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By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine
An intimate, affecting account of life during wartime, told through the lives that have been shattered.
Even as scores of Americans rally to the Ukrainian cause and adopt Volodymyr Zelensky as a hero, the lives of Ukrainians remain opaque and mostly anonymous. In By the Second Spring, the historian Danielle Leavitt goes beyond familiar portraits of wartime heroism and victimhood to reveal the human experience of the conflict. An American who grew up in Ukraine, Leavitt draws on her deep familiarity with the country and a unique trove of online diaries to track a diverse group of Ukrainians through the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Among others, we meet Vitaly, whose plans to open a coffee bar in a Kyiv suburb come to naught when the Russian army marches through his town and his apartment building is split in two by a rocket; Anna, who drops out of the police academy and begins a tumultuous relationship with a soldier she meets online; and Polina, a fashion-industry insider who returns home from Los Angeles with her American husband to organize relief. To illuminate the complex resurgence of Ukraine’s national spirit, Leavitt also tells the story of Volodymyr Shovkoshitniy—a nuclear engineer at Chernobyl who went on to lead a daring campaign in the late 1980s to return the bodies of three Ukrainian writers who’d died in a Soviet gulag. Writing with closeness and compassion, Leavitt has given us an interior history of Europe’s largest land war in seventy-five years.
Even as scores of Americans rally to the Ukrainian cause and adopt Volodymyr Zelensky as a hero, the lives of Ukrainians remain opaque and mostly anonymous. In By the Second Spring, the historian Danielle Leavitt goes beyond familiar portraits of wartime heroism and victimhood to reveal the human experience of the conflict. An American who grew up in Ukraine, Leavitt draws on her deep familiarity with the country and a unique trove of online diaries to track a diverse group of Ukrainians through the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Among others, we meet Vitaly, whose plans to open a coffee bar in a Kyiv suburb come to naught when the Russian army marches through his town and his apartment building is split in two by a rocket; Anna, who drops out of the police academy and begins a tumultuous relationship with a soldier she meets online; and Polina, a fashion-industry insider who returns home from Los Angeles with her American husband to organize relief. To illuminate the complex resurgence of Ukraine’s national spirit, Leavitt also tells the story of Volodymyr Shovkoshitniy—a nuclear engineer at Chernobyl who went on to lead a daring campaign in the late 1980s to return the bodies of three Ukrainian writers who’d died in a Soviet gulag. Writing with closeness and compassion, Leavitt has given us an interior history of Europe’s largest land war in seventy-five years.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published May 20, 2025
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May 18, 2025
My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley & Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, this is the book to read if you need a fast-track workshop in how to package several decades worth of tumultuous social, cultural and political change--the amount of exposition that would scare off all but the geekiest of readers--into digestible human stories with vivid, conflicted, memorable characters.
Ostensibly, the book follows 7 Ukrainian men and women through the first year of the war, none of them heroic or superhuman, just normal people under abnormal circumstances. People losing their home, sometimes for the second time; people losing their entire life's work and trying to find a foothold to continue; people feeling complicated human feelings instead of the ready-made heroic cliches. For example, I found really touching the story of a young mother whose husband joined the army, fought at Azovstal in the encircled Mariupol, and was taken prisoner by the Russians. The defenders of Mariupol gave the rest of Ukraine a chance by tying up significant Russian military forces and winning the rest of the country some time to regroup and gather strength, but on the human level, of course, it can be much muddier: "And she still burned with anger that Leonid had abandoned her." Showing this picture of Ukrainians as regular people and not denizens of some other realm where war and self-sacrifice is normal was one of the stated goals of the book:
But also, these individual biographies are the scaffolding for showing all the transformations that Ukraine underwent since it regained its independence in 1991: the economically and politically fraught 1990s, the return of organized religions, traditional and new, the language debates, etc., all wonderfully woven into the narrative. It shows just how far we've come from a country that was deeply traumatized, vulnerable and uncertain in its identity to a country with a robust civic society, a wonderful knack for grassroots self-organizing movements and a solid sense of a shared story and future.
Additionally, the contemporary chapters are interspersed with the historical plot line about the reburial of Vasyl Stus, a wonderful poet who was arrested by the Soviets for his literary and human rights work, died in the camps in Russia in 1985, and was reburied in Kyiv in 1989, with his funeral becoming the largest Ukrainian manifestation since 1917. (You can read more about Vasyl Stus here.) Vasyl Stus' state-provided defence lawyer, Medvedchuk, essentially worked for the prosecution, claiming that “All of Stus’s crimes deserve punishment.” Some fifty years later, Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian politician, was sent to Russia in exchange for many Ukrainian PoWs from Azovstal (not the husband of the book's protagonist though).
But ultimately, I'd recommend reading it not for the knowledge about Ukraine: read it for you. We now see that the democratic world is impotent and unwilling to stand up for its values. It's been playing nice and nurturing authoritarian regimes worldwide. So wherever you are, whoever you are, the world is heading for the darker times, and your future might hold things that are unimaginable now; Ukraine just happened to have front-row seats for this shit show, and you don't yet know which row you personally are in. You won't know what you'll do until the unimaginable comes, but start getting used to the thought that anything is possible, and anything is survivable (until it isn't), and sometimes, if you are lucky, survivable with dignity. Read this not in the spirit of "oh, those quaint peoples in those quaint lands with their quaint habit of dying horrible deaths" but as a survival guide (and, if that's not an experience you are interested in having--1 out of 10, do not recommend--vote accordingly and maybe tell your politicians that appeasing authoritarian regimes has never been a good strategy, ta).
P.S. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute had a wonderful conversation with the author: you can watch it here
Wow, this is the book to read if you need a fast-track workshop in how to package several decades worth of tumultuous social, cultural and political change--the amount of exposition that would scare off all but the geekiest of readers--into digestible human stories with vivid, conflicted, memorable characters.
Ostensibly, the book follows 7 Ukrainian men and women through the first year of the war, none of them heroic or superhuman, just normal people under abnormal circumstances. People losing their home, sometimes for the second time; people losing their entire life's work and trying to find a foothold to continue; people feeling complicated human feelings instead of the ready-made heroic cliches. For example, I found really touching the story of a young mother whose husband joined the army, fought at Azovstal in the encircled Mariupol, and was taken prisoner by the Russians. The defenders of Mariupol gave the rest of Ukraine a chance by tying up significant Russian military forces and winning the rest of the country some time to regroup and gather strength, but on the human level, of course, it can be much muddier: "And she still burned with anger that Leonid had abandoned her." Showing this picture of Ukrainians as regular people and not denizens of some other realm where war and self-sacrifice is normal was one of the stated goals of the book:
In popular understanding, Ukrainians can become one-dimensional characters— either desperate victims or nearly superhuman heroes, rebuffing Russian aggression and stunning the world with their courageous will to resist. Both characterizations have validity, but on their own they fail to adequately describe the people and society [...] In this book, I seek to know them not as war people or superheroes, but as mere humans confronted with what was for many the unimaginable.
But also, these individual biographies are the scaffolding for showing all the transformations that Ukraine underwent since it regained its independence in 1991: the economically and politically fraught 1990s, the return of organized religions, traditional and new, the language debates, etc., all wonderfully woven into the narrative. It shows just how far we've come from a country that was deeply traumatized, vulnerable and uncertain in its identity to a country with a robust civic society, a wonderful knack for grassroots self-organizing movements and a solid sense of a shared story and future.
Additionally, the contemporary chapters are interspersed with the historical plot line about the reburial of Vasyl Stus, a wonderful poet who was arrested by the Soviets for his literary and human rights work, died in the camps in Russia in 1985, and was reburied in Kyiv in 1989, with his funeral becoming the largest Ukrainian manifestation since 1917. (You can read more about Vasyl Stus here.) Vasyl Stus' state-provided defence lawyer, Medvedchuk, essentially worked for the prosecution, claiming that “All of Stus’s crimes deserve punishment.” Some fifty years later, Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian politician, was sent to Russia in exchange for many Ukrainian PoWs from Azovstal (not the husband of the book's protagonist though).
But ultimately, I'd recommend reading it not for the knowledge about Ukraine: read it for you. We now see that the democratic world is impotent and unwilling to stand up for its values. It's been playing nice and nurturing authoritarian regimes worldwide. So wherever you are, whoever you are, the world is heading for the darker times, and your future might hold things that are unimaginable now; Ukraine just happened to have front-row seats for this shit show, and you don't yet know which row you personally are in. You won't know what you'll do until the unimaginable comes, but start getting used to the thought that anything is possible, and anything is survivable (until it isn't), and sometimes, if you are lucky, survivable with dignity. Read this not in the spirit of "oh, those quaint peoples in those quaint lands with their quaint habit of dying horrible deaths" but as a survival guide (and, if that's not an experience you are interested in having--1 out of 10, do not recommend--vote accordingly and maybe tell your politicians that appeasing authoritarian regimes has never been a good strategy, ta).
P.S. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute had a wonderful conversation with the author: you can watch it here
November 20, 2024
Publication date: May 20, 2025
BY THE SECOND SPRING: SEVEN LIVES AND ONE YEAR OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE by Danielle Leavitt is a unique ground-level look at the conflict from multiple perspectives.
In BY THE SECOND SPRING, the author provides what she promises in the title: seven people's stories of how the war mixes up plans, uproots families and still, within its turmoil and confusion, offers hope for the future. By studying diverse characters- some young, some middle-aged, some of older age - the author finds the feature that brings these people together, which is their love for Ukraine. These individuals could have been the typical representatives of the oppressed minority Vladimir Putin likes to mention: native Russian speakers, many from Eastern and Southern Ukraine, some struggling financially. At the beginning of February 2022, Vitaly opened a coffee shop in Borodyanka near Kyiv. After many years of hard labor, Tania and her husband Viktor, as well as Yulia and her husband Oleg, could finally enjoy relative prosperity. Anna's family had been in survival mode since their escape from Luhansk in 2014. Polina and her husband John lived in LA and were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Maria and Leonid just became parents to David in Mariupol. Nevertheless, none of them supported the intruders, and almost all of them switched to Ukrainian in their everyday lives in protest.
The book's tone in describing the events doesn't rise to the level of pure glorification of the Ukrainian resistance in the face of Russian aggression. On the other hand, the author, being guided by decency and common sense, sometimes softens hatred toward everything Russian that has prevailed in the war depiction.
