Something Unbelievable

by Maria Kuznetsova

An overwhelmed new mom discovers unexpected parallels between life in twenty-first-century America and her grandmother's account of their family's escape from the Nazis in this sharp, heartfelt novel.

"A fresh perspective--one that's both haunting and hilarious--on dual-timeline war stories, a feat that only a writer of Kuznetsova's caliber could pull off."--Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

Larissa is a stubborn, brutally honest woman in her eighties, tired of her home in Kiev, Ukraine--tired of everything really, except for her beloved granddaughter, Natasha. Natasha is tired as well, but that's because she just had a baby, and she's struggling to balance her roles as a new mother, a wife, a struggling actress, and a host to her husband's slacker best friend, Stas, who has been staying with them in their cramped one-bedroom apartment in upper Manhattan.

When Natasha asks Larissa to tell the story of her family's Soviet wartime escape from the Nazis in Kiev, she reluctantly agrees. Maybe Natasha is just looking for distraction from her own life, but Larissa is desperate to make her happy, even though telling the story makes her heart ache. Larissa recounts the nearly three-year period when she fled with her self-absorbed sister, parents, and grandmother to a factory town in the Ural Mountains where they faced starvation, a cholera outbreak, a tragic suicide, and where she was torn in her affections for two brothers from a wealthy family. But neither Larissa nor Natasha can anticipate how loudly these lessons of the past will echo in their present moments.

Something Unbelievable explores with piercing wit and tender feeling just how much our circumstances shape our lives and what we pass on to the younger generations, willingly or not.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Ukraine, Russia, War, World War II, Contemporary

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2021

About the author

Maria Kuznetsova was born in Kiev, Ukraine and moved to the United States as a child. She received an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and her fiction appears in The Threepenny Review, The Normal School, The Bennington Review, The Iowa Review, Indiana Review, and elsewhere, while her essays can be found in Slate, Guernica, and Catapult, among others.

Her debut novel, OKSANA, BEHAVE! was published by Spiegel & Grau/Random House in March of 2019, and her second novel, SOMETHING UNBELIEVABLE, will be published by Random House in April 2021. Excerpts from the novel appear in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Kenyon Review Online, Mississippi Review, and The Southern Review.

She lives in Auburn, Alabama, with her husband and daughter, where she is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Auburn University.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well done novel that covers many subjects. It is story of a Ukrainian family, including its incredibly difficult time in Russia during WWII (because the father was an important engineer). It is a story of the lure and difficulties of pursuing an acting career in the US. But more importantly it is the story of families - particularly relationships between grandmothers and granddaughters which are extremely well portrayed (in two different generations and from both perspectives (grandmother and grandchild)). The familial relationships also include an excellent view into a present day marriage. But shining through it all is the theme of motherhood. We see a young mother (the aspiring actress) who is not at all sure that motherhood is a good idea for her. I'm sure there are some mothers who always loved their tiny babies unconditionally and never doubted their own choices in becoming mothers - but most of the women I know had plenty of doubts and stress. We watch as the young mother in the novel goes through stages of resentment, sleep deprivation and body frustration - until at the end "something unbelievable" happens and all the stress of having a baby diminishes and turns into the pure, unequivocal unmatched love we as mothers have for our children. This novel was also hilarious - I truly did laugh out loud a number of times. My negative comment would be that the young actress probably didn't need to use the "F" word so often in all its many forms (you know, adjective, adverb, noun, etc) - but that did not deter me from really enjoying this book.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engaging page-turner. All the generations of characters were interesting, though I was most intrigued by the WWII era Ukrainians' lives. As in her debut novel: Oksana Behave! the author describes the unique experiences of Ukrainian immigrants. But it is those who remain in the old country who capture my imagination, and even in the modern-day sections of the novel, it is the Babushka who has the most wicked sense of humor and powers of reflective introspection.

