Scan barcode
bookishbree's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bookie936's review
2.0
loved it as a cold war buff and rusophile, but audible's reader slaughtered her pronunciation. fun although a bit melodramatic and not very bright.
ladytiara's review
4.0
3.5 stars. I enjoyed You Are One of Them very much, although I'm ambivalent about the ending. On the one hand, I liked the ambiguity, but I was also a little frustrated, because it's a mystery without a resolution. Still, it was a really gripping story. I enjoyed the Cold War paranoia of the girls' childhood (although I didn't enjoy it so much when I was actually living it). The first half of the book is set in my neighborhood, so I had lots of "yes, I know exactly what house/street/park/school" she's talking about moments. Obviously, this isn't going to be a major selling point for most readers.
cassandralovesfeta's review
3.0
Great idea, falls a little short in the last 100 pages. The main character lacks some development but it reads well, earning 3 stars.
jmj697mn's review
4.0
Sarah Zuckerman lives in DC. She feels her most defining factor is that she lost her sister when she was very young. This event caused her parents to divorce and her mother to become extremely paranoid. The novel explores the friendship between Sarah and her friend Jennifer Jones who moves to DC from Ohio. Both girls write letters to the Russian president asking for peace, but only Jennifer's letter gets answered. Later, Jennifer and her parents die in a plane crash.....or do they? I tried to savor this book because I truly enjoyed it, but i couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
geisttull's review
3.0
i was enjoying this book - especially the 70s and 80s references. But i didn't like the end. probably didn't help that the audio book stopped one track short of the actual end of the book and it took two days to finally read the last lines. well written - i'd probably read the author's next book.
meredithmegan87's review
3.0
After reading a review from a friend I was nervous to read this book! I was hoping it wasn't too historical and that I'd be able to follow along. Luckily, it was an easy & quick read. I got pulled into the friendship between Jenny and Sarah immediately and it reminded me of my own childhood. I did think that there were details and parts of the book that were unnecessary to the plot of discovering what truly happened to Jenny. When Sarah met Svetlana and some mystery began to unfold is when I got really interested. I don't think the parts about Sarah's life in Russia (parties, work, etc.) were relevant to the ultimate plot at all. Seemed more like filler to take up some chapters. Without any spoilers, I liked the way it ended. Would I recommend it to other readers? Undecided.
jacki_f's review
3.0
In 1982 Washington, two ten year old girls impulsively write letters to Soviet Premier Andropov asking for peace. Sarah and Jennifer are best friends but the friendship is stretched when Jennifer receives a reply complete with an invitation to visit Russia, and Sarah does not. Jennifer becomes a media sensation: she is interviewed on TV and invited on speaking engagements. The two drift apart and then two years later, Jennifer and her family die in a plane crash. Their bodies are never found.
Ten years later, Sarah is about to graduate from college when she receives a letter from Russia. Svetlana met Jennifer when she travelled there in 1982 and hints that Jennifer may still be alive. Sarah decides to travel to Russia to meet Svetlana and to better understand what happened to Jennifer.
This is an unusual book - the synopsis above may suggest it's a thriller or at least a novel of suspense but the story is really about Sarah's internal journey to move past various losses in her life. For a while I was tantalised by the question of whether Jennifer is still alive or not. I feel like I got an answer to that question although another reader may interpret events differently as it remains somewhat ambiguous.
The author has spent time living in Russia and this comes through clearly in the descriptions of Moscow which really bring it to life. I was reminded of the book about Russia entitled: "Nothing is true and everything is possible" - that seems to encapsulate the surreal nature of the city that Sarah arrives in. I admired this book and thought about rating it four stars, but in the end I just didn't like it enough, nor care sufficiently about Sarah and her self absorption.
Ten years later, Sarah is about to graduate from college when she receives a letter from Russia. Svetlana met Jennifer when she travelled there in 1982 and hints that Jennifer may still be alive. Sarah decides to travel to Russia to meet Svetlana and to better understand what happened to Jennifer.