BY THE SECOND SPRING may also suit those readers who don't want to delve into the Ukrainian-Russian complicated relationship by reading academic books. Intertwined with personal stories come snippets of the historical background, crucial for understanding the current situation.
As the third anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities approaches and ordinary people, overwhelmed with their concerns, are tired of hearing about the war on the news, it is important to remind them that the war isn't only about abstract politics. War doesn't distinguish between the good and the bad people. It may come to anybody. Anytime. Anywhere.
I received an advance review copy through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
BY THE SECOND SPRING: SEVEN LIVES AND ONE YEAR OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE by Danielle Leavitt is a unique ground-level look at the conflict from multiple perspectives.
In BY THE SECOND SPRING, the author provides what she promises in the title: seven people's stories of how the war mixes up plans, uproots families and still, within its turmoil and confusion, offers hope for the future. By studying diverse characters- some young, some middle-aged, some of older age - the author finds the feature that brings these people together, which is their love for Ukraine. These individuals could have been the typical representatives of the oppressed minority Vladimir Putin likes to mention: native Russian speakers, many from Eastern and Southern Ukraine, some struggling financially. At the beginning of February 2022, Vitaly opened a coffee shop in Borodyanka near Kyiv. After many years of hard labor, Tania and her husband Viktor, as well as Yulia and her husband Oleg, could finally enjoy relative prosperity. Anna's family had been in survival mode since their escape from Luhansk in 2014. Polina and her husband John lived in LA and were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Maria and Leonid just became parents to David in Mariupol. Nevertheless, none of them supported the intruders, and almost all of them switched to Ukrainian in their everyday lives in protest.
The book's tone in describing the events doesn't rise to the level of pure glorification of the Ukrainian resistance in the face of Russian aggression. On the other hand, the author, being guided by decency and common sense, sometimes softens hatred toward everything Russian that has prevailed in the war depiction.
BY THE SECOND SPRING may also suit those readers who don't want to delve into the Ukrainian-Russian complicated relationship by reading academic books. Intertwined with personal stories come snippets of the historical background, crucial for understanding the current situation.
As the third anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities approaches and ordinary people, overwhelmed with their concerns, are tired of hearing about the war on the news, it is important to remind them that the war isn't only about abstract politics. War doesn't distinguish between the good and the bad people. It may come to anybody. Anytime. Anywhere.
I received an advance review copy through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 29, 2025
Before the Second Spring recounts the stories of 7 Ukrainians, along with their families and communities, during the first year of the Ukrainian War.
Full disclosure: I know the author personally, and I don’t think I would have picked this book up if I didn’t. I don’t read much non-fiction, and when I do I never pick a title about war or current events. But this book hooked me from the beginning, and I'm so glad I read it! It brought me to tears at several points, and by the end of the book I found myself wishing that it would keep going, so I could keep spending time with these individuals and find out what happened to them in the following years of the war.
Before reading this book I didn't know a lot about Ukrainian history and culture, but that wasn't a roadblock in reading the book. I loved learning about the history of the region through the lives of the people in the book, and seeing how the threads of history come together and influence the lives of modern Ukrainians.
The “Interludes”, where we learn about the life, imprisonment and death of poet Vasyl Stus, and the effort to move his body back to Ukraine years later, were especially moving. These interludes are emblematic of what Leavitt does best - showing us the humanity of the Ukrainians, while at the same time giving us a clear picture of the history that came before that led these people to this moment in their lives.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
Full disclosure: I know the author personally, and I don’t think I would have picked this book up if I didn’t. I don’t read much non-fiction, and when I do I never pick a title about war or current events. But this book hooked me from the beginning, and I'm so glad I read it! It brought me to tears at several points, and by the end of the book I found myself wishing that it would keep going, so I could keep spending time with these individuals and find out what happened to them in the following years of the war.
Before reading this book I didn't know a lot about Ukrainian history and culture, but that wasn't a roadblock in reading the book. I loved learning about the history of the region through the lives of the people in the book, and seeing how the threads of history come together and influence the lives of modern Ukrainians.
The “Interludes”, where we learn about the life, imprisonment and death of poet Vasyl Stus, and the effort to move his body back to Ukraine years later, were especially moving. These interludes are emblematic of what Leavitt does best - showing us the humanity of the Ukrainians, while at the same time giving us a clear picture of the history that came before that led these people to this moment in their lives.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
June 2, 2025
(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)
В целом, книга неплохая, но меня она не «зацепила». К сожалению, книги на данную тему часто повторяют друг друга, особенно если написаны людьми, открыто поддерживающими украинскую сторону. Нет, я говорю не о том, что мне не хватает российской или даже путинской версии, я говорю о нейтральном или объективном подходе, т.е. когда автор видит несправедливость путинского вторжения, но сохраняет независимость своих суждений. Эта книга лишена такой независимости. Автор в самом начале пишет об этом:
In the first months of the war, I was often surprised by how many people, knowing of my connection to the country <…> In the early 2000s, my family moved from the United States to Ukraine, where my parents ran legal education programs, and from the time I was twelve years old, I spent a portion of nearly every year there. From my earliest exposure to Ukraine, I was fascinated by it all: the smart and dark sense of humor, minor-key folk songs, old women selling lingerie in underground walkways, how people regard long walks as a primary form of entertainment.
Это важно понимать, ибо сегодня Украина (впрочем, как и Россия) мобилизовала все возможные силы за рубежом, чтобы через этих спикеров продвигать свою позицию. Это называется PR. Мне можно возразить, сказав, а что тут такого, ведь большая и сильная Россия напала на маленькую и более слабую Украину, так почему бы не помочь более слабому, как нас всех учили в детстве? Такая позиция имеет право на существование и в некотором смысле она правильная, и я полностью её понимаю. Однако я не могу в настоящий момент её разделить по той причине, что я не желаю потреблять необъективную позицию, позицию лишь одной стороны и не важно, о какой стране или стороне этого конфликта идёт речь. Я отказался от российской пропаганды чего бы то ни было ещё в начале 2000-ых, ибо считаю, что каждый журналист, и каждый писатель должен искать истину, а не занимать ту или иную сторону. Это касается любой темы, включая, к примеру, тему чеченской войны, когда некоторые россияне открыто вставали на сторону чеченского сопротивления, закрывая глаза на чеченские бандитские формирования, на чеченских террористов (террористов которые от имени тогдашней Ичкерии совершали теракты на территории РФ). Короче, журналисты и писатели, с моей точки зрения, должны быть максимально объективными даже когда они рассказывают истории простых людей.
Первое что вызывает вопросы, и первое что мы встречаем в книге, это откровенное искажение фактов по поводу голода в СССР в начале 30-ых годов XX века.
In 1932 and 1933, throughout rural areas in Central and Eastern Ukraine, nearly four million people died of hunger. The event became known as the holodomor, or “death by hunger.”
Вышеприведённая цитата является не правдой, т.е. искажением того что происходило в реальности. Что же произошло на самом деле? На самом деле произошёл голод в СССР на территориях РСФСР, Казахской АССР и УССР.
На территории Украинской ССР погибло приблизительно 3,9 млн. человек.
На территории Казахской АССР погибло приблизительно от 1,8 до 2,2 млн. человек.
На территории РСФСР погибло приблизительно 2,5 млн. человек.
Да, больше всего людей погибло на территории Украины, однако это не означает, что голод был ТОЛЬКО на территории Украины, как то хочет показать автор этой книги. И нет, автор далее не пишет ни о голоде на территории РСФСР ни о голоде на территории Казахской АССР того же периода. Почему это важно? Потому, что в ином случаи создаётся ощущение, что остальные территории СССР жили досыта и лишь смотрели на то, как украинский народ умирает от голода, т.е. создаётся ложное мнение, что другие регионы СССР – РСФСР, Казахская АССР, БССР – могли помочь УССР, но намеренно это не сделали. Правда состоит в том, что ни РСФСР, ни Казахская АССР, ни БССР не могли помочь, ибо они не могли помочь даже своим собственным гражданам, которые умирали от голода. Кстати, в БССР от голода начала 30-ых погибло около 100 тысяч человек. А зачем автор это делает, в таком случаи? У меня нет ответа, за исключением одного: показать, что Россия ещё с начала XX века пытается уничтожить Украину, проводя геноцидальную политику. Печально когда Danielle Leavitt, которая имеет a PhD in history from Harvard University, решается на исторический мухлёж только для того чтобы, как она считает, помочь сегодняшней Украине выстоять против России. Это глупо и подло по отношению к людям, которые были замучены советским режимом на всей территории СССР, а не только в УССР.
Второй неприятный момент связан с теми кличками, которыми награждают народы друг друга.
Most of her classmates stayed behind in Luhansk, and later they wrote on the social networking site VKontakte that Anna was a khohol, a derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians that refers to the traditional hairstyle of Cossacks.
He only rarely heard the term “Ukrainian” to describe who he was; usually, Ukrainians were called the ethnic slur khoholy.
А что тут я нашёл неоднозначного? Как сказал несколько месяцев назад видный проукраинский спикер Сергей Любарский (Sergey Lubarsky) говоря про граждан России, «Вы для меня всегда будите кацапы». Такие обозначения всех граждан РФ как «русня», «москали», «кацапы», а теперь «орки» и «рашисты» уже стали обычным место на украинских интернет ресурсах. Да и в самой книге мы встречаем такие слова как «орки» и «рашисты». И ведь автора это не очень беспокоит, но тогда зачем она включила в свою книгу эти две цитаты выше? Получается очень неприятная ситуация, когда автор упоминает каждую отрицательную сторону русских, но молчит о том же самом, но уже со стороны украинцев. По-моему, это очень точно описывается словом двуличие.
