Set during the final decay of the Soviet Union, this book tells the story of Roman (Romeo) and Yulia (Juliet) as their families are plagued not only by each other, but also the changing political, economic, and social climate of Russia. Roman is worldly and inquisitive and a bit of a romantic, who is swept off his feet by Yulia as he simultaneously comes to terms with the expectation that he will take over his father’s role as the head of the Vory. Yulia, headstrong and cold, is at first unreceptive to Roman’s flattery and grand ideas, but decides to take a risk with him when she realises she will never be able to gain the freedom she seeks in the Vory because of her gender.

I found the narration to be engrossing, although I did find it difficult to differentiate between the many Russian male characters at times.

This book was interesting even beyond the two enigmatic main characters as it exposed the seedy underbelly of the crime, corruption, and capitalist mechanisms of the late USSR turning Russian Republic. Littlell painted a complex portrait of life in this period, and highlighted characters of various backgrounds, status, and ethos to enhance his description of the turning of the century in Russia. Roman in particular is such a compelling character as he walks the line between tradition and modernity, loyalty and survival, family and future. I often found myself forgetting that this book was a Romeo & Juliet retelling as it sets itself so firmly in its own unique setting, perspective, and characterisation. This book is perhaps even more tragic than Shakespeare's text as it recounts the tale of not only two young star-crossed lovers, but of a society corrupted by greed which, readers know, will not be saved in decades to come.

That narrator was dreadfully boring I couldn't listen to it on a fast speed like I normally do due to his accent which I understand but wow was that rough it took away from the story I may like this more if it was in a regular book.

This was a hard read. Very graphic snd brutal, a bit much for my tastes. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook

“An eye for an eye, with interest”.
The tangents to Romeo and Juliet’s star-crossed lovers, similar family names and the 1990’s Russian perspective are all factors that kept me interested. The story was fast paced enough, but as an audiobook you had to pay attention to which family was seeking their revenge during each chapter, May have been easier to follow in print.

I loved every second of this audiobook. I’m an absolute sucker for Shakespeare re-imaginings and this truly hit the spot. Roman and Yulia were such a treat to read about. If you know the story of Romeo and Juliet you know exactly what you’re about to get but it still was fresh and new. The ending is great twist that I didn’t see coming.

My only complaint would be the narrators accents at times were very comical. Like a bad SNL skit of what he thought Russian accents sounded like.

Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the gifted copies and the chance to review it honestly.

I received this book as a physical gifted copy and ab audiobook through NetGalley. I tried to read it as a physical book and unfortunately I couldn’t get in to it, which is why I requested it as an audiobook. It sounded like something I’d enjoy but it missed the mark for me. I will say, I did enjoy the narrator and because of him, I was able to finish the book. Now I don’t think my issue was the story itself, I just always have a love/hate relationship with mafia stories and historical fiction… I just didn’t love this one. It’s a violent one and I think it’s supposed to be a Romeo & Juliet reimagining. As always, please take my opinion with a grain of salt. There are a ton of mixed reviews so you’ll just need to check it out for yourself if it’s on your TBR.

Happy reading

2.5 stars--I was interested in this book because it was described as "a thrilling tale of love and war" set in a period of Russian history that was interesting to me. I also saw reviews that referred to the novel as a Romeo and Juliet retelling during the Moscow turf wars between the Jewish mafia and the Ossete vory v zakone. Sounded like a wonderful book to me!

I wish the author had stuck with just the Moscow turf wars, as the male characters involved had depth and the story of the rivalries was fascinating. The tension between the factions built to a crescendo, giving the reader a true understanding of what was being disputed, and why revenge was being sought. As in any good historical fiction, I learned a bit of history along with reading a good story. The turf wars is what made me stick with the book to the end.

The romance between Roman and Yulia, which shared equal billing with the turf wars in the synopsis, was vapid to the point of distracting from the whole story. The female characters, especially Yulia, were ridiculously simple, and the dialogue between Roman and Yulia was almost silly at times. I didn't get any romantic feelings about their relationship, at all, and felt that the 'romance' added nothing to the story.

I listened to the novel as an audiobook, narrated by Ramiz Monsef. While Monsef did an admirable job attempting Russian accents, and female voices, I would recommend reading a print copy of the book, as the storyline jumps between timelines and character POVs, which is a bit more difficult to follow in audio, I have found.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing-Audiobooks for the audio copy of A Plague on Both Your Houses by Robert Littell. The opinions in this review are my own.

