This is a most unusual and unusually compelling book. The author is Victoria Amelina, a Ukranian novelist and essayist who decided in the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to become a war reporter, documenting war crimes and individual portraits of people (primarily women) affected by the war. Amelina was killed during a Russian air strike before completing the book, but the editors here have taken the extraordinary step of publishing what does exist, making notes throughout but not attempting to fill out Amelina’s prose. The result is a book that contains short essays, incomplete chapters, and many pages that are just notes and statistics. While this naturally make the book hard to follow as a consistent narrative, it is also completely evocative of the fragmented life that Amelina and all Ukranians live under the war.

One of the aspects of this book that hit me hard is that Amelina and many of the people she shares stories about were writers, poets and artists before the war. Some remained artists, documenting the war in whatever way they could, from sculptures to poems. A couple of poems are even included. When we hear stories of war, we don’t often hear about the artists, but as an artist and writer myself, it made the writing feel very close to home. In the process of talking about artists, we also hear some news about museums, libraries, cultural centers and literary festivals affected by the war - news we have not seen in American news coverage. As one writer in the book put it, as long as the writing remains, Ukraine is alive.

The complete writing we have from Amelina is beautiful and descriptive. The statistics show her skill not just as a writer, but as a reporter. Many thanks to the editors of this book for choosing to share this extraordinary work.

Thanks also to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Victoria Amelina’s Looking at Women Looking at War offers a compelling and deeply moving perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This book serves as both a personal journal and a tribute to the resilience of Ukrainian women, weaving together the author’s firsthand experiences with those of other female writers engaged in acts of resistance. These courageous women venture into conflict zones to document atrocities, risking their lives to bear witness to war crimes. The book sheds light on their extraordinary bravery and the harsh realities of living through war in Ukraine.

Tragically, Victoria Amelina was killed before completing the book, leaving it unfinished. The first half is polished and fully developed, while the latter half consists of raw notes and fragmented passages. This structure makes the book a true primary source—authentic and invaluable for understanding the war—but the lack of cohesion in the second half can be challenging to navigate.

The editors did an admirable job organizing Amelina’s journal entries into a readable format, but the brief and disjointed segments in the latter portion reflect the abrupt end to her work. Readers should approach this book with the understanding that it does not offer a traditional narrative arc but instead stands as a testament to the author’s interrupted efforts and the horrors of war.

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an unfiltered, firsthand account of war’s impact, but it is not a conventional or complete story. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

If you read anything about the war in Ukraine, it should be this book. Gathered together from materials written by Victoria Amelina before she was killed by Russia in its horrific war on Ukraine, it chronicles her own life as she shifted from author to war crimes investigator and reporter, and those of her colleagues and friends during the first year of the war. It is devastating and essential to read her accounts of Russian atrocities and Ukrainian resistance, of the actions ordinary people did to save others, of how NGOS operate in the country, of what the world is losing as Russia slaughters children, poets, farmers, writers, scientists, parents, journalists, and others. Read this book, and take action: support the Ukraine any way you can, through donations, through calls to your congresspeople, through activism and raising awareness. Slava Ukraini.

Absolutely heartbreaking but such a well done and extremely important read. What a loss of this woman. This is eye opening and alarming as well.

This book was heartbreaking! It opens one’s eyes to the atrocities which really just make a person sick. How human beings can do this to each other I will never understand. This book is written so well with such honesty and compassion. Everyone should read this book!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley

This book left me deeply moved and forever changed. When I picked it up, I didn’t fully understand the impact it would have on me. Victoria Amelina’s account of Ukraine during the war is raw, haunting, and utterly compelling. It’s not just a story—it’s a primary document, capturing the voices and resilience of ordinary women doing extraordinary things in unimaginable circumstances.

Amelina herself was remarkable—a mother, a writer, and ultimately, a war crimes researcher who dedicated her final days to uncovering the truth. Her portraits of women like Evgenia, Oleksandra, and Yulia are unforgettable, showing their courage and humanity as they navigated the horrors of war. The book’s blend of finished chapters and raw notes adds a unique immediacy, making it feel like you’re reading history as it unfolds.

Knowing that Amelina died tragically before finishing this manuscript adds a weight that’s impossible to ignore. The abruptness of the ending feels devastatingly fitting—it mirrors the unpredictability and senselessness of war. Despite being incomplete, or perhaps because of it, the book feels even more powerful.