Мне можно поставить в упрёк, что я говорю о малосущественных деталях, но ничего не сказал про сами истории. Дело в том, что детали порой важнее, ибо они помогают показать истинное намерение человека. Что касается самих историй, то в целом они не плохие и неплохо описывают опыт людей переживших военные действия. Однако и тут есть один очень большой минус – не персональное общение. Вот почему мне так понравилась книга Take My Grief Away: Voices from the War in Ukraine? Потому что в ней мы видим персональное общение автора с интервьюируемым человеком, а в книге By the Second Spring, как я понял, автор собирала материал, не общаясь с человеком напрямую, но с помощью СМС или интернет-почты, а это уже отредактированное общение. Когда мы говорим с человеком непосредственно, вживую, мы видим его эмоции, и мы слышим то, что не может быть отредактировано. Именно поэтому книга Take My Grief Away является такой эмоциональной. Эта книга…она обычная, когда все истории как бы отредактированы. Другими словами, я не увидел в этой книге весь ужас войны, ужас настоящей войны и уровень небывалой катастрофы, которая подобно большой волне полностью накрывает человека. В этой книге я увидел «войну для американской домохозяйки». Эта книга шокирует ровно настолько, насколько дозволяет культурные нормы Западного сообщества, в итоге у нас что-то типа Голливуда. Из-за этого нет понимания той катастрофы, которая произошла и которая происходит. Нет, дело не в кровавых подробностях, а дело в ощущениях или духе войны, когда война, это не компьютерная игра и не фильм и когда не бывает чёрно-белой перспективы. Нельзя быть «за» справедливую войну, но можно быть против любой войны. Именно это мы находим в таких книгах как Take My Grief Away и Everyday War: The Conflict over Donbas, Ukraine. Но в этой книге я этого не нашёл. Меня заинтересовала лишь история Анны (и её отношение с Димой, который вероятно страдает от ПТСР), но все остальные какие-то блеклые.
Проблема ещё в том, что книга слишком много текста посвящает маловажным вопросам, как то история Украины, или вот, часть текста посвящена совсем сторонней теме – истории эксгумации украинского поэта Dmytro Stus. Кто это такой, что это за поэт, я понятия не имею, так же как я совершенно не понимаю, какой смысл эту историю нужно было включать в книгу о совсем другом периоде и о совсем другой теме. Так же в книге очень много размышлений о языковом вопросе как будто сегодня идёт война за то, на каком языке будут говорить в Украине, а не за то, кто будет политически контролировать эту страну. Тоже очень странное решение автора и это тоже повлияло на то, что эти истории жителей Украины затерялись в книге. У меня такое ощущение, что автору просто не хватило материала и поэтому в книгу были добавлены темы, которые никакого отношения к сегодняшнему дню не имеют.
In general, the book is not bad, but I was not “hooked” by it. Unfortunately, books on this topic are often repetitive, especially if written by people who openly support the Ukrainian side. No, I'm not saying that I miss the Russian or even Putin's version. I'm talking about a neutral or objective approach, i.e., when the author sees the injustice of Putin's invasion, but maintains the independence of his judgment. This book lacks such independence. The author writes about it at the very beginning:
In the first months of the war, I was often surprised by how many people, knowing of my connection to the country <…> In the early 2000s, my family moved from the United States to Ukraine, where my parents ran legal education programs, and from the time I was twelve years old, I spent a portion of nearly every year there. From my earliest exposure to Ukraine, I was fascinated by it all: the smart and dark sense of humor, minor-key folk songs, old women selling lingerie in underground walkways, how people regard long walks as a primary form of entertainment.
This is important to understand because today, Ukraine (as well as Russia) has mobilized all possible forces abroad to promote its position through these speakers. This is PR. One could argue with me, saying, what's the problem since big and strong Russia attacked smaller and weaker Ukraine, so why not help the weaker one, as we were all taught in childhood? This position has the right to exist, and, in a sense, it is correct, and I fully understand it. However, I cannot share it at the moment for the reason that I do not want to consume a biased position, the position of only one side, and it does not matter which country or side of this conflict we are talking about. I gave up Russian propaganda of anything back in the early 2000s because I believe that every journalist and every writer should seek the truth, not take one side or the other. This applies to any topic, including, for example, the Chechen war, when some Russians openly sided with the Chechen resistance, turning a blind eye to Chechen bandit formations and Chechen terrorists (terrorists who carried out terrorist attacks on Russian territory on behalf of the then Ichkeria). In short, journalists and writers, from my point of view, should be as objective as possible, even when they tell the stories of ordinary people.
The first thing that raises questions, and the first thing we meet in the book, is a blatant distortion of facts about the famine in the USSR in the early 30s of the XX century.
In 1932 and 1933, throughout rural areas in Central and Eastern Ukraine, nearly four million people died of hunger. The event became known as the holodomor, or “death by hunger.”
The above quote is not true, i.e., a distortion of what actually happened. What really happened? In fact, there was a famine in the USSR on the territories of the RSFSR, KSSR, and Ukrainian SSR.
On the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, approximately 3.9 million people died.
On the territory of the Kazakh ASSR, approximately 1.8 to 2.2 million people died.
Approximately 2.5 million people died in the RSFSR.
Yes, most people died on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, but this does not mean that the famine was ONLY on the territory of Ukraine, as the author of this book wants to show. And no, the author does not write further about the famine in the RSFSR or the famine in the Kazakh ASSR of the same period. Why is this important? Because otherwise, one gets the impression that the other territories of the USSR lived to the fullest and only watched the Ukrainian people dying of hunger, i.e., one gets the false impression that other regions of the USSR - RSFSR, Kazakh ASSR, BSSR - could have helped the Ukrainian SSR, but intentionally did not do so. The truth is that neither RSFSR, Kazakh ASSR, nor BSSR could help because they could not help even their own citizens who were dying of hunger. By the way, in the BSSR, about 100 thousand people died of starvation in the early 30s. Why does the author do this in such a case? I have no answer, except for one: to show that Russia has been trying to destroy Ukraine since the beginning of the XX century, pursuing a genocidal policy. It is sad when Danielle Leavitt, who has a PhD in history from Harvard University, decides to engage in historical fraud just to, as she believes, help today's Ukraine stand up to Russia. This is stupid and mean to the people who were tortured by the Soviet regime throughout the USSR, not just in the Ukrainian SSR.
The second unpleasant point has to do with the nicknames that nations bestow on each other.
Most of her classmates stayed behind in Luhansk, and later they wrote on the social networking site VKontakte that Anna was a khohol, a derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians that refers to the traditional hairstyle of Cossacks.
He only rarely heard the term “Ukrainian” to describe who he was; usually, Ukrainians were called the ethnic slur khoholy.
What did I find ambiguous here? As Sergey Lubarsky, a prominent pro-Ukrainian speaker, said a few months ago when speaking about Russian citizens, “You will always be Katsaps for me”. Such designations of all citizens of the Russian Federation as “Rusnya”, “Moskals”, “Katsaps”, and now “orcs” and “Rashists” have already become commonplace on Ukrainian Internet resources. And in the book itself, we meet such words as “orcs” and “rashists”. And it doesn't bother the author much, but then why did she include these two quotes above in her book? It is a very unpleasant situation when the author mentions every negative side of the Russians but is silent about the same thing from the side of the Ukrainians. In my opinion, this is very accurately described by the word duplicity.
One could chide me for talking about the little details but not saying anything about the stories themselves. The fact is that details are sometimes more important because they help to show the true intention of a person. As for the stories themselves, on the whole, they are not bad and do a good job of describing the experiences of the survivors. However, there's one very big downside here - not personalized communication. That is why I liked "Take My Grief Away: Voices from the War in Ukraine". In it, we see personal communication between the author and the person being interviewed, while in "By the Second Spring", as I understand it, the author collected the material without communicating with the person personally, but through texting or internet mail, and this is already an edited communication. When we talk to a person directly, in live, we see their emotions, and we hear things that cannot be edited. That is why "Take My Grief Away" is such an emotional book. This book...it's the usual one where all the stories are kind of edited out. In other words, I didn't see in this book the full horror of war, the horror of real war, and the level of unprecedented disaster that like a big wave completely overwhelms a person. What I saw in this book was “war for the American housewife.” This book is as shocking as the cultural norms of the Western community allow, and as a result, we have something like Hollywood. Because of this, there is no understanding of the catastrophe that has happened and is happening. No, it's not about the gory details; it's about the feeling or the spirit of war when war is not a computer game or a movie, and there is never a black-and-white perspective. You can't be “for” a just war, but you can be against any war. This is what we find in books like "Take My Grief Away" and "Everyday War: The Conflict over Donbas, Ukraine". But I didn't find that in this book. I was only interested in Anna's story (and her relationship with Dima, who probably suffers from PTSD), but the rest of the story paled.
The problem is that the book devotes too much text to unimportant issues, such as the history of Ukraine, or, for example, part of the text is devoted to a completely outside topic - the story of the exhumation of the Ukrainian poet Dmytro Stus. I have no idea who this poet was, nor do I understand why this story should be included in a book about a completely different period and topic. Also, in the book, there is a lot of thinking about the language issue, as if today there is a war for what language will be spoken in Ukraine, not for who will politically control this country. Also a very strange decision by the author, and it also influenced the fact that these stories of the people of Ukraine got lost in the book. I have the feeling that the author simply did not have enough material and, therefore, added topics that have nothing to do with today.
В целом, книга неплохая, но меня она не «зацепила». К сожалению, книги на данную тему часто повторяют друг друга, особенно если написаны людьми, открыто поддерживающими украинскую сторону. Нет, я говорю не о том, что мне не хватает российской или даже путинской версии, я говорю о нейтральном или объективном подходе, т.е. когда автор видит несправедливость путинского вторжения, но сохраняет независимость своих суждений. Эта книга лишена такой независимости. Автор в самом начале пишет об этом:
In the first months of the war, I was often surprised by how many people, knowing of my connection to the country <…> In the early 2000s, my family moved from the United States to Ukraine, where my parents ran legal education programs, and from the time I was twelve years old, I spent a portion of nearly every year there. From my earliest exposure to Ukraine, I was fascinated by it all: the smart and dark sense of humor, minor-key folk songs, old women selling lingerie in underground walkways, how people regard long walks as a primary form of entertainment.
Это важно понимать, ибо сегодня Украина (впрочем, как и Россия) мобилизовала все возможные силы за рубежом, чтобы через этих спикеров продвигать свою позицию. Это называется PR. Мне можно возразить, сказав, а что тут такого, ведь большая и сильная Россия напала на маленькую и более слабую Украину, так почему бы не помочь более слабому, как нас всех учили в детстве? Такая позиция имеет право на существование и в некотором смысле она правильная, и я полностью её понимаю. Однако я не могу в настоящий момент её разделить по той причине, что я не желаю потреблять необъективную позицию, позицию лишь одной стороны и не важно, о какой стране или стороне этого конфликта идёт речь. Я отказался от российской пропаганды чего бы то ни было ещё в начале 2000-ых, ибо считаю, что каждый журналист, и каждый писатель должен искать истину, а не занимать ту или иную сторону. Это касается любой темы, включая, к примеру, тему чеченской войны, когда некоторые россияне открыто вставали на сторону чеченского сопротивления, закрывая глаза на чеченские бандитские формирования, на чеченских террористов (террористов которые от имени тогдашней Ичкерии совершали теракты на территории РФ). Короче, журналисты и писатели, с моей точки зрения, должны быть максимально объективными даже когда они рассказывают истории простых людей.