This was such an interesting read!

I always love a twist on Romeo and Juliet, so this one set in Russia is right up my alley. I loved the narration of this book as well. It was well written in general, but the narration just gives that extra intensity to the story.

If you like retellings of Shakespeare, check this book out!

This is just really good writing. The dialogue, especially, is brilliant. It's hard not to feel like I know the people involved in this drama, which is bigger than just a few people
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook. The narrator is amazing!

This is basically a spin on Romeo and Juliet but with early 1990's Russian mobs. It has some unique aspects and plot twist that make the book engaging. I like that Juliet didn't just instantly fall for Romeo and had more agency than the original story. If felt like it was trying to hard at times to make connections and also to insert violence for the sake of it. But if you like and are familiar with Shakespeare you should give it a try. There are allusions to other plays and it is an entertaining read.

Stirring star-crossed lovers into the relatively recent history of post-Soviet Russia makes a tensely exciting recipe for a modern tragedy. Of course we know what fate will ultimately befall Roman and Yulia and, just as in Shakespeare’s work, even as they are moving toward their fate, we hope somehow the ending will be different. Beautifully written and expertly narrated.

A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOJR HOUSES
𝚁𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝙻𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕
February 6, 2024

🌙𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜: This was a fascinating novel. As a GenXer who came of age in the fall of the USSR and a histfic fan I was excited to get the opportunity to read about a piece of time I didn’t know enough about. Although this is a fictional it sent me down the rabbit hole and I learned so much about Russian organized crime after 1990.
Add to this the lovers from the dueling families and *muah*
I also listened to the audiobook, narrated by Ramiz Monsef and his emoting and accent were perfect.

⭐️𝚁𝙸𝚈𝙻:
Russian History
Mafia stories
Romeo & Juliet vibes
Learning new vocabulary

Thank you #partners @bibliolifestyle for including on the tour and @blackstonepublishing for the review copy and for the audiobook on @netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This was an interesting retelling. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I was going to. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. The plot was good. I did like the dual timeline.

This book was an interesting combination of Russian history and a Romeo and Juliet retelling. I am struggling to write a review for this book, just as I struggled to connect with these characters and storyline.

Overall, I felt that the story plot was good. The initial half(ish) of the book is told in dual timeline, and then switches to current timeline only. I usually do not enjoy dual timeline stories, so I was happy when this turned current only.

The one thing that remains with me more than anything is that one mafia boss has a bad nostril that seems to be constantly whistling!

Many other reviewers comment on the way that women are portrayed and described in this book. While I wasn't thrilled with how they were portrayed - there seemed to be a considerable focus on hyper sexualizing them - it didn't stop me from continuing on.

Big kudos go to the narrator, Ramiz Monsef, who did an exceptional job with the narration and especially the accents. Very well performed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advanced listener copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Audio for an audiobook to voluntarily read and honestly review.

A Plague on Both Your Houses is a Romeo and Juliet retelling in the immediate time after Soviet Russia falls and the people are awaiting what comes next. Jewish and Russian mafia rule the streets, promising protection for vulnerable businesses. But can each family protect their clients from the ticking time bomb in their houses?

Roman is Osset (Russian) and Yulia is Jewish. They are forbidden from mingling, but that doesn't stop them. Yulia is a firecracker, an independent spirit who is unafraid of mischief but desperately wants out from under her father's thumb and circle of violence. Roman spent time at university in London and was influenced away from the backwards workings of the Soviet leftovers and mafia violence.

I read Russian classic lit and history, as well as Shakespeare and Shakespeare retellings. I am the absolute ideal reader for this book! With that said, I'm quite shocked by the critical reviews already out for this book. Like in the original Romeo and Juliet, none of the characters are especially likable; the insta-love between R & Y is totally cringe; and the senseless violence is maddening. The ending is tragic, just like the play. In fact, I found that the Russian mafia setting made the competition and hatred much more real than I felt in the original play. It was so believable! And I appreciate the historicity of the setting as well. I liked the mentions of food, places, and culture.