This is a novel which primarily explores family and relationships. And from that perspective, the themes are largely universal.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting watching this family, written about in the Now / Then format. It took me some getting used to, and there were characters that I cared about a lot more than others. Studying the list of characters, helped. I appreciated the author's wry humor, although it could be dark and abrupt. I could have done with one less sex-crazed cat, as a running gag through all those generations. Laughed out loud a number of times, though, a plus especially in the hard times of war and persecution in which they lived. The atmosphere felt deeply Russian. . . .

Still, the overriding message is in the title, and that affected me as I read through the many family situations, all through to the very end. You don't know what you think you know, ever. Hang in, love lasts, even what you think isn't love, may actually be. A persistent message. The people you live with, love with, you are convinced you know them. . . they will always carry away with them their last pearl of mystery, unrevealed, no matter how many have been shared.

A worthy read.

A sincere thanks to Maria Kuznetsova, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

#SomethingUnbelievable #NetGalley

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author seamlessly interweaves a multigenerational story of a well-to-do Ukrainian-Russian family from the time of the Russian Revolution, intensely through WWII and onto the present in the US. The novel begins with Larissa, now an elderly grandmother, telling her life story to her beloved granddaughter Natasha via regular Skype visits. Natasha is a new mother and a burgeoning actor who is struggling to put some order into her life. The intersections of these two women's personalities and weaknesses is engaging and I loved the full circle that came in the end. Larissa's struggles through WWII make for a consuming read all on their own. Many larger than life characters and incidents. I especially loved the droll voice of Larissa.

This is a multi-layered and carefully crafted novel that reads smooth like butter. Brava. One of the best novels I've read this year.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOMETHING UNBELIEVABLE
Maria Kuznetsova

Years ago I worked for the UN in Bosnia and came in contact with many Ukrainians whom I found to be such lovely people. Always an outward show of happiness with a touch of silliness, they struck me as big and beautiful. I have always had a love for anything from this area.

I was engaged in this book from the minute I picked it up. The characters were exactly what I thought they should be and the story felt seamless and Russian in every way. The story weaves through multiple generations of a then-rich Ukrainian-Russian family from the time of the Russian Revolution to the present day.

In particular, I enjoyed the storyline during WWII. I wasn't as crazy about Natasha as I was about Larissa, now the elderly grandmother. Larissa's story was deeply Ukrainian and was told in starts and spurts, mostly on Skype calls, and centered largely in my favorite time period to read about, WWII. I was less enthralled with Natasha, a new mom struggling with that responsibility and her dreams.

I loved the writing style that unfolds layer after layer. The characters are well drawn, and by the end, they are fully developed and completely exposed with all the flaws showing. It was an enjoyable read and one that I can recommend.

4.5 stars rounded up

Happy Reading!

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Something Unbelievable, I couldn't help track the core story's lineage back to the Soviet literature it itself references. Kuznetsova has created a stirring story of hardship, heartbreak, hardheaded carrying-on, and ultimately, hope. The storytelling is magnificent, and feels familiar, and is very nostalgia-inducing. 5/5.

[Celeste Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to read this because I really enjoyed Oksana, Behave!

This was less overly funny than her first novel, but still had absurd humor. It was a serious book about hardship, family, love, and postpartum depression.

TW for animal abuse/death. The book goes back and forth between Natasha, the granddaughter who lives in the US and just had a baby, and Larissa, the grandmother who lives in the Ukraine and tells the story of her childhood during WWII.

I really liked it and the characters are strong, stubborn, and wilful.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Natasha is in her 30's and is a struggling new mom - exhausted from caring for her infant daughter and at a crossroads in her career as a mildly successful actress. During her Skype calls with her grandmother, she learns the family history and her grandmother's grim story of surviving in the Ukraine during WWII. Natasha's grandmother gives her a lot to think about and some unexpected inspiration.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓.”