Первое что вызывает вопросы, и первое что мы встречаем в книге, это откровенное искажение фактов по поводу голода в СССР в начале 30-ых годов XX века.
In 1932 and 1933, throughout rural areas in Central and Eastern Ukraine, nearly four million people died of hunger. The event became known as the holodomor, or “death by hunger.”
Вышеприведённая цитата является не правдой, т.е. искажением того что происходило в реальности. Что же произошло на самом деле? На самом деле произошёл голод в СССР на территориях РСФСР, Казахской АССР и УССР.
На территории Украинской ССР погибло приблизительно 3,9 млн. человек.
На территории Казахской АССР погибло приблизительно от 1,8 до 2,2 млн. человек.
На территории РСФСР погибло приблизительно 2,5 млн. человек.
Да, больше всего людей погибло на территории Украины, однако это не означает, что голод был ТОЛЬКО на территории Украины, как то хочет показать автор этой книги. И нет, автор далее не пишет ни о голоде на территории РСФСР ни о голоде на территории Казахской АССР того же периода. Почему это важно? Потому, что в ином случаи создаётся ощущение, что остальные территории СССР жили досыта и лишь смотрели на то, как украинский народ умирает от голода, т.е. создаётся ложное мнение, что другие регионы СССР – РСФСР, Казахская АССР, БССР – могли помочь УССР, но намеренно это не сделали. Правда состоит в том, что ни РСФСР, ни Казахская АССР, ни БССР не могли помочь, ибо они не могли помочь даже своим собственным гражданам, которые умирали от голода. Кстати, в БССР от голода начала 30-ых погибло около 100 тысяч человек. А зачем автор это делает, в таком случаи? У меня нет ответа, за исключением одного: показать, что Россия ещё с начала XX века пытается уничтожить Украину, проводя геноцидальную политику. Печально когда Danielle Leavitt, которая имеет a PhD in history from Harvard University, решается на исторический мухлёж только для того чтобы, как она считает, помочь сегодняшней Украине выстоять против России. Это глупо и подло по отношению к людям, которые были замучены советским режимом на всей территории СССР, а не только в УССР.
Второй неприятный момент связан с теми кличками, которыми награждают народы друг друга.
Most of her classmates stayed behind in Luhansk, and later they wrote on the social networking site VKontakte that Anna was a khohol, a derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians that refers to the traditional hairstyle of Cossacks.
He only rarely heard the term “Ukrainian” to describe who he was; usually, Ukrainians were called the ethnic slur khoholy.
А что тут я нашёл неоднозначного? Как сказал несколько месяцев назад видный проукраинский спикер Сергей Любарский (Sergey Lubarsky) говоря про граждан России, «Вы для меня всегда будите кацапы». Такие обозначения всех граждан РФ как «русня», «москали», «кацапы», а теперь «орки» и «рашисты» уже стали обычным место на украинских интернет ресурсах. Да и в самой книге мы встречаем такие слова как «орки» и «рашисты». И ведь автора это не очень беспокоит, но тогда зачем она включила в свою книгу эти две цитаты выше? Получается очень неприятная ситуация, когда автор упоминает каждую отрицательную сторону русских, но молчит о том же самом, но уже со стороны украинцев. По-моему, это очень точно описывается словом двуличие.
Мне можно поставить в упрёк, что я говорю о малосущественных деталях, но ничего не сказал про сами истории. Дело в том, что детали порой важнее, ибо они помогают показать истинное намерение человека. Что касается самих историй, то в целом они не плохие и неплохо описывают опыт людей переживших военные действия. Однако и тут есть один очень большой минус – не персональное общение. Вот почему мне так понравилась книга Take My Grief Away: Voices from the War in Ukraine? Потому что в ней мы видим персональное общение автора с интервьюируемым человеком, а в книге By the Second Spring, как я понял, автор собирала материал, не общаясь с человеком напрямую, но с помощью СМС или интернет-почты, а это уже отредактированное общение. Когда мы говорим с человеком непосредственно, вживую, мы видим его эмоции, и мы слышим то, что не может быть отредактировано. Именно поэтому книга Take My Grief Away является такой эмоциональной. Эта книга…она обычная, когда все истории как бы отредактированы. Другими словами, я не увидел в этой книге весь ужас войны, ужас настоящей войны и уровень небывалой катастрофы, которая подобно большой волне полностью накрывает человека. В этой книге я увидел «войну для американской домохозяйки». Эта книга шокирует ровно настолько, насколько дозволяет культурные нормы Западного сообщества, в итоге у нас что-то типа Голливуда. Из-за этого нет понимания той катастрофы, которая произошла и которая происходит. Нет, дело не в кровавых подробностях, а дело в ощущениях или духе войны, когда война, это не компьютерная игра и не фильм и когда не бывает чёрно-белой перспективы. Нельзя быть «за» справедливую войну, но можно быть против любой войны. Именно это мы находим в таких книгах как Take My Grief Away и Everyday War: The Conflict over Donbas, Ukraine. Но в этой книге я этого не нашёл. Меня заинтересовала лишь история Анны (и её отношение с Димой, который вероятно страдает от ПТСР), но все остальные какие-то блеклые.
Проблема ещё в том, что книга слишком много текста посвящает маловажным вопросам, как то история Украины, или вот, часть текста посвящена совсем сторонней теме – истории эксгумации украинского поэта Dmytro Stus. Кто это такой, что это за поэт, я понятия не имею, так же как я совершенно не понимаю, какой смысл эту историю нужно было включать в книгу о совсем другом периоде и о совсем другой теме. Так же в книге очень много размышлений о языковом вопросе как будто сегодня идёт война за то, на каком языке будут говорить в Украине, а не за то, кто будет политически контролировать эту страну. Тоже очень странное решение автора и это тоже повлияло на то, что эти истории жителей Украины затерялись в книге. У меня такое ощущение, что автору просто не хватило материала и поэтому в книгу были добавлены темы, которые никакого отношения к сегодняшнему дню не имеют.
In general, the book is not bad, but I was not “hooked” by it. Unfortunately, books on this topic are often repetitive, especially if written by people who openly support the Ukrainian side. No, I'm not saying that I miss the Russian or even Putin's version. I'm talking about a neutral or objective approach, i.e., when the author sees the injustice of Putin's invasion, but maintains the independence of his judgment. This book lacks such independence. The author writes about it at the very beginning:
In the first months of the war, I was often surprised by how many people, knowing of my connection to the country <…> In the early 2000s, my family moved from the United States to Ukraine, where my parents ran legal education programs, and from the time I was twelve years old, I spent a portion of nearly every year there. From my earliest exposure to Ukraine, I was fascinated by it all: the smart and dark sense of humor, minor-key folk songs, old women selling lingerie in underground walkways, how people regard long walks as a primary form of entertainment.
This is important to understand because today, Ukraine (as well as Russia) has mobilized all possible forces abroad to promote its position through these speakers. This is PR. One could argue with me, saying, what's the problem since big and strong Russia attacked smaller and weaker Ukraine, so why not help the weaker one, as we were all taught in childhood? This position has the right to exist, and, in a sense, it is correct, and I fully understand it. However, I cannot share it at the moment for the reason that I do not want to consume a biased position, the position of only one side, and it does not matter which country or side of this conflict we are talking about. I gave up Russian propaganda of anything back in the early 2000s because I believe that every journalist and every writer should seek the truth, not take one side or the other. This applies to any topic, including, for example, the Chechen war, when some Russians openly sided with the Chechen resistance, turning a blind eye to Chechen bandit formations and Chechen terrorists (terrorists who carried out terrorist attacks on Russian territory on behalf of the then Ichkeria). In short, journalists and writers, from my point of view, should be as objective as possible, even when they tell the stories of ordinary people.
The first thing that raises questions, and the first thing we meet in the book, is a blatant distortion of facts about the famine in the USSR in the early 30s of the XX century.
In 1932 and 1933, throughout rural areas in Central and Eastern Ukraine, nearly four million people died of hunger. The event became known as the holodomor, or “death by hunger.”
The above quote is not true, i.e., a distortion of what actually happened. What really happened? In fact, there was a famine in the USSR on the territories of the RSFSR, KSSR, and Ukrainian SSR.
On the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, approximately 3.9 million people died.
On the territory of the Kazakh ASSR, approximately 1.8 to 2.2 million people died.
Approximately 2.5 million people died in the RSFSR.
Yes, most people died on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, but this does not mean that the famine was ONLY on the territory of Ukraine, as the author of this book wants to show. And no, the author does not write further about the famine in the RSFSR or the famine in the Kazakh ASSR of the same period. Why is this important? Because otherwise, one gets the impression that the other territories of the USSR lived to the fullest and only watched the Ukrainian people dying of hunger, i.e., one gets the false impression that other regions of the USSR - RSFSR, Kazakh ASSR, BSSR - could have helped the Ukrainian SSR, but intentionally did not do so. The truth is that neither RSFSR, Kazakh ASSR, nor BSSR could help because they could not help even their own citizens who were dying of hunger. By the way, in the BSSR, about 100 thousand people died of starvation in the early 30s. Why does the author do this in such a case? I have no answer, except for one: to show that Russia has been trying to destroy Ukraine since the beginning of the XX century, pursuing a genocidal policy. It is sad when Danielle Leavitt, who has a PhD in history from Harvard University, decides to engage in historical fraud just to, as she believes, help today's Ukraine stand up to Russia. This is stupid and mean to the people who were tortured by the Soviet regime throughout the USSR, not just in the Ukrainian SSR.
The second unpleasant point has to do with the nicknames that nations bestow on each other.
Most of her classmates stayed behind in Luhansk, and later they wrote on the social networking site VKontakte that Anna was a khohol, a derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians that refers to the traditional hairstyle of Cossacks.
He only rarely heard the term “Ukrainian” to describe who he was; usually, Ukrainians were called the ethnic slur khoholy.
