Books

Through Adoriana's eyes we see the horrors of war commingled with the "angels" who at crucial moments helped her survive and escape the siege of Mariupol. Her devotion to her dog, Yola - and vice versa - brings a beautiful and uplifting element to this narrative. As expected, reading about the atrocities of war was frightening, but there was something more disturbing than the horrors Adoriana endured underground and the bloody carnage she witnessed on the streets of the city she called home. Once displaced, she was often treated as a pariah because of events over which she had no control. Not only did I see how a sudden turn of events could put me in those torn, blood-splattered boots she wore for weeks on end, I saw how quickly any one of us could become "the other" in a world that largely chooses to ignore, if not denigrate, refugees. This book's smooth, clear prose swiftly carries the reader along and is hard to put down.