Time has been brutal for widowed Larissa, and now approaching her ninetieth year, living in Kiev she video conferences her granddaughter Natasha, who lives in America- which may as well be another planet altogether. Natasha’s emotional state is harried dealing with the exhaustion of caring for her newborn daughter, burdened by her husband Yuri’s friend Stas (who is currently crashing at their place) and juggling motherhood while auditioning for parts. The truth of it is, she is barely clinging to the end of her rope. The only saving grace is that Stas is great with children, her and Yuri’s baby in particular. When she asks Larissa if she will finally tell her the story of her own grandmother, the whole story about her life during World War Two, she is surprised her grandmother barely puts up a fight. Larissa wonders if her granddaughter really cares or is just using it as a distraction. Larissa admits to herself she has told it in bits and pieces, not all of it, it wears on her heart to remember. Tonya was a spoiled woman of wealth who married a banker, misfortune came to call with the Revolution in Ukraine, and the couple’s ‘fine apartment’ was seized by the Bolsheviks. It is everything that followed after, when the plan to flee their homeland with their children is altered after her husband’s death from typhus and Tonya is forced to make big decision on her own. This choice changes the course of her two sons lives. This is how Larissa’s father and uncle, as children, were sent to an orphanage. It is also how the weak, spoiled Tonya was able to maintain her lavish lifestyle.

Years later, Larissa’s mother and father meet at the Polytechnic Institute in Kiev, marry and have two daughters, Larissa and her younger, achingly beautiful sister Polya. Naturally their shallow grandmother adores Polina and lavishes attention on her, which doesn’t endear the sisters to one another. Life goes on until threats of Hitler invading the Soviet Union begin to take hold and the family must evacuate by train to the remote town of Lower Turinsk. Larisa’s family tale spirals into darkness and raw brutality. They are not alone on this uncomfortable cargo train, joined by their father’s brother and his family along with another couple and their sweet little girl. Soon, they will be “as beaten down as mushrooms stocked away deep in a forest.” Hunger, fear, jealousy, desire and death shadow their flight to safety. Larissa opens up about her love for two brothers, wildly different in personality and temperament. Remembering being driven to distraction by the crying jags of her silly sister and grandmother, of being wearied even of the terrors visited upon them, tough as nails Larissa lets the memories flow despite the ache. Everything she thinks she understands about her silly sister is challenged over the years, turning her bitterness into something inexplicable. She has many regrets and is visited by the spectre of death, outliving even her own daughter, Natasha’s mother.

Natasha is ashamed, at times, of her own weakness and struggles, particularly knowing her ancestors were made of sterner stuff. Just imagining everything they lived through makes her feel like a pitiful creature. Motherhood hasn’t come as naturally as she expected it to, Yuri is no longer interested in her as a woman it seems and the only roles she fits the mold for are those of proustite or spy. Her body hasn’t felt like her own since giving birth, and the memories she’s suppressed about her dead mother and her own hidden talent has her struggling with the past. She needs to feel like herself again, to have something that is her own. She needs to work, it is acting that fills her with purpose! Can’t a mother have a life too? Though the challenges Natasha faces are nothing near as severe as war, starvation, and the horrors her grandmother Larissa confronted, there are still parallels. The telling draws them closer and the struggles of what it means being a woman with passions, while mothering a child, is a bridge to understanding the choices we make. Even when there doesn’t seem to be a choice, beautiful new stories can be born from the ruins.

As Larissa passes down this inheritance, her story, it reverberates through time. Natasha takes the tale and reshapes it to fit present day, and share the meaning, the very truth that is the beating heart of Larissa’s life. It is about being vulnerable, selfishness, love, desire, war, death, how we judge others and ourselves and all the misunderstandings in between. It is where we go with what we have when we arrive in unexpected places. It is beautiful but make no mistake, Larissa’s past is hell, one that is witness to the ugliest of humanity and still she goes on in spite of a world that tries to break her, carrying her ghosts with her.

It is a harrowing tale of war and family. Gorgeously written, I can’t wait for her next book, this one left me breathless. I really enjoyed Maria’s previous novel Oksana, Behave but this one is a punch in the gut!