What did I find ambiguous here? As Sergey Lubarsky, a prominent pro-Ukrainian speaker, said a few months ago when speaking about Russian citizens, “You will always be Katsaps for me”. Such designations of all citizens of the Russian Federation as “Rusnya”, “Moskals”, “Katsaps”, and now “orcs” and “Rashists” have already become commonplace on Ukrainian Internet resources. And in the book itself, we meet such words as “orcs” and “rashists”. And it doesn't bother the author much, but then why did she include these two quotes above in her book? It is a very unpleasant situation when the author mentions every negative side of the Russians but is silent about the same thing from the side of the Ukrainians. In my opinion, this is very accurately described by the word duplicity.
One could chide me for talking about the little details but not saying anything about the stories themselves. The fact is that details are sometimes more important because they help to show the true intention of a person. As for the stories themselves, on the whole, they are not bad and do a good job of describing the experiences of the survivors. However, there's one very big downside here - not personalized communication. That is why I liked "Take My Grief Away: Voices from the War in Ukraine". In it, we see personal communication between the author and the person being interviewed, while in "By the Second Spring", as I understand it, the author collected the material without communicating with the person personally, but through texting or internet mail, and this is already an edited communication. When we talk to a person directly, in live, we see their emotions, and we hear things that cannot be edited. That is why "Take My Grief Away" is such an emotional book. This book...it's the usual one where all the stories are kind of edited out. In other words, I didn't see in this book the full horror of war, the horror of real war, and the level of unprecedented disaster that like a big wave completely overwhelms a person. What I saw in this book was “war for the American housewife.” This book is as shocking as the cultural norms of the Western community allow, and as a result, we have something like Hollywood. Because of this, there is no understanding of the catastrophe that has happened and is happening. No, it's not about the gory details; it's about the feeling or the spirit of war when war is not a computer game or a movie, and there is never a black-and-white perspective. You can't be “for” a just war, but you can be against any war. This is what we find in books like "Take My Grief Away" and "Everyday War: The Conflict over Donbas, Ukraine". But I didn't find that in this book. I was only interested in Anna's story (and her relationship with Dima, who probably suffers from PTSD), but the rest of the story paled.
The problem is that the book devotes too much text to unimportant issues, such as the history of Ukraine, or, for example, part of the text is devoted to a completely outside topic - the story of the exhumation of the Ukrainian poet Dmytro Stus. I have no idea who this poet was, nor do I understand why this story should be included in a book about a completely different period and topic. Also, in the book, there is a lot of thinking about the language issue, as if today there is a war for what language will be spoken in Ukraine, not for who will politically control this country. Also a very strange decision by the author, and it also influenced the fact that these stories of the people of Ukraine got lost in the book. I have the feeling that the author simply did not have enough material and, therefore, added topics that have nothing to do with today.
September 13, 2025
My heart exploded with pain and love reading By the Second Spring.
This is not a war story. This is about everyday people living through the senseless demise of the place they call home.
Although there are only 7 key stories, you can feel the other 100,000s filtering through Leavitt’s words. The research, the time, the empathy and raw truth of everyday Ukraine people opened my eyes to the horror and devastation of humanity’s eye for destruction, power and greed - at any cost.
Learn the history, where it all began and try to fathom why a raged force of righteous ignorance is decimating and displacing a population.
Anna, Vitaly, Maria, Yulia, Oleg, Polina, John, Tania, and Volodymyr - bring their raw stories to you. They are real people experiencing the harrowing plight for survival, patriotism and sheer determination.
Leavitt, I applaud your ability to shine light on the reality of living through war.
My sincere thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book by Danielle Leavitt
This is not a war story. This is about everyday people living through the senseless demise of the place they call home.
Although there are only 7 key stories, you can feel the other 100,000s filtering through Leavitt’s words. The research, the time, the empathy and raw truth of everyday Ukraine people opened my eyes to the horror and devastation of humanity’s eye for destruction, power and greed - at any cost.
Learn the history, where it all began and try to fathom why a raged force of righteous ignorance is decimating and displacing a population.
Anna, Vitaly, Maria, Yulia, Oleg, Polina, John, Tania, and Volodymyr - bring their raw stories to you. They are real people experiencing the harrowing plight for survival, patriotism and sheer determination.
Leavitt, I applaud your ability to shine light on the reality of living through war.
My sincere thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book by Danielle Leavitt
August 25, 2025
I have had the privilege of working with Ukrainians from every region of their beautiful country. I see many of their experiences reflected in this book & the regionally specific experiences are undeniable.
Glory to Ukraine 🇺🇦
Glory to Ukraine 🇺🇦
August 22, 2025
I remember the first weeks of the invasion, my husband and I never turned the TV off. I felt like I needed to be constantly horrified, like it wasn’t fair that I should just go about living a normal life when a whole country of people had their every days lives blown up, literally. I don’t know how you rate a book like this. But I’ll give it 5 stars because I think it’s important to hear the stories.
This book focuses on 7, every day Ukrainian’s during the first year after Russia invaded. With both personal and national backstories for context.
It’s heartbreaking and made me feel sick, scared and helpless. It also made me think about what I would do if I found myself in a similar situation. How do you go about living every day? Making dinners, doing laundry, sending kids to school when you are under constant attack. And when the attack stops, the trauma from living through it.
It’s horrific and I don’t know how to do more.
I read this book because it was on the Reading List for the 2025 Vancouver Writers Festival. I hope I have the opportunity to see the author when they are here.
This book focuses on 7, every day Ukrainian’s during the first year after Russia invaded. With both personal and national backstories for context.
It’s heartbreaking and made me feel sick, scared and helpless. It also made me think about what I would do if I found myself in a similar situation. How do you go about living every day? Making dinners, doing laundry, sending kids to school when you are under constant attack. And when the attack stops, the trauma from living through it.
It’s horrific and I don’t know how to do more.
I read this book because it was on the Reading List for the 2025 Vancouver Writers Festival. I hope I have the opportunity to see the author when they are here.
August 13, 2025
Reading real experiences from real people experiencing the war in Ukraine from 2022-2023 was incredible. I read in a different book recently “Ignoring their lives doesn’t make their pain any less real,” and I feel that that sentence is the best way to describe my feelings throughout “By the Second Spring”. Rather than wallowing in guilt or grief over the lives broken and lost in war, I believe we Americans should be even more grateful for the safety that we have the privilege to live in. And we should be proud to come from a nation that helps other nations again and again. I know so little of the complexities of the war between Ukraine and Russia and I know so little about all of the politics around the world that go into it. But, after reading this book, my heart was softened. I pray for the future of Ukraine and Russia. I pray for peace between the two. I pray for the POWs to be released soon and sent home to their families. I pray for healing. ❤️
July 14, 2025
Danielle Leavitt wrote this book to humanize the war in Ukraine by telling the story of 7 Ukrainian citizens impacted by the Russian invasion of their country. 7 individuals living in different areas allow us to experience the horror of war while trying to live their lives under very trying circumstances. Their determination to stay, adjust and carry on will stay with me for a very long time. Unlike “historical fiction” novels of long ago times (WWII), this is real and happening now. I highly recommend this important book.
July 17, 2025
This is an incredible book. The author does a beautiful job sharing the lives of those affected by the war in Ukraine, and the history and underlying factors that led up to the war. It’s powerful and emotional and I definitely cried reading this on a few planes & trains. I recommend it to everyone!!
May 26, 2025
This is so much more than a typical war memoir or historical account. Deeply detailed, with just enough historical context, expertly written, brilliant timeline and sequencing. A must read for anyone living in the 21st century.
The timeline is just one year of the beginning of the Ukrainian war and drops you right in the middle of these real, tangible lives. Leavitt writes in such a way that you recognize the characters in yourself, your friends, your family. You realize it’s just luck and circumstance that have kept you from living out the nightmare of war that so many others have to face.
The book ends before the war, leaving you feeling all the uncertainty and grief and fear that are now every day life for the people living it out.
Written from the Ukrainians perspective, it still allows room for exploring what it would be like from many vantage points and you realize that we humans and our tiny, complex lives and loves are just specks in the grinding cogs of government and society.
It really expands your world view and focuses in on your own values and morals. What would you do if war demolished your life?
The timeline is just one year of the beginning of the Ukrainian war and drops you right in the middle of these real, tangible lives. Leavitt writes in such a way that you recognize the characters in yourself, your friends, your family. You realize it’s just luck and circumstance that have kept you from living out the nightmare of war that so many others have to face.
The book ends before the war, leaving you feeling all the uncertainty and grief and fear that are now every day life for the people living it out.
Written from the Ukrainians perspective, it still allows room for exploring what it would be like from many vantage points and you realize that we humans and our tiny, complex lives and loves are just specks in the grinding cogs of government and society.
It really expands your world view and focuses in on your own values and morals. What would you do if war demolished your life?
August 15, 2025
Слава Україні!
June 19, 2025
This is a book that needs to go to your must read pile. Just, wow!
This book opened my eyes to the people of Ukraine and what they are facing that felt personal, sad, and hopeful. I could have listened to more of each of the people written about in the book for longer. What they are going through is so tough, and although I can’t understand what it is to go through war, this made me more aware of what is going on.
Thank you FSG and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.
This book opened my eyes to the people of Ukraine and what they are facing that felt personal, sad, and hopeful. I could have listened to more of each of the people written about in the book for longer. What they are going through is so tough, and although I can’t understand what it is to go through war, this made me more aware of what is going on.
Thank you FSG and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.
June 20, 2025
Danielle Leavitt immerses herself in the lives of individuals across Ukraine as they navigate the harrowing reality of war under ongoing Russian attacks.
Leavitt takes on the formidable challenge of capturing deeply personal stories from various regions of Ukraine, all while weaving in essential historical context to shed light on the origins of the conflict and the complexities of Ukrainian public opinion.
Remarkably, in her first book, Leavitt succeeds in doing justice to these narratives. She brings much-needed humanity to the headlines—offering readers vivid, nuanced portraits of the people living through the war and reminding us of the real faces and voices behind the statistics.
Leavitt takes on the formidable challenge of capturing deeply personal stories from various regions of Ukraine, all while weaving in essential historical context to shed light on the origins of the conflict and the complexities of Ukrainian public opinion.
Remarkably, in her first book, Leavitt succeeds in doing justice to these narratives. She brings much-needed humanity to the headlines—offering readers vivid, nuanced portraits of the people living through the war and reminding us of the real faces and voices behind the statistics.
