by Emily Gallo

A Contemporary, Independently Published in 2024, 238 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

I didn’t immediately love the main characters. They both came across as selfish early in the story. When we get another character, I was hopeful things would be different but she’s just as selfish.
Why did we have to bring the mother-in-law to Ukraine? I mean, it’s explained. But why, from an author’s perspective, did we introduce a wife character as if she was one of the main characters and then sideline her to bring in someone else?
As much as I applaud and appreciate a story that takes on the war in Ukraine, it felt odd to do the entire story through the lens of USA citizens on a trip. This left us still unable to really connect with what was happening in those countries.

This brings in a lot of real and current events: the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine being the big ones. It is nice to have these brought front and center in fiction.
The tension of the journey and the chaos that it brings captures your attention and keeps you turning pages. The danger is high for much of this book and you are unable to forget that.
The kindness and compassion of strangers is highlighted again and again in this one. Often, in books about travel nightmares, you find characters someone shouldn’t have trusted. In this book you’ll find plenty of good people. It’s almost enough to restore your faith in humanity.