Publication Date: April 31, 2021

Random House Publishing

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of the younger generation realizing their ancestors are relatable and that they had many of the same experiences we do today albeit different settings and supporting characters. After all, that was the main reason I decided to bring this book home from the library and is its main redeeming quality. The characters, however, were so hardened that I had a difficult time wanting to understand them. I think this is exactly the point the author wanted to make, considering their Russian history and resulting experiences but... it didn't make for a very enjoyable read for me.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid family story with layers of connection between a grandmother and her granddaughter. The grandmother tells of her youth during WWII and the granddaughter is a new mom trying to get back into acting.

[Mark Mindel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at family life in old Russia written by a Kiev, Ukraine native who now resides in the US. Thirty-something Natasha has moved to NYC from her native Kiev and has taken up acting. She is now married and has a newborn. Her only blood relative still alive is her grandmother Larissa who still lives in Kiev, but grew up there when it was in Russia during WWII. Over a long amount of time Larissa tells Natasha the story of her life, concentrating on those bitter WWII years when Germany froze out Russia and many Russians starved to death. Larissa was eleven at the time they were forced to move out of Kiev into the mountains to the east. A touching tale of family life and a good look at growing up in Russia during some desperate times. Well worth the read.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a while since I’ve picked a book up and basically didn’t put it down again until I was done. I loved every SINGLE character, but it was truly hard to resist Larissa and her deadpan humor and stark but loving observations and criticisms of people and life in general.

Brief summary:
New Yorker actress Natasha is a new mother with a lot of ambivalence about a lot of things. Over Skype, she asks her grandmother (Larissa, in Kiev) to tell her the story of her family during WWII and the events that led to Larissa’s grandmother’s death.

Both stories were fascinating. The parallels of Larissa/Misha/Bogdor and Natasha/Yuri/Stas made this book fun to read, which is probably not the best adjective to use given a lot of the subject matter that this book tackles- but that’s why I’m a reader and not a writer.

I most strongly connected with Natasha’s struggle as a new mother. I also felt a lot of ambivalence about my newborn (I remember calling him an “amorphous blob with no personality- which is pretty close to “human puddle”) that has since gone away and been replaced with an insane amount of love and amazement. Here’s a section from the book that I resonated with big time:

“She’s come such a long way from the human puddle I gave birth to, though she’s got a long, long way to go. And yet, there are so many things my daughter can do that I wish I could—sleeping through the wild street sounds, facing the brutal, cold world with absolute wonder, smiling for no reason at all—but I have unlearned all of her survival skills, and one day, she will unlearn them, too, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Honorable mention to the cover design- I loved it and thought it captured the book perfectly.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the review copy!

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

My focus on Ukrainian authors led me to Maria Kuznetsova, a Ukrainian-American writer born in Kiev and living in the US. She is funny, witty and astoundingly talented, as evidenced by this book “Something Unbelievable”. Published just last year (2021), this tale of new-mom/struggling actor Natasha and her grandmother Larissa, couldn’t be more timely.

This book is immensely relatable and easy to read; the Ukrainian perspective aside, it’s a familiar story for most American women juggling careers, motherhood and the shape-shifting of our identities as we meld the two. But beneath that layer is the real gem of this story: the unfolding of Natasha’s ancestral history.

Over weekly Skype sessions from her kitchen in Kiev, elderly Larissa wryly retells their family’s survival saga; beginning with the divisiveness of the Russian Revolution, the shock and horror of WWII and the aftermath of grief and loss inherent in the reality of wartime survival.

From her own NYC apartment and while nursing her newborn baby, Natasha pieces together a deeper understanding of the parents she has buried, the personalities dotting her lineage and the history that shaped them and begins to form parallels of her grandmother’s story to her own.

This is an excellent read with the themes of grief, loss, death and trauma, that any wartime story requires. It’s also deeply moving, absurdly hilarious and entirely relatable to the modern American reader. Highly recommend!

