A War and Justice Diary
With a foreword by Margarite Atwood
Victoria Amelia was writing a novel when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 2022. She became a war crimes researcher and the chronicler of women like herself who joined de resistance. The heroines in this book are a prominent lawyer Evgenia, Yulia a librarian and Olexsandra a Nobel Peace prize winner. Amelia was documenting the war, photographed ruins and recorded testimonies….till June 27th when a Russian cruise missile hit the restaurant where she had stopped for a bite…she died on July 1st at thirty seven….she left behind her unedited notes.
Written by a poet, this book is also a work of literature but foremost a powerful look at courage of resistance.
The first section of her diary was completed before her death and the second section consist of unfinished notes and paragraphs. The second part is very fragmented and very distracting to a point I skipped some passages. Having said this, it doesn’t remove that Amelia was one of Ukraine’s most celebrated young writers and her dairy is very honest and intimate.
It is a difficult read, poignantly detailed on the experiences by many Ukrainians and the atrocities suffered by the population during the conflict, Ms. Amelina brigs us up close to the reality of war.
Most reviewers loved this book well I am an exception for my part I stand on the fence still trying to evaluate my feelings. Not loving it yet not disliking it.
I received this ARC from St- Martin Press via Netgalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it..
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