Yulia is particularly unlikeable, but I declare that she isn't meant to be an ideal woman archetype in any sense at all. Like Juliet, like you'd expect from the wealthy daughter of an elite criminal, she's flighty, headstrong, and wants to make her own way. She's no pretty picture of women, and I think it's wrong to accuse the author of misogyny. She's a very consistent character from start to finish. Her backstory and character are well established to explain why she would so easily go with Roman.

I must comment about the ending one more time. It's excellent. I can't spoil it, but I thought the author did great to be to the original while making it his own.

Content warnings: sex is talked about a lot but there isn't anything explicit on the page, exactly, but I still wouldn't recommend this for readers who want something "clean" of sexual content as the way some things are mentioned are graphic. Lots of violence, which should be obvious from the description of the book. Lots of swearing, which again should be obvious.

Regarding the audiobook, I did have to restart it a few times to get my bearings. I usually listen to audio between 2-3x speed, but since this contains so many foreign words spoken in a Russian accent, I had to slow it down to 1.5x. At the beginning, the words like Vory and Osset were hard to place, but once I got it down, I tracked the info just fine. It was excellent though! I would totally listen to this narrator again. And I'm so thankful for a story set in Russia to have had a narrator who told it with a Russian accent after listening to so many classic Russian novels narrated with an English accent (cringe).

A Plague on Both Your Houses is a mix of a Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet filled with Russian history. I really enjoyed the historical facts, though I did wonder how much of it I could rely on as truth, especially some of the more sensational stories that I was not able to verify with a simple internet search. The ending action scenes were my favorite part of the novel, though they were restricted to the very end.
I found the structure at the beginning to be a bit confusing, but the story becomes more linear throughout. My primary reason for the lower rating is due to the portrayal of women. There is a recurring question of whether various women are wearing bras. The first time, it was uncomfortable, but the second and then third times felt egregious. It speaks to a lack of awareness of audience. While this may be historically and/or culturally appropriate (though I question that deeply), it is extremely off-putting for modern audiences.
Overall, this is a best fit for those looking for a novel rich with Russian history and plenty of Shakespearean illusions, while also willing to overlook the flawed presentation of female characters.

A note on the audiobook: The narrator, Ramiz Monsef, did an excellent job of the various British and Russian accents. I enjoyed his narration very much.

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for this advanced copy to review!

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Robert Littell, and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Robert Littell returns with another great piece of historical fiction. Set during and just after the fall of communism in Russia, Littell take the reader on a journey about the struggles and the filling of gaping holes in the country’s political and power changes during ideological instability. Littell has a history of touching on key aspects and pulling the reader into the middle of the action, keeping it raw and fully enthralling. Littell captivates with ease and keeps the reader wondering how things will turn out, when with the knowledge of history’s decisions.

When Mikhail Gorbachev makes a speech on December 25th, 1991, announcing his resignation os the president of the Soviet Union, few take notice. The flag is lowered and the end of a superpower soon follows. In a power and political void, the country intends on reaching for democracy, but the timing is not as smooth as it ought to be. In that void, the Russian mafia sees their opportunity and lays roots to steer power in their direction.

Control of the country soon takes over, as the Jewish mafia seeks to push for its own control of the country. Violence is rife and blood flows freely, all while the people are waiting got democratic solutions to steer them in the right direction. There is no end in sight and people soon worry that this could be worse than the system they recently left behind.

Caught in the middle of it all are two young lovers—Yulia, the daughter of a Jewish mafia leader, and Roman, son of a Russian mafia godfather—seek to rise above it all and make a difference for themselves. However, as sworn enemies, these two will seek a modern-day Romeo and Juliet to seek love. Question remains, will things end any differently than the Bard’s popular play? Littell keeps things sharp as he meanders throughout the great political void and educates the reader at the same time.

Robert Littell is a great writer, whose novels have always left me wondering. I love learning as I read, something that Littell does well as he pushes the narrative along. There is a sense of tension and momentum gain while things limp along in the story itself. Littell flavours things with a variety of angles, using narrative techniques I quite enjoyed. His characters also add something to the story and keep things intense while history marches on.

Plot twists provide entertainment and education throughout, leaving the reader wondering what awaits them, even as history’s keen pathway stands out. There is something well worth the reader’s attention and Littell keeps things relatively realistic, while positing what might have been. I am eager to get my hands on another Littell novel soon, if only to add to my knowledge of the region.

Kudos, Mr. Littell, for your great work