This is an unusual book - the synopsis above may suggest it's a thriller or at least a novel of suspense but the story is really about Sarah's internal journey to move past various losses in her life. For a while I was tantalised by the question of whether Jennifer is still alive or not. I feel like I got an answer to that question although another reader may interpret events differently as it remains somewhat ambiguous.
The author has spent time living in Russia and this comes through clearly in the descriptions of Moscow which really bring it to life. I was reminded of the book about Russia entitled: "Nothing is true and everything is possible" - that seems to encapsulate the surreal nature of the city that Sarah arrives in. I admired this book and thought about rating it four stars, but in the end I just didn't like it enough, nor care sufficiently about Sarah and her self absorption.
erincampbell87's review
2.0
I enjoyed this book, but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. It seemed to be a combination of many things I love, and as a copywriter, I was interested in seeing Elliott Holt's transition into a very different format. Many people assume most copywriters are failed or aspiring novelists working on their manuscripts by night, but the kind of writing demanded by each profession is vastly different. It's definitely evident that this is a first novel because at times it feels very much as if it's staying on the surface level. The characters were stereotypical, and although I read the book quickly, I didn't feel as if I knew them very well. The writing is beautiful and straightforward, which I enjoyed, and which made it a very quick read. But at times it was overly simplistic, and I wanted to delve more into the characters' motivations and emotions. The story is strongest at the beginning, when it builds a beautiful tale of a growing friendship between two young girls who create a sense of safety during a time of uncertainty with each other. Because the young friendship between the two girls is the backdrop and undercurrent throughout the entire book, it does give the story a hint of young adult historical fiction, which is a genre I really loved. I think that's why I expected to like this book a lot more than I did.
To be honest, I was much more interested in Jenny's life as a defector in Russia and her transition into a life of hiding there, rather than in Sarah's quest to find her. The Russian characters, Svetlana and Andrei, seemed almost like throwaways, and the plot points that Svetlana advanced ended a little too abruptly. Most of the reason I gave the book three stars was because the parts when Svetlana led Sarah on tours around Moscow, giving her opinions on American and Russian cultures, were really well done and wryly written. These characters became the most interesting for me, because their analysis of American culture and its impact on post-Cold War Russia could have been further explored, especially with the goldmine of a setting that was a post-Cold War Russian advertising agency. There was so much to be done there! And I wished I would have gotten more. The writing about Moscow, and the creation of the place and time there, is some of the most beautiful and promising writing in the book.
I enjoyed the ambiguous ending and the gradual buildup to a quick reveal, which seemed to mimic the way Sara was able to gradually let Jenny go so she could grow up on her own. But still, the final quarter of the book was rushed in a way that didn't necessarily make it feel natural. It was almost as if the author didn't know what to do once she'd revealed the truth about Jenny. I'll definitely be eager to see more from Elliott Holt, but perhaps because of the huge buildup for this book, I couldn't help but feel a little unfulfilled.
To be honest, I was much more interested in Jenny's life as a defector in Russia and her transition into a life of hiding there, rather than in Sarah's quest to find her. The Russian characters, Svetlana and Andrei, seemed almost like throwaways, and the plot points that Svetlana advanced ended a little too abruptly. Most of the reason I gave the book three stars was because the parts when Svetlana led Sarah on tours around Moscow, giving her opinions on American and Russian cultures, were really well done and wryly written. These characters became the most interesting for me, because their analysis of American culture and its impact on post-Cold War Russia could have been further explored, especially with the goldmine of a setting that was a post-Cold War Russian advertising agency. There was so much to be done there! And I wished I would have gotten more. The writing about Moscow, and the creation of the place and time there, is some of the most beautiful and promising writing in the book.
I enjoyed the ambiguous ending and the gradual buildup to a quick reveal, which seemed to mimic the way Sara was able to gradually let Jenny go so she could grow up on her own. But still, the final quarter of the book was rushed in a way that didn't necessarily make it feel natural. It was almost as if the author didn't know what to do once she'd revealed the truth about Jenny. I'll definitely be eager to see more from Elliott Holt, but perhaps because of the huge buildup for this book, I couldn't help but feel a little unfulfilled.