that happy ending.
I will state that I give this book 4 of 5 stars because I loved the real, rawness of it. First the main character, Katya has such a sad life in general with no real positive spin or outlook for her future..... she truly does not seem to know what love is...... BUT I do believe that throughout the story she was in love with her friend April (Abe) even though he did not seem to feel the same for her.... he cared for her as a friend and nothing more. Just like her, on that second trip to Finland that she took with April, I secretly hoped that their feelings would be revealed and the world would end up a wonderful place for Katya...... but just like life, you do not always get what you want.
I did enjoy the writing style, although at first I was unsure if I would be able to read it. I quickly changed my mind when I got comfortable with the Russian dialect used throughout.... and actually felt like I was visiting with her at times. The dialect kind of transported you to Russia... to that particular culture, and I found it really interesting. I could not stop reading this story once I got into it. Very tragic at times and very "real". If there was to be a sequel I would definitely read it because I would love to know how things went for Katya. I would hope for her to find the love she craves and have that happy ending.
November 1, 2013
I was given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not sure I know what to think about The Rusmolovo Diaries. Plot-wise, it was a little depressing, but at the same time, interesting. In many ways, it was a story about a young girl on the brink of adulthood trying to figure out herself and her relationships with men On the other hand, it's a bit weird, though it seems to be mostly tongue-in-cheek. I was disappointed by the ending, which is not a 'happily ever after,' though I suppose this added to its realism. Who honestly gets their 'happily ever after' at 18? The slightly sad, ambiguous ending was very true to life. Which, of course, could be why I didn't care for it. I know life sucks. I don't need a book telling me that. Overall, though, I enjoyed The Rusmolovo Diaries. It wasn't excellent, and the translation from Russian made reading it a little difficult and slow, but it was certainly a decent read. I wouldn't mind reading more from the author.
I'm not sure I know what to think about The Rusmolovo Diaries. Plot-wise, it was a little depressing, but at the same time, interesting. In many ways, it was a story about a young girl on the brink of adulthood trying to figure out herself and her relationships with men On the other hand, it's a bit weird, though it seems to be mostly tongue-in-cheek. I was disappointed by the ending, which is not a 'happily ever after,' though I suppose this added to its realism. Who honestly gets their 'happily ever after' at 18? The slightly sad, ambiguous ending was very true to life. Which, of course, could be why I didn't care for it. I know life sucks. I don't need a book telling me that. Overall, though, I enjoyed The Rusmolovo Diaries. It wasn't excellent, and the translation from Russian made reading it a little difficult and slow, but it was certainly a decent read. I wouldn't mind reading more from the author.
August 16, 2013
I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review, so here it is. This story was slow to start and I kept reading to see how it would end. It is depressing, sad and tells the life of an 18 year old girl in Russia. Katya has a hard birthday, her sister hates her, her mom tries to change her and her dad loves her. Her best friend April (Ape) is there for her and Katya wants more from him but he only wants to be her friend. The go on vacation together a few times, he helps her move. But when he tells her he is getting married, the shocker is that April is marrying Masha. So Katya decides it is time to change her life. And after getting a notebook for Christmas, she begins writing and starts with her 18th birthday. This story is good and you will like it, you just have to keep reading to get past the slow beginning.
August 7, 2013
I received a copy of this book for an honest review.
Katya is an eighteen year old girl who's struggling to hold down a job while she's simply trying to live her life.
She meets April who I believe was always someone who she was able to lean on and seek support from.
It was really a heartbreaking story about a girl who tries to understand what life has to offer, she wants to do something with her life even though all of the people around her make it impossible for her to.
I really hope this book gets a sequel.
Highly recommended.
July 15, 2013
This book is great. And even a little heartbreaking. I guess Russian novels are famous for not being overly concerned with a happy ending. I am very curious about the author. I wonder if the author is a woman or a man? I can't imagine a woman writing such compelling graphic details about sex. Anais Nin did it in Delta of Venus. . . I wonder if the author is even Russian- but somehow it has the ring of truth as if she were there. Hope there's a sequel.
August 8, 2013
It was raw and emotional but this was not my cup of tea. Kudos to the writer for writing such a book which doesn't shy away from the dirty details of sex etc but yet, I couldn't find myself getting into this book. I find that my biggest turn off about this book was the writing. But nonetheless, it was a good book.
2/5
2/5
November 6, 2013
*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a review*
I likes it but was not blown away, it' a story about a young Russian Girl's life. Has problems with her familie, but has only two close friends April (Anton) and Masha.
She lookes strong but as you read the book you will see how vulnerable she really is and how she struggles to find love and happiness.
I likes it but was not blown away, it' a story about a young Russian Girl's life. Has problems with her familie, but has only two close friends April (Anton) and Masha.
She lookes strong but as you read the book you will see how vulnerable she really is and how she struggles to find love and happiness.
July 19, 2013
5 stars to the author for being honest and I’m glad that she doesn’t shy away from sex details and expressing opinions, it’s not what you expect from a book these days with everybody being so politically correct.
September 12, 2013
This book is for those who love transgressive fiction. I do! This girl is such a b..ch!
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