August 28, 2025
Such a well written book spelling out what life has been like during the war in Ukraine. Following these individuals made the war more realistic and relatable. Our book club had an author Q&A with Danielle and you feel her love and passion for Ukraine and the people.
January 2, 2026
By the Second Spring is an amazing look into the lives of those living through the Russian invasion. Dr Leavitt did an amazing job relating their stories. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
February 1, 2025
If you've played any fantasy RPGs, you've probably played one in which farmers and shopkeepers are suddenly overrun by menacing orcs, and their homes, farms and livelihoods are destroyed. As the character, you pick up a rusty sword and fight the invaders, which are under orders from some distant evildoer. This is pretty much the situation that unfolded in Ukraine, and several people who have been living through the chaos and destruction tell their stories. They are Anna, Vitaly, Maria, Volodymyr, Yulia, Oleg, Polina, John, Tania.
Some chose to fight in the early days or later. Some chose to flee or stayed at home with family until they had to evacuate. Some came to Ukraine from America to help run a centre for refugees. And one man, who sorted recycling until he could set up his coffee shop, then saw his apartment building smashed by ballistics, did it all again. He noticed people spray painting on the wall opposite his new shop window. This picture of a kid using martial arts to throw a bigger opponent was by an artist, but he'd never heard of Banksy. Now he has. Our world has grown smaller and more connected.
The author, a professor from Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, uses the background of each person to take us through the history of Ukraine, from Cossack horsemen to a thriving grain and materials exporter. We learn about the Soviet-caused famine which killed four million people in the grain basket. The repressions by Russia of states which sought some independence, until they all did and the edifice collapsed. Waves of Russian colonists into Ukraine, forcibly displacing the local people. When the areas nearest the Russian border were annexed, at rocket point, this had the effect of isolating the most Ukrainian people in the largest portion of Ukraine, speaking their own language, making their own political choices.
The voices are fully authentic, telling us of shock waves through the air and ground as an offensive was launched; of wrecked cars; of bodies on the streets, no food, scavenging invaders. The speakers fled with children, old people, and pets. They left silverware, pots, coffee machines. An engineer at Chernobyl tells his story. One young woman stood in line at a train station which was bombed. Her description is hard to read. A young woman describes a soldier's fight in a steelworks, until he was eventually ordered to surrender. She does not know if he is alive or dead, because the Russians put all these prisoners of war in a camp, moved them into a specific barracks, dug graves beside it - on satellite photos - and then bombed the barracks.
In between, we hear a man telling us how a couple of decades earlier, he and friends went about repatriating bodies of three Ukrainian poets who had died in a far gulag. Nothing was easy, from paperwork to permissions to petty slashing of their tyres.
A few villagers decided to collaborate with invaders; they were disliked for it but justified it by saying they had to have permission to run the school. They got paid by the new regime. When the village was liberated, every person came out to welcome and feed their troops. And the collaborators quietly drove into Russia to live with relatives.
I could add that at the start of this war, we in Ireland were asked not to refer to this European country as 'the Ukraine,' which we'd heard for so long. This was a Soviet-era term for 'the Ukraine region' and implied the large nation was not a country. As we are shown, 90% of people voted to be independent, and they wish to stay that way. The author and one of the speakers suggest that keeping native Ukrainian literature in circulation can help to achieve this end.
This book is a feat of modern journalism and modern history. I do not consider it suitable for readers under 18, but anyone who wishes to hold an opinion on this war, or indeed any war, should read the stories.
I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
Some chose to fight in the early days or later. Some chose to flee or stayed at home with family until they had to evacuate. Some came to Ukraine from America to help run a centre for refugees. And one man, who sorted recycling until he could set up his coffee shop, then saw his apartment building smashed by ballistics, did it all again. He noticed people spray painting on the wall opposite his new shop window. This picture of a kid using martial arts to throw a bigger opponent was by an artist, but he'd never heard of Banksy. Now he has. Our world has grown smaller and more connected.
The author, a professor from Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, uses the background of each person to take us through the history of Ukraine, from Cossack horsemen to a thriving grain and materials exporter. We learn about the Soviet-caused famine which killed four million people in the grain basket. The repressions by Russia of states which sought some independence, until they all did and the edifice collapsed. Waves of Russian colonists into Ukraine, forcibly displacing the local people. When the areas nearest the Russian border were annexed, at rocket point, this had the effect of isolating the most Ukrainian people in the largest portion of Ukraine, speaking their own language, making their own political choices.
The voices are fully authentic, telling us of shock waves through the air and ground as an offensive was launched; of wrecked cars; of bodies on the streets, no food, scavenging invaders. The speakers fled with children, old people, and pets. They left silverware, pots, coffee machines. An engineer at Chernobyl tells his story. One young woman stood in line at a train station which was bombed. Her description is hard to read. A young woman describes a soldier's fight in a steelworks, until he was eventually ordered to surrender. She does not know if he is alive or dead, because the Russians put all these prisoners of war in a camp, moved them into a specific barracks, dug graves beside it - on satellite photos - and then bombed the barracks.
In between, we hear a man telling us how a couple of decades earlier, he and friends went about repatriating bodies of three Ukrainian poets who had died in a far gulag. Nothing was easy, from paperwork to permissions to petty slashing of their tyres.
A few villagers decided to collaborate with invaders; they were disliked for it but justified it by saying they had to have permission to run the school. They got paid by the new regime. When the village was liberated, every person came out to welcome and feed their troops. And the collaborators quietly drove into Russia to live with relatives.
I could add that at the start of this war, we in Ireland were asked not to refer to this European country as 'the Ukraine,' which we'd heard for so long. This was a Soviet-era term for 'the Ukraine region' and implied the large nation was not a country. As we are shown, 90% of people voted to be independent, and they wish to stay that way. The author and one of the speakers suggest that keeping native Ukrainian literature in circulation can help to achieve this end.
This book is a feat of modern journalism and modern history. I do not consider it suitable for readers under 18, but anyone who wishes to hold an opinion on this war, or indeed any war, should read the stories.
I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
May 28, 2025
I received a free copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review from #NetGalley.
I’ve mentioned many times I was a Russian and East European Studies major in college, but in May of 2003 Ukraine became part of me when I adopted my children there. They are justifiably proud of their heritage and have watched the war with some interest since it began. Crimea, where they were, was taken by Russia in 2014. While in Crimea to adopt the kids I was able to go to Yalta and see the site of the famous World War II conference, and former home of Tzar Nicholas II–Livadia Palace. It was amazing to be there. (Read more about life in the Palace during the Yalta Conference here.) In some box somewhere are a few photos I took–I still had to use film back then so not that many pictures. Also while there, we had our first days together as a family at in a staff apartment at a college in Kiev before driving to Warsaw, Poland, to have all the paperwork done at the Embassy there.
I get as tired of politics as the next guy, but I would be remiss not to say I am appalled at the current administration abandoning Ukraine. They are fighting for just what we [used to] stand for.
This book had many people waiting so my review is not as well thought out as I’d like–it deserves better. I gave it back the minute I was done so that others could read and learn and, hopefully, see why it is essential that the USA ignore the current president and keep helping Ukraine to fight for the freedom–a fight even the GOP heartily endorsed until Inauguration Day 2025.
The Story and My Thoughts
As a historian and an American with ties to Ukraine, the author chose seven ordinary Ukrainians to follow through one year of the war. The people were found via an online diary project funded by a Foundation. Among those chosen, are a Mormon missionary married to a Ukrainian, young woman selected to study at the police academy, a man who has just opened a coffee shop, a women who has been in the US working in the fashion industry, a young writer married with an infant son, a husband and wife who live by raising pigs on their small farm, and a middle aged woman who produces crafts for sale. Also in the story, in the between-the-chapters story is a former engineer at Chernobyl.
I was instantly drawn in to their stories. But, how odd is it to sometimes be able to text or talk with someone just out of battle? I was drawn to the story of he Mormon couple who landed at a shelter for refugees that needed someone experienced to run it. They stepped up and did it. Polina, with her fashion experience, helped source fleece fabric and get fleece jackets made for soldiers. Those to me were heroic actions. The others, though were also heroic in that they kept going. They struggled and endured and kept going.
In between the chapters we hear of Chernobly and the story of one of the engineers there–one who lived through it all and now must deal with the aftermath–especially in his mind. This was very interesting.
What Americans need is the REAL story–not the Fox News–White House version. It’s far more nuanced than anyone thinks. Ethic Russians in Ukraine. Western Ukraine versus Russified [Soveit-ized] Eastern Ukraine. Stalin’s horrific man-made famine in Crimea. It’s all part of it. My kids were Ukrainians. They are in touch with family. Nothing is simple, but people are not quitting. They are not begging for Putin to save them by any means. There is the cold hard fact that Russia is their essential trading partner and that everything still runs on Soviet models, albeit with capitalism now in place. Language, too, plays a role. City versus rural has a role. Americans need to read this book, even if they love Donald Trump. They need to hear the truth. They need to read what has gone on as seen through the eyes of the country’s own citizens and not the propaganda from Moscow.
My Verdict
4.0
By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine by Danielle Leavitt
I’ve mentioned many times I was a Russian and East European Studies major in college, but in May of 2003 Ukraine became part of me when I adopted my children there. They are justifiably proud of their heritage and have watched the war with some interest since it began. Crimea, where they were, was taken by Russia in 2014. While in Crimea to adopt the kids I was able to go to Yalta and see the site of the famous World War II conference, and former home of Tzar Nicholas II–Livadia Palace. It was amazing to be there. (Read more about life in the Palace during the Yalta Conference here.) In some box somewhere are a few photos I took–I still had to use film back then so not that many pictures. Also while there, we had our first days together as a family at in a staff apartment at a college in Kiev before driving to Warsaw, Poland, to have all the paperwork done at the Embassy there.
I get as tired of politics as the next guy, but I would be remiss not to say I am appalled at the current administration abandoning Ukraine. They are fighting for just what we [used to] stand for.
This book had many people waiting so my review is not as well thought out as I’d like–it deserves better. I gave it back the minute I was done so that others could read and learn and, hopefully, see why it is essential that the USA ignore the current president and keep helping Ukraine to fight for the freedom–a fight even the GOP heartily endorsed until Inauguration Day 2025.