[Beachbumgarner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a while, and I realized after a couple of days that I really wasn't looking forward to reading it all that much after the first 50 or so pages. The story itself is a good one, and based on the lives of the author's relatives in Russia. The story is told by two narrators, Larissa, grandmother, and Natasha, granddaughter, and Larissa's portion was captivating at times. But current day Natasha, self absorbed, self righteous, and having emotional breakdowns over Likes on Instagram and interrupted sleep because she is a new mother, was a little over the top. I found myself rolling my eyes, and then decided just to skim her sections, which was the only way I could finish the book. I have read that other reviewers did the same with her sections. The writing was average--which surprised me since this author was a student at Iowa Writers' Workshop--perhaps because English is her 2nd language? She had a great story to tell, but these characters do not do it justice.

[Alexana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I am not the most objective person to review this book since I think every immigrant child from the Soviet Union is starved for tales connecting a no longer existent communist Soviet Union to the modern day world of the West BUT… this shit is still a pretty solid book. I mean, Kuznetsova could have gotten away with way less to make me think this book was worth my time. Just throw the word “kasha“ and the pet name “Sharik“ at me and it will instantly increase the likelihood of a good rating from my side.

“Something Unbelievable“ is the story of Larissa and Natalia - grandmother and granddaughter - trying to find their way in a word that just won‘t give them a f***ing break. Natalia has a new-born daughter and unwelcome house guest to entertain while dealing with the stress of the impending doom of her acting career. Her husband is unable to make her happy and she finds herself intrigued by said house guest - the 28-year-old best friend of her husband. The only human connection Natalia still treasures is the bond to her grandmother who, apart from her baby daughter, is the only blood she has left. Natalia, feeling her grip on this relationship loosening, due to her grandmother‘s old age and the rising probability of her passing away, asks Larissa to tell her the story of her great-great-grandmother‘s suicide on the brink of the end of World War 2.

This book hit right where it hurts. Not gonna lie. Everything in this book felt strangely familiar. A tale I had heard a hundred times before. I think, everyone with relatives from the Soviet Union will feel that way. World War 2 and the generational trauma it brought along is our legacy. Everyone knows of the three years the Nazis had surrounded Leningrad. Everyone knows of the mothers that ate their newborn to survive the never-ending winter of that time. Everyone knows of how Hitler had come till Stalingrad, of how he burnt our countries to the ground, of how every single available resource had to go to the front, leaving everyone else to starve and perish.

The reason why I am not rating this book five stars is because of Natalia herself. I watched her story unfold with horror, asking myself “Is that my future?“. Escapism was not a big thing with this book. From the first page on, it just slapped you hard, called you an idiot and spat in your face. That way you knew it had the Soviet spirit. #StrongAlcoholics.

In general, I just thought the author could have digged a bit deeper, shocked us more, awed us even more. From the material that I got from my family, I know it would have been possible.

Nevertheless, I loved reading this book, feeling right at home amidst all the death and destruction, on one side, and the uselessness and indecisiveness, on the other.

[Karen Axnick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something Unbelievable is a tale told in alternating voices of two women, generations apart. Larissa is an eighty-something grandmother who is facing a move from her family home in Kiev after having lost all of her family but her beloved granddaughter, Natasha, who lives in the United States. Natasha is experiencing her own struggles with a husband preoccupied with work, a newborn infant, her acting career teetering on extinction, and her husband’s deadbeat friend living in their apartment. Through frequent Skype calls, the two women maintain their bond and even strengthen it as Larissa describes her life in exile during WWII. With Hitler’s invasion of Russia, teenage Larissa flees to the mountains with her extended family and their friends only to face near-starvation, disease and untimely death.

I had a bit of trouble getting into the story, but once Larissa began to describe the events during WWII, I was hooked. The author draws upon her own experience of living in Kiev and immigrating to the US as a child, as well as her family’s history. It made the storyline emotionally rich and evocative with all the nuances of relationships strained by the trials of wartime. I felt much more affinity with Larissa than with Natasha, who seemed spoiled and self-absorbed, although she redeems herself somewhat by the end. And speaking of the end, the book leaves off with several unanswered issues left to the reader’s imagination to resolve. Overall, the book explores how life’s circumstances and individual choices can influence generations to come.

My thanks to the author, Random House, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.

[Amanda Rosso · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a full 4 stars and 1/2, if these kind of methods suit you.

