I didn't know what to expect from this book. When I picked it up, I didn't want to finish or read it. I thought it was going to be sad and disturbing to read and I was right. It was worse than what I had imagined. These people were treated terribly and in this time period, during World War II, I bet this was exactly what happened. In Between Shades of Gray, we follow Lina's life as she shares with us what had happened to her and her family during World War II. Lina had a great life with her parents and brother, but one day Soviets burst through the door taking everything she loved with them, including her family. Her father was never heard from again and her mother, her brother and herself kept praying that he was alive.The Soviets tried to kill her brother. That very day, Lina realized that her brother's life was worth a pocket watch. Lina and the rest of the Lithuanians are deported across the world into a place where they are suffering from malnutrition, worked hard and do not have a clue as to the whereabouts of their husbands or fathers. The Lithuanians go through terror as they struggled to stay alive. For Lina, she finds hope and love in Andrius who seems to have taken a liking in her. Throughout the novel, Lina hopes that she can stay with Andrius and see her father again.
Lina was a courageous and brave character. I applaud her bravery in many scenes in this novel. She risked her life many times to feed her family and save her self-respect. However, she is more like her mother. Her mother is just as courageous and brave as she, but her mother is more kind and gentle than Lina. All in all, I admire Lina's character for sticking through these tough times. She sets a fine example that any obstacle, no matter how big or small, can be overcome and that love does endure.
What I also liked about the novel is that we get to see Lina's life before and during the war. We also get to read a real live letter from Lina at the end of the novel because the author did write this story based off of a real girl named Lina. We also get to read about the authors origin and how much she researched to bring the stories of what to these people and what they had gone through. This is a work of fiction, but there is a grain of truth behind this novel as well such as Lina, Andrius, and some of the others, but out of all of the people who went through this, Lina's voice broke the silence of history.
I appreciate the author writing this book and I hope she continues to write more. I also hope there is a sequel to this novel as well because I'd love to read what happens to Lina and her brother after that doctor came to help them.