The Story and My Thoughts
As a historian and an American with ties to Ukraine, the author chose seven ordinary Ukrainians to follow through one year of the war. The people were found via an online diary project funded by a Foundation. Among those chosen, are a Mormon missionary married to a Ukrainian, young woman selected to study at the police academy, a man who has just opened a coffee shop, a women who has been in the US working in the fashion industry, a young writer married with an infant son, a husband and wife who live by raising pigs on their small farm, and a middle aged woman who produces crafts for sale. Also in the story, in the between-the-chapters story is a former engineer at Chernobyl.
I was instantly drawn in to their stories. But, how odd is it to sometimes be able to text or talk with someone just out of battle? I was drawn to the story of he Mormon couple who landed at a shelter for refugees that needed someone experienced to run it. They stepped up and did it. Polina, with her fashion experience, helped source fleece fabric and get fleece jackets made for soldiers. Those to me were heroic actions. The others, though were also heroic in that they kept going. They struggled and endured and kept going.
In between the chapters we hear of Chernobly and the story of one of the engineers there–one who lived through it all and now must deal with the aftermath–especially in his mind. This was very interesting.
What Americans need is the REAL story–not the Fox News–White House version. It’s far more nuanced than anyone thinks. Ethic Russians in Ukraine. Western Ukraine versus Russified [Soveit-ized] Eastern Ukraine. Stalin’s horrific man-made famine in Crimea. It’s all part of it. My kids were Ukrainians. They are in touch with family. Nothing is simple, but people are not quitting. They are not begging for Putin to save them by any means. There is the cold hard fact that Russia is their essential trading partner and that everything still runs on Soviet models, albeit with capitalism now in place. Language, too, plays a role. City versus rural has a role. Americans need to read this book, even if they love Donald Trump. They need to hear the truth. They need to read what has gone on as seen through the eyes of the country’s own citizens and not the propaganda from Moscow.
My Verdict
4.0
By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine by Danielle Leavitt
May 18, 2025
This work of nonfiction goes beyond the typical/familiar wartime portraits that we often see from larger media sources. The author, a historian, is an American who grew up in Ukraine, and wanted to humanize and emphasize the lives of seven Ukranians. While Russia's invasion is a backdrop for these stories, the work focuses most on the people themselves. There are short interlude chapters that provide some relevant history to the war, as well as the story of Volodymyr Shovkoshitniy, who fought in the 1980s to return the bodies of three Ukrainian writers who were martyred in Russia, to emphasize the resurgence of Ukranian's national spirit.
The author did a wonderful job at balancing the history incorporated with the lives of the people she interviewed, creating an informative read. The work doesn't follow one person's story from start to finish before moving on, so at the beginning it was a little difficult to keep track of everyone for me. But the people included in this work were varied in age and backgrounds and situations.
I also appreciated the author's tone. It would have been easy to paint a picture completely glorifying Ukrainian resistance while emphasizing only the evils of Russia, but the author managed to balance this in a way that felt more guided by facts than nationalism. That being said, she doesn't shy away from including some of the brutalities of war, depicting them in a tragic but compelling light.
We reached a point where (at least in the U.S. but likely in other places as well) the war has taken a major backseat to other concerns, and it has been that way for some time now. The author discusses this, and she mentioned that even Ukranians are tired of being asked only about the war. With the way we're oversaturated with news and information these days, it's easy to lose sight of things or become overwhelmed by the amount of information being thrown at us.
This book is a wonderful source of modern history and journalism that I highly recommend to everyone (maybe ages 18+ though due to the graphic tragedies of war). Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
The author did a wonderful job at balancing the history incorporated with the lives of the people she interviewed, creating an informative read. The work doesn't follow one person's story from start to finish before moving on, so at the beginning it was a little difficult to keep track of everyone for me. But the people included in this work were varied in age and backgrounds and situations.
I also appreciated the author's tone. It would have been easy to paint a picture completely glorifying Ukrainian resistance while emphasizing only the evils of Russia, but the author managed to balance this in a way that felt more guided by facts than nationalism. That being said, she doesn't shy away from including some of the brutalities of war, depicting them in a tragic but compelling light.
We reached a point where (at least in the U.S. but likely in other places as well) the war has taken a major backseat to other concerns, and it has been that way for some time now. The author discusses this, and she mentioned that even Ukranians are tired of being asked only about the war. With the way we're oversaturated with news and information these days, it's easy to lose sight of things or become overwhelmed by the amount of information being thrown at us.
This book is a wonderful source of modern history and journalism that I highly recommend to everyone (maybe ages 18+ though due to the graphic tragedies of war). Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
September 1, 2025
This is a deeply moving, educational, and humanizing book. It's a difficult read because of the graphic and personalized and true accounts of suffering, but it's important to witness these things and hold those responsible to account. I served a mission in Ukraine and feel a great love for the people there, regardless of their political persuasions and perspectives. Some of my favorite quotes / learnings from the book:
-- "Without Ukraine, Russia could not be an empire." pg. 17
--" . . . the kind of quiet dissent that one might easily dismiss as just living but is not: in the face of cruelty, they would continue to care for living things . . . " pg. 40
--"What Russia continually failed to see . . . was that the more Russia pulled Ukraine eastward, the more Ukrainians looked West." pg. 57
--" The majority of Ukrainians in Luhansk were not pro-Russian in the sense that they claimed to be Russian or wanted to join Russia; they were pro-Russian in the sense that they supported trading with Russia, maintaining economic ties, and speaking Russian." pg. 68
--"Yulia was exactly the kind of Russian-speaking resident Putin ostensibly waged war to protect -- an ethnic Russian, born of Russian grandparents who'd settled in the Donbas after World War II. But Yulia found this line of reasoning abhorent. 'Justifying the war based on the protection of the Russian-speaking population has nothing to do with reality,' she said. 'On the contrary, it is mainly the Russian-speaking regions that were previously loyal to Russia that have suffered in this war. Such perfidy will never be forgiven.'" pg. 206
--Regarding the experience of villages stolen by Russia, then liberated by the Ukrainian military: "'I was crying with joy, I was trembling all over . . . ' As the soldiers came into the village, a crowd met them, cheering and crying. . . . 'They were so handsome,' Tania said. 'You couldn't take your eyes off them.' . . . Those first several days, people from the village flocked to the soldiers with flowers and various homemade delicacies . . . This was true in every nearby liberated village in the region." pg. 233
-- "Without Ukraine, Russia could not be an empire." pg. 17
--" . . . the kind of quiet dissent that one might easily dismiss as just living but is not: in the face of cruelty, they would continue to care for living things . . . " pg. 40
--"What Russia continually failed to see . . . was that the more Russia pulled Ukraine eastward, the more Ukrainians looked West." pg. 57
--" The majority of Ukrainians in Luhansk were not pro-Russian in the sense that they claimed to be Russian or wanted to join Russia; they were pro-Russian in the sense that they supported trading with Russia, maintaining economic ties, and speaking Russian." pg. 68
--"Yulia was exactly the kind of Russian-speaking resident Putin ostensibly waged war to protect -- an ethnic Russian, born of Russian grandparents who'd settled in the Donbas after World War II. But Yulia found this line of reasoning abhorent. 'Justifying the war based on the protection of the Russian-speaking population has nothing to do with reality,' she said. 'On the contrary, it is mainly the Russian-speaking regions that were previously loyal to Russia that have suffered in this war. Such perfidy will never be forgiven.'" pg. 206
--Regarding the experience of villages stolen by Russia, then liberated by the Ukrainian military: "'I was crying with joy, I was trembling all over . . . ' As the soldiers came into the village, a crowd met them, cheering and crying. . . . 'They were so handsome,' Tania said. 'You couldn't take your eyes off them.' . . . Those first several days, people from the village flocked to the soldiers with flowers and various homemade delicacies . . . This was true in every nearby liberated village in the region." pg. 233
June 20, 2025
*4.37 Stars
Notes: I read this book primarily from a nonfiction interest. I was reading nonfiction earlier this year, so I could understand this novel.
However - this is from previous exposure to reading through different novels last year. This led me to paging through this book quickly. I was already extremely glad to have found a copy of this novel when I could, and I researched it before.
Please - please only read through this novel if someone else is okay with darker historical content in relation to war. I studied war history before, so I could properly comprehend this novel.
I am advising immediate caution to only reading through more than 1/3 of this book. This is if someone else can properly understand that the premise to this novel could potentially cause anxiety in other readers unaccustomed to darker nonfiction content.
I am not going to be including an amount of spoilers in this review, from past novels that I have read through which are historical nonfiction. Please literally only complete this book in an okay mental health state.
I actually read this for a few certain reasons other than normal (nothing in particular I would add in - nothing that I would want to get into trouble for).
This book contains lengthy paragraphs and requires immediate levels of concentration to get through several chapters. An amount of emotional awareness is also required, or this book could be not completed. If someone can understand that explanations are given and this book can be read through, then it can be understood.
However - I mostly just read this novel out of a nonfiction interest. I am adding in yet another disclaimer that I actually was reading this book for a potential scarier fantasy horror novel (I think that’s necessary).
Anyways, I found this book to be informative enough that I could understand it. I was glad to have the concepts in it that were detailed, which helped me to know precisely why this book was quite long.
Notes: I read this book primarily from a nonfiction interest. I was reading nonfiction earlier this year, so I could understand this novel.
However - this is from previous exposure to reading through different novels last year. This led me to paging through this book quickly. I was already extremely glad to have found a copy of this novel when I could, and I researched it before.
Please - please only read through this novel if someone else is okay with darker historical content in relation to war. I studied war history before, so I could properly comprehend this novel.
I am advising immediate caution to only reading through more than 1/3 of this book. This is if someone else can properly understand that the premise to this novel could potentially cause anxiety in other readers unaccustomed to darker nonfiction content.
I am not going to be including an amount of spoilers in this review, from past novels that I have read through which are historical nonfiction. Please literally only complete this book in an okay mental health state.
I actually read this for a few certain reasons other than normal (nothing in particular I would add in - nothing that I would want to get into trouble for).
This book contains lengthy paragraphs and requires immediate levels of concentration to get through several chapters. An amount of emotional awareness is also required, or this book could be not completed. If someone can understand that explanations are given and this book can be read through, then it can be understood.
However - I mostly just read this novel out of a nonfiction interest. I am adding in yet another disclaimer that I actually was reading this book for a potential scarier fantasy horror novel (I think that’s necessary).
Anyways, I found this book to be informative enough that I could understand it. I was glad to have the concepts in it that were detailed, which helped me to know precisely why this book was quite long.
May 10, 2025
Absolutely heartbreaking and one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read!