Kuznetsova's second novel has broken the levees of my ability to read a book without pausing. This story of two women, a grandmother and a granddaughter, the former recollecting the difficult years of WWII in Kiev, the latter a thirtysomething actress still waiting for her big break, suffering from what it looks like a post partum depression, is also the story of many unsung heroes of the wars past and present, the women that did everything they could to survive, including leaving their familiar homes to risk everything in another, hostile, country.

There is no respite from suffering, in this novel, and yet it is told with so much irony and defiance, pride and dignified bitterness that every single moment of Larissa's struggle in the mountain during the war, and every single disappointing mistake made by Natasha in her attempt to become relevant again, carry the breadth of many other stories: Natasha's mother's, Larissa's own sister's, mother's and grandmother's, a people, starved, killed, deported, scared, and yet able to find solace in Tolstoj and Tsvetaeva, their minds transformed and transfigured by how the war had changed them and their relationship with honour, family, love and survival.

There is everything I love the most in a book: complex women, historical fiction, a contemporary look on womanhood, motherhood, mental suffering and familial ties, and an uncompromised, agile, captivating and powerful storytelling.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something Unbelievable by Maria Kuznetsova is a great novel that alternates points of view and the lives of Granddaughter and Grandmother, Natasha and Larissa respectively, and the similarities (and differences) they experience as women generations apart.

It was fascinating to read the parallels that both women experienced in their lives despite living in completely different times and environments. They may be drastically different, however the hurdles (and joys) of: love, loss, friendship, family, acceptance, forgiveness, and finding one’s purpose, path and self-worth still remains the same. The challenges of being a woman in their respective society continues to bring its challenges.

I feel that by talking about these shared experiences, struggles, and triumphs they found a connection more profound then if they had not forged down this path.

Excellent.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

[Fernanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a multigenerational story about a Ukrainian family beginning on the Russian Revolution, specially during the WWII, going until nowadays in the US. I loved the story from Larissa's point of view. The author is extremely able to create the atmosphere and engage the reader in a historical environment and we are able to see the story unfolding and feel everything that all the characters are feeling. Some points of the story and some characters are simply heartbreaking; I felt so much for 2 side characters, it was so tragic, but so well done. I really liked Larissa's own story and her coming-of-age during a extremely time in her country and for her family; even though she angered me sometimes, I could understand everything she did.
I didn't like Natasha's story that much. I enjoyed her relationship with her grandmother and her struggles with motherhood, but I really didn't like the story with her marriage and everything related to it.
I liked the book very much, but some beats of Natasha's point of view made me not love the book, specially the ending..

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

[James B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the early ebook. I was a big fan of the author’s first novel, Oksanna, Behave! This new one is told by two wonderful narrators: Natasha who lives in NYC with her husband and her newborn daughter. After a wild early twenties, Natasha has settled down, but those old desires are coming back as she tries to resurrect her acting career and can’t stop flirting with one of her husband’s best friends. The other narrator is Larissa, Natasha’s grandmother who lives in Kiev. Natasha gets her grandmother on skype and has her tell her the amazing story of what happened to her family as they were shipped out of Kiev during World War 2, for fear that the German’s would soon be overrunning the city. Her family would almost starve as her father is working in a factory, trying to design and manufacturer a new tank that could turn the tide for the Red Army. This story becomes a way for Natasha to feel closer to family she never knew and cathartic for Larissa to revisit those days one last time.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larissa was born in Kiev, Ukraine and lived through World War II. Her granddaughter, Natasha, is a new mother who is struggling. They have been speaking to each other through the internet. Natasha asks her grandmother to tell her the story of how her grandmother survived World War II.

This book is part historical fiction and part struggling new mom. Natasha sees the struggles her grandmother went through and realizes her struggles may not be so different. This is a though provoking read. It will make you think of your ancestors and what their lives were like. It will also let you know that you are not alone and don't have it so bad.

Thank you to #goodreads, @MariaKuznetsova, and @RandomHouse for a copy of this book.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Ukrainian family story told in two timelines, by grandmother and granddaughter. It's an easy-to-read pageturner, especially the grandmother's retelling of her family's escape to Siberia and the hardships to endure during WWII. The family dynamics are a good mix of interesting and messy, yet feel not fully developed to their potential. Larissa and her sisterly guilt. Natasha and her mother's unlived dreams. The Orlov brothers and that love triangle which wasn't that great that it warranted mysteriously leaving out paternity details from the list of characters at the beginning of the book. Still, it was very enjoyable. Even if it is another one of those, where I am disappointed because it feels it could have been more.

[Megan Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gorgeous sophomore novel from Maria Kuznetsova has all the heart and humor of her first book, Oksana, Behave!, and also embraces a daring structure and doesn't shy away from digging deep into the murky, complicated, feelings of three generations of women. I couldn't put this book down. I literally gasped at parts, laughed out loud to others, couldn't stop reading lines aloud to my whoever was in the room with me. I gobbled this fabulous book up in just a few days. It reminds me of Sloane Crosley at times, but Kuznetsova also feels like no other writer writing today. Can't wait for her next book!

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The one bright light in Natasha's life right now is her 90 year old grandmother Larissa. She's a new mother who is struggling to find a role - both literally and figuratively- as well as coping with her husband and his friend Stas who is living with them in their cramped apartment. Larissa, who currently lives in Kiev, tells Natasha her story, the story of their family, over Skype. It's an amazing one which rockets from the Revolution to today but her voice comes through most strongly during WWII and the years immediately after. This could have been a huge long book but Kuznetsova has compressed the saga to its essence. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

[Leigh Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure I like any of the characters much, though their lives and stories are pretty interesting. I like the author's writing style. The foreshadowing and parallelism are great.

I am a little bothered by the characters casual and/or insulting statements of homophobia, antisemitism, victim-blaming (examples: Larissa derisively thinking of Stas as a feminine homosexual; Natasha's writing and putting on a "comedy" play of a Hassidic pedophile; and young Larissa resents and blames Bogdan aged 15 for selling his body to bring her family a little extra food). Although the victim-blaming I reference eases up later in the novel, it still bothers me that it was never really resolved.

[Dynah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It is often lighthearted/comical but deals with some horrifying circumstances, so it felt like it really snuck up on me when we find out the grandmother's family has to eat a beloved cat to survive, a teenage boy is trading sex with adult women for food for his family, and a character throws herself in front of a train.

I was shocked when the ruby necklace from earlier in the story comes back in the end, and that had me wondering why it wasn't hinted at earlier that it would reappear. Seems like a missed opportunity, unless it was on purpose for some reason.

[Sherwestonstec · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this wonderful book. I love this author's style of writing. It is mostly the stories of Larissa and her granddaughter Natasha. From the book jacket "Something Unbelievable explores with piercing wit and tender feeling just how much our circumstances shape our lives and what we pass on to the younger generations, willingly or not." Larissa's story is the one of her family's struggles during WW2 in war torn Ukraine, she was a teenager then. Natasha's story is one of being a new mom and an aspiring actress in New York City. She talks to her Grandmother on Skype and gets her family's story that way. It is a wonderful read, I highly recommend it.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working so hard on getting through some older titles and I'm so happy I picked up SOMETHING UNBELIEABLE when I did. I immediately connected to the story, as one of the main characters has a 6-8 month old daughter, the same age as my Ellie. I so connected with Natasha's struggles, joys, and life juggling with a new baby. Coupled with the other major storyline, Natasha's grandmother finally telling her the story of her family's Soviet wartime escape from the Nazis in Kiev. As we go back and forth between the past and the present, a gorgeous story about family emerges and I just loved this beautiful book.

[Connie Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't really get into the book until the Granddaughter asked her Grandmother about her history. Very interesting about the families of Russian Jews leaving Kiev to the country side to work- avoiding the Nazis invading Russia. Speaks of the hardships they endured. Of how she ended up marrying one of the boys from one of the families they were sharing a house with. Was disappointed with the ending as it just stopped left personal issues the granddaughter had within her family unresolved.