“Imagine that you are a pair of white gloves, Mama would say, pulling one of her gloves between her hands, too far apart. Any stain that falls on you becomes part of the fabric. No matter how much you wash, you will never be pure white again. And if the stain seems to fade on its own, it’s because it’s sunk into the thread; because it’s gone even deeper.”
Kristen Loesch, The Last Russian Doll
Title: The Last Russian Doll
Author: Kristen Loesch
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 406 (Hardcover)
Published: February 17th, 2022
My Rating: ★★★★
Read: 4/5/2023 – 4/9/2023
Review:
With some fairytales, history, dolls, and mystery, this book has a little bit of everything. Mixed together with beautiful writing, The Last Russian Doll is a lovely read.
Rosie’s mother dies, leaving her behind with questions she needs to answer to put her turbulent past to rest. Spanning from the 1910s-1990s, we follow the story of Tonya and her lineage as well as the connections to the dolls that ended up in Rosie’s mother’s possession.
The several points of view threw me off at first. I would have preferred just Rosie’s and Tonya’s as both of their stories were incredibly intriguing. However, there was a benefit of the other perspectives as the book went on. There’s a lot of action which kept the book exciting (which admittedly made it somewhat tricky to keep everything straight). I enjoyed it.
Likes & Dislikes:
What I liked:
- The Russian history.
- The story with the dolls.
- The mysterious tone of the book
- All of the storylines were equally interesting.
What I didn’t like:
- I’m picky about romances involving infidelity.
- A bit difficult to follow.
Afterthoughts:
Though I liked this book a lot, a lot of the fine details of the plot left me between reading sessions. It was strange, and maybe I’ve just been tired, but by the end, I was sort of happy it was over. And yet, there are some greater elements that have definitely stayed. Wasn’t really sure how to rate this one given all this.