I am in the portion of the population who had no idea there was any conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The 2022 invasion by Russia was a surprise to me. Even more surprising was the conflict that happened in 2014. I was in Europe studying law in 2014, and this book was the first time I learned about it! Since 2022, I have tried to catch up on the history of the conflict leading up to the 2022 invasion and what is happening now. This book is exactly what anyone needs!
The author weaves the lives of seven people seamlessly into the history of the conflict. The book details the events that lead up to 2022 and the Ukrainian reaction. The book is incredibly educational as you grow a connection to the people's stories. There is nothing about this book that is dry. It is heartbreaking and shows you what life has been like in a war torn country.
It is easy, especially for Americans, to distance yourself from conflicts. We are not being subjected to missile strikes or fleeing from our homes. One of the things from the book that has really stuck with me was describing teenagers hiding underground from missile strikes while playing on their phones. When I think of bomb shelters, I think of families hiding during WWII. The imagery of people my age wearing jeans and hiding out with their iPhones brings their stories to life in a way I did not expect.
The topic and stories within the book are important for everyone to read. This is happening today. This is happening in Europe. It is not getting nearly enough international attention.
*Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC*
I am in the portion of the population who had no idea there was any conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The 2022 invasion by Russia was a surprise to me. Even more surprising was the conflict that happened in 2014. I was in Europe studying law in 2014, and this book was the first time I learned about it! Since 2022, I have tried to catch up on the history of the conflict leading up to the 2022 invasion and what is happening now. This book is exactly what anyone needs!
The author weaves the lives of seven people seamlessly into the history of the conflict. The book details the events that lead up to 2022 and the Ukrainian reaction. The book is incredibly educational as you grow a connection to the people's stories. There is nothing about this book that is dry. It is heartbreaking and shows you what life has been like in a war torn country.
It is easy, especially for Americans, to distance yourself from conflicts. We are not being subjected to missile strikes or fleeing from our homes. One of the things from the book that has really stuck with me was describing teenagers hiding underground from missile strikes while playing on their phones. When I think of bomb shelters, I think of families hiding during WWII. The imagery of people my age wearing jeans and hiding out with their iPhones brings their stories to life in a way I did not expect.
The topic and stories within the book are important for everyone to read. This is happening today. This is happening in Europe. It is not getting nearly enough international attention.
*Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC*
December 8, 2025
By the Second Spring is an incredible book. I had the opportunity to listen to Danielle share excerpts from her reading, and provide a little bit of background and context to her book. Danielle talked about her personal connection to Ukraine, and how that shaped her motivation for writing. As far as the book goes, it was AMAZING! It was incredible to read a book on a war not from memory, but from experience. The story follows several individuals living in various parts of Ukraine as Russia invades in 2022. She shares the little moments, like Yulia and her garden, Vitaly preparing his little coffee shop for guests, and so many more. The book's greatest strength, I believe, is humanizing the war. It doesn't follow shocking numbers or startling statistics, rather the individuals who are apart of a larger collective, and their journey through a war that is still around them to this day, no single story summarizes Ukraine's entire war experience. This book challenges the common “flattening” of civilians in war (as numbers, victims, refugees) showing that behind each statistic is a full human life, with memories, relationships, hopes, and agency. If you want to learn how a war reshapes normal lives, this is the book for you. I don't think there is another book written as closely to the lives impacted by war as this one, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a contemporary witness into the horrors of war. Thank you Danielle for writing such a moving book, I would recommend it to everyone.
May 20, 2025
Like many Americans, I had followed the news since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and remembered hearing about Russia’s first invasion back in 2014. When I started this book I expected an insider’s view of the war (it follows the lives of several Ukrainian citizens through the first year). It absolutely delivers that much and does so beautifully. Leavitt introduces seven(!) characters, beautifully crafting each narrative. I got sucked into the very first chapter and before I knew it found myself feeling, crying, and occasionally laughing with all seven characters. Leavitt is an immensely talented author to be able to tell so many stories without short-changing any of them in only 320 pages. She manages to wrap up all seven stories in a way that feels honest and deeply human (this is a book about a brutal and ongoing war) avoiding hollow platitudes, but still offering moments of grace so as to not leave the reader despondent.
All that to say, this is a great book for its narrative quality alone. But, what impressed me most was how much I learned. Leavitt has managed to weave bits of history into every chapter that gave me a much deeper understanding of the war and its current dynamics. Even though the book ends only one year into the war, it feels so relevant to the situation in Ukraine today. Absolutely the best book I have read in a very long time!
All that to say, this is a great book for its narrative quality alone. But, what impressed me most was how much I learned. Leavitt has managed to weave bits of history into every chapter that gave me a much deeper understanding of the war and its current dynamics. Even though the book ends only one year into the war, it feels so relevant to the situation in Ukraine today. Absolutely the best book I have read in a very long time!
December 11, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed Leavitt’s account of the first year of the war in Ukraine. Her narrative style was very straightforward, without unnecessary exaggeration or dramatization, which allowed the events and people described to feel real—not like Hollywood characters or propaganda posters. Each person’s story was presented very respectfully, and I grew to love them as I’m sure Leavitt did as she interviewed them in preparation for this project. In addition to these seven stories, Leavitt also provided important context beyond just the 2022 invasion—context on Ukraine’s history as a part of the Soviet Union and their journey towards becoming their own nation, including the friction with Russia caused by their efforts towards independence—that helped me understand better the events described across the book. The ending was particularly poignant, as Leavitt reflected on where each character had been at the start, directly contrasted with where they were a year later. I especially loved Volodymyr’s story, and the emphasis placed on the importance of reading, and of speaking out, and of hearing others’ stories, especially when others try to silence them.
November 28, 2024
It’s a riveting story that choked me up!
This is the story of a few people who recount the journey of their lives through the war times. Their journey outlines their grit as well as helplessness.
The book will lead you to see how the world easily turns blind and apathetic towards the pain of other people.
How warring nations embark on a journe that turns them into soulless people with cruel political agendas and strategies and ambition to destroy the other.
For what actually? A set of man-made beliefs? Beliefs which may not thrive even in days to come!
The stories of these people have left an indelible mark on my soul. I pray for their lives ahead and that they find peace in days that are ahead.
This book has hit my soul with a longing I really don't understand myself.
Gratitude does not come easy!
Stories like these change your perspectives.
This book is one of those things that have taught me gratitude.
I am beyond grateful to the author and the people who have shared thier lives with the world through this book.
Indeed war is horrendous!
October 25, 2025
By the Second Spring is a masterfully intimate and deeply affecting chronicle of life under siege not through the lens of strategy or politics, but through the fragile, enduring humanity that persists in the shadow of war. Danielle Leavitt captures the heartbeat of Ukraine’s resilience by tracing seven very real lives, each scarred and reshaped by the brutal rhythm of invasion.
What elevates this work is its intimacy. Through Leavitt’s sharp historical insight and compassionate storytelling, readers are drawn beyond headlines into kitchens, shelters, and fragmented love stories that mirror the soul of a nation fighting to remember itself. It’s an “interior history” in the truest sense as lyrical as it is devastating, and as factual as it is profoundly human.
This is not just a war narrative, it’s a mosaic of survival, identity, and quiet courage. Leavitt’s dual perspective as both historian and witness transforms By the Second Spring into an essential document of our era, one that will remain vital long after the dust settles.
What elevates this work is its intimacy. Through Leavitt’s sharp historical insight and compassionate storytelling, readers are drawn beyond headlines into kitchens, shelters, and fragmented love stories that mirror the soul of a nation fighting to remember itself. It’s an “interior history” in the truest sense as lyrical as it is devastating, and as factual as it is profoundly human.
This is not just a war narrative, it’s a mosaic of survival, identity, and quiet courage. Leavitt’s dual perspective as both historian and witness transforms By the Second Spring into an essential document of our era, one that will remain vital long after the dust settles.
August 4, 2025
What a wonderfully written and IMPORTANT book to read. Somehow the author helped me understand so much about the general context of the war and history of Ukraine's independence through writing about personal lives of individuals experiencing it all firsthand. It is a beautiful thing to feel like you know the characters she wrote about and are so invested in what is happening in their lives. Their stories are impactful and captivating.
In one chapter, Polina remarked she was living among people in the US that lived as if there wasn't anything wrong anywhere in the world... I feel it is such a result of my privilege that I often go throughout the days as if there isn't a war in Ukraine or such atrocities happening in Gaza... I felt gross about this. Danielle's book makes me want to take action.
In one chapter, Polina remarked she was living among people in the US that lived as if there wasn't anything wrong anywhere in the world... I feel it is such a result of my privilege that I often go throughout the days as if there isn't a war in Ukraine or such atrocities happening in Gaza... I felt gross about this. Danielle's book makes me want to take action.
May 27, 2025
While this was a pretty difficult story to listen to during my commute to work, it’s a must listen. I read a ton of historical fiction set around WW1- WW2 and this was hauntingly similar to what was happening about 100 years ago.
This book follows the story of seven people and their experience during the first year of the Ukraine invasion. It’s surreal to hear about their day to day struggles and hurdles they’ve overcome just to survive. These stories help humanize what is going on in or world rather than just hearing highlights from the news. These people are regular people who are having their communities bombed and families ripped apart.
Thank you #netgalley and #DanilleLeavitt for providing this ARC in exchange for my review.
This book follows the story of seven people and their experience during the first year of the Ukraine invasion. It’s surreal to hear about their day to day struggles and hurdles they’ve overcome just to survive. These stories help humanize what is going on in or world rather than just hearing highlights from the news. These people are regular people who are having their communities bombed and families ripped apart.
Thank you #netgalley and #DanilleLeavitt for providing this ARC in exchange for my review.
June 2, 2025
It’s so easy to sit from a privileged American POV and forget that so many parts of the world are living in experiences that are terrifying and heart wrenching.
This glimpse into the lives of seven Ukrainian citizens is a walk through first hand lenses of the first two years of the war. These are the exact kind of stories we need to hear to keep us out of complacency.
Not only to you get personal accounts, but also historical background to gain a fuller understanding.
The author and narrators told these stories with empathy and respect.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion
This glimpse into the lives of seven Ukrainian citizens is a walk through first hand lenses of the first two years of the war. These are the exact kind of stories we need to hear to keep us out of complacency.
Not only to you get personal accounts, but also historical background to gain a fuller understanding.
The author and narrators told these stories with empathy and respect.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews