I was originally interested in this book because I wanted to learn more about Ukraine. While not based on the current war, the author's deep dive into her past does give some good insight into the challenges faced by Ukrainians for decades. The story line is a bit slow and dry at times, and the narration in the audiobook did not hold my interest. Overall it was a decent book, but not a great choice if you're easily distracted when listening to audiobooks (like me)! Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for letting me listen to this audiobook.

"Nothing is more important than family. Even when we fight, we remain a family."

We all have stories that we tell to other people and to ourselves. We know them to be true and they make us who we are. Part of mine is that my great, great grandparents immigrated to America from Ukraine. I know y'all didn't come here to read about me, but here is the reason that I wanted to read this book.

"The past could hold pain and beauty"

Despite the fact that it is part of my internal story, I don't know that much about my great, great grandparents. The Rooster House shed a lot of light on the reasons that they may have chosen to immigrate to America, but it also underscored how hopeless it can feel to be confronted with a mystery within your ancestry and know that anybody who would have been able to give you some context is gone. I wish I had asked more questions while I had the chance.

"I kept hoping you would find nothing, and give up. I underestimated how important it was to know the truth, whatever that truth might be. Once I came to this realization, I only hoped that the truth wouldn't harm you."

I think that Victoria Belim did a beautiful job telling her story. She persisted in her research even when her truth refused to be found; even in the face of dead ends, and even though she was met with so much resistance. She didn't give up or allow herself to be turned away, and I got to read this book because of it.

"When they aren't told, the stories of painful events turn into black holes that devour everything around them. The traumas can't be seen, but the gravity surrounding them becomes so strong that it absorbs everything in its proximity."

I think that what the author has done in writing this book is very important. I think it's important to talk about our history and I'm grateful that she shared hers with me. I am going to be thinking about this book for a long time.

Thank you to netgalley for the audiobook.

4 stars

A touching and educational memoir about a Ukrainian-American woman who returns to her childhood village as an adult intent on seeking answers about her family past. I highly recommend this book!

[What I liked:]

•This is a beautifully written & heartfelt book. I enjoyed the writer’s stories about her childhood, her various relatives, & her family history. I also enjoyed hearing about her travels in the Ukrainian countryside as an adult, working with her grandma in the cherry orchard, & becoming a volunteer archivist.

•This is not meant to be a comprehensive textbook or anything, but reading this memoir is still a good way to learn more about Ukraine’s culture and history, & some of the issues underlying the current war with Russia.

•I loved learning about the traditional textiles, embroidery, and preservation!


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•No complaints, this is a somewhat sad but very beautiful book!

CW: murder, suicide, terminal illness, torture, racism/ethnic violence, sexism, war, famine

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I happily read family genealogy stories and this one from Ukraine highlights the challenge of tracing ancestors through the nightmare that was Stalinist and Soviet Russia. Is Grandma a little grumpy about the narrator digging into family history? Yes, but she is also the glue which brings the story together. I learned so much about Ukraine and my heart breaks for the people of the country as they struggle through the current war.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for this audio ARC!

This memoir follows Victoria Belim as she reconnects with her Ukrainian family, as she investigates into some of her family's history. This book was in the final editing process while the current conflict in Ukraine began.

I was very excited to read this book, as one of my best friends is the child of a Ukrainian immigrant. My favorite parts were the parts that didn't come from Belim herself but from her family. I loved hearing the stories of her grandmother, and the results of her investigation into her great uncle who went missing in the thirties. I came into this book with little to no knowledge of Ukraine's history, and I was excited to learn about it through her family's experiences.

That all being said, I received this book in audio format, and it struggled to keep my interest. This book is not necessarily written as one interconnecting story, and so it seemed easy for my mind to drift off and come back without being overly confused. The narration was really well done, so I don't have a real reason for why it didn't work for me in this format. Others may have a different experience.

Overall, I would recommend this book to people who enjoy memoirs and are interested in learning about Ukrainian history and culture.

I listened to the audio version of this book. Highly recommend this especially if you would like to hear one families story of their Ukranian experience. The politics are convoluted and at times they almost tear the family apart. There were times I forgot this was a memoir because of the fabulous writing that moved the story at a fast cruise. As an audio book there were a few times that time jumps were harder to figure out.
Thank you to #Netgalley and the publisher #harrynabrams for the ARC. This review is my own thoughts.

I picked up The Rooster House hoping for a better understanding of Ukraine. While this book is not centered on the current war, it’s a personal window into the country’s complicated past. On her visit home to Ukraine, the author investigates a mystery in her own family, one that shows how the history and tensions in the country at large affects families and generations to come. I listened to the audio version and found my attention drifting more than I’d like to admit. The narrative lacks a strong forward thrust, but this is a beautifully written story on an important topic. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent memoir that allowed me to catch a glimpse of Ukrainian culture, to gain a little more understanding about its history and politics. It's also very much a story of family and a sense of home. Beautifully written and narrated.

This is a real-life story of a Ukranian survivor. One that made difficult choices in life and brings to you the unmasked pictures of reality. A deep delving behind the scenes of people who lived through to tell the tale. In this case, the author narrates her tale of leaving her homeland behind to settle in a new place and later coming back in a quench to better understand herself by correlating through her lineage. Which feels like swiping your fingers on an object covered with ashes of war and grief. You only get to see the health of the underlying object once you have swapped through the layer of dust.

It was indeed emotional and heartbreaking but for most of the part felt so real, I wasn't sure if I was just reading it or reliving some sort of memories. Needless to say, the book is highly audience specific so jump into it keeping the disclaimers in mind.

Genre: #nonfiction #memoir #multicultural

Thankyou @netgalley @abramsbooks and @boisdejasmin the ARC

I absolutely LOVED this memoir! There's history, memories, culture, intrigue, a bit of a mystery, and plenty of emotion. This is a deeply intimate look at the history of Ukraine over the last 100 years and the often-devastating impacts on its people. Despite the dark themes, this story is sparkling with sly humor and unforgettable characters. Belim flawlessly weaves her personal tale with the historical account, and I found myself riveted the entire time.

I highly recommend listening to the audio version, as the narrator does an excellent job of bringing the reader "into" the Eastern European locales. Thank you to Victoria Belim, Abrams Press, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy.

4.5

This is a very emotional story of one family's experience in Ukraine dating back to the 1930s when an uncle of the author disappeared, along with hundreds of thousands of other during Stalin's reign of terror. The memoir is Victoria Belim's long and difficult search into exactly what happened and also to understand what caused her own father to take his life many years later.

This memoir gives you a truly terrifying insight into exactly how difficult it was to live during those times and, indeed, much more recent periods of Soviet rule in Ukraine. It certainly gives you a good look at the resilience and bravery of those still battling the Russians today.

When I think of how little it takes to upset our equilibrium here in the UK (a lack of petrol for a few days, no tomatoes for a week, the Internet crashed for 24 hours) you begin to realise just how very little we understand about Ukrainian mentality and it certainly made me aware of how tough these people truly are. If Zelensky says they will win then it'd be a brave person who would bet against them.

I found this a fascinating look at life in one small part of Ukraine and its people. I knocked off half a star because there were times that the narrator's Russian accent became quite difficult to understand.

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone interested in current or past Ukrainian history or even someone who is interested in any foreign political history.

Thankyou to Netgalley for the ARC audio version of this book.

After reading about Belim's family and the turmoil and tension caused by the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia, it is heartbreaking to think what her family and so many other families like hers must be enduring with the renewed conflict and current ongoing war. The book helped me understand the history of the region. It is interesting to learn how there can be division among family members over how to view the history and the politics of the region to the extent that even basic facts are under dispute (for example, different views on the cause and effect of the 1932-33 famine that killed 4 million Ukranians) and Belim touches on this when she mentions the tensions that arose between her and her uncle Vladimer whenever they spoke of the current events or the history between Ukraine and Russia. I appreciated this chance to read about the life of someone from a country that has been on my mind often and from a very local and personal perspective.

Victoria Belim shares a deeply personal portrait of Ukraine in her memoir. From the great famine of the 1930s through the Crimea Invasion of 2014, the author shares the stories of generations of her family who endured much hardship under the ever-present Russian-Ukraine struggles.

Belim was born in Ukraine and lived there 15 years before immigrating to the US and later Belgium. In 2014 she revisits Ukraine, spending time with her grandmother, experiencing everyday life, while also doing a deep dive into her great-grandparents history of the 1930s.

This heartfelt exploration, while a bit slow-moving at times, is intimate and introspective. Belim is a journalist, and she covers a lot of material to pull together all the threads of her family, Ukranian history, and Ukranian life. So it requires a bit of patience in the beginning until it becomes clearer how all the family members fit together, and for each of their stories to be told.

Overall it’s a powerful illustration of the enduring impact of the centuries-long efforts of Russians to dominate this country. While much of the history is sad and complex, the resilience of Ukranians is inspiring.

The audiobook was expertly narrated by Amrita Acharia, an actress of Nepalese-Ukranian origins. Acharia speaks Ukranian, Russian, English (and Norwegian), so her voices/accents for the characters were distinct, authentic, and added dimension. Her voice was soothing to listen to which I appreciated, but a few times I had to pull my attention back to the story when it would drift.

Thank you to Netgalley and Recorded Books for the arc audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I am so thankful to RB Media, Victoria Belim, and NetGalley for sending me audiobook access to this genuine treat of a memoir that is The Rooster House. I really enjoy eastern European narratives, as that's my heritage as well, and it's nice to know we aren't isolated in our origins as we pursue a life going forward.