I can’t recommend this book enough to anyone interested in current events, history, or the untold stories of women in war. It’s not an easy read—it’s emotional and heartbreaking—but it’s so important. Amelina’s voice deserves to be heard, and her work is a gift to the world.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Victoria Amelina was a talented Ukrainian literary writer. Her work was award-winning, and she started a literary festival. Life changed forever for Victoria and her son on February 24, 2022, and she used the power of her words to become a war crimes researcher. She then began drafting her war diary into this book, a chronicle of extraordinary women like herself who joined the resistance. The first section was completed before her death in July 2023, one of the victims of a cruise missile strike that hit a restaurant. The second section of the book consists of unfinished notes, paragraphs and materials, without context in many cases.

These are powerful stories of incredible people enduring the unthinkable. At first, I was detached from the fragments of the second part of the book, but then it struck me that this disconnect is precisely what those living in Ukraine feel every minute of the day and night. In a strange way, it made sense.

There are many stories of fighting with bravery and courage, as well as inhumanity of living through this war. These aren’t stories you will soon forget, and the question of what justice looks like is explored.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

4.5 rounded up
Well written and very timely. It was hard to read a lot of this. I can't imagine living through it. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This was a tough book to read for a few reasons, but I am glad it is going to be published even though it is essentially a draft of what the author was working on at the time of her death. I think it will be important to future generations to have testimonies like the one this book offers, so I am grateful that the author took on writing as a vocation. It was helpful to have a map and a search engine out while I was reading to look up some of the events and places that are mentioned.
Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title.

Detailed accounts about life in the Ukraine as the war rages on, The author focuses on women active in the
resistance and how their lives changed. Abductions amd murder are detailed as well as Ukrainian children
being taken from their families and sent to Russia. The author photographed the destruction of Ukraine as well
recording testimonies of survivors and witnesses to the atrocities. Unfortunately the author died from injuries
from a missile attack.
#LookingatWomenLookiingatWar #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Victoria was living the dream until her country was being attacked. She decided to document the women she saw during this war. This book was an emotional read

Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary
Thank you to St. Martins Group and Net Galley for this review copy of an amazing memoir of Victoria Amelina set during the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian conflict. Amelina began her research, wrote several complete and informative chapters before her death as a result of a bombing. Her notes, chapter fragments and completed chapters gathered together resulted in this book.
The incomplete paragraphs and sentences are a stark reminder of an unfinished life. The content records current history on average people, some of whom might have influenced Ukrainian history and culture. The people try to life life as normal while acknowledging the war; Amelina carried a backpack go-bag most places, people hid personal valuables to save from the bombings, and friends and family met at restaurants and homes as normally as possible.
The writing style is as readable as a fictional story but the content is all too real.
Highly recommended to any reader interested in current affairs and the daily frustrations a war brings to average women. It is both sad and uplifting.

This is worth reading alone on the merit of its first person, boots on the ground access and perspective on the war in the Ukraine. The book is only bolstered with the fact that its author was killed while writing it, and it was published unfinished, exactly as the author left it. I found it almost more impactful in it's in-process form; I felt like I was almost reading in the present tense and was entirely caught off guard by the abrupt ending, despite understanding that it was coming from page one.

There's not much more to say other than this is a great first-person account of a war that you hear about on the news but can hardly imagine, even if you're actively paying attention. It's absolutely essential to understanding the conflict, and forces the reader to confront the regular people who are caught in the crossfire. Victoria is an author, and an accomplished one at that, but she's also a mother and a person whose life was ended because of forces out of her control.

Five stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book is timely with Ukraine battling the hostile war against Russia. Victoria Amelina, author of four books, stopped what she was doing to document the struggles of those affected by the severe conditions.

Sadly, on July 1, 2023, her life at 37 ended with a missile that injured 64 people. She died before her war manuscript was completed. However, with some edits, her document is now able to reach a large audience with the harsh truth of what has been happening behind the lines.

This book conveys just how horrible life has been for those scrambling to survive. It reveals how some have evacuated, starved, been captured, beaten and died. It’s a grim picture of what they have endured with fear, pain, hate and torture on their minds and bodies.

In Ukraine, one person said, “My neighbors lost everything but I still have my books.” This puts everything in perspective with what possessions have meaning. They are now in a country with destroyed bridges, museums, libraries, hospitals and a shortage of medical workers.

It’s not an easy book to digest knowing that so many are in the midst of an escapable dire situation. There’s not a phone line where they can ask for help. Ukrainians can stock up on food supplies, water and a generator yet, they know they can still get killed from explosions.

Margaret Atwood’s short introductory gives readers the candid truth of the harsh reality that the Russians have placed on the Ukrainians. It’s an important book and it ends with a meaningful poem. Victoria Amelina said, “Whenever a writer is still being read, it means they are still alive.”

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of February 18, 2025.

Not much to say, yet everything to say. This is a powerful account of a mother, a hero, a writer, and more. I did not know going into it what the book would leave me with. It shakes up your thinking; it makes you want to take action. Well done. Brave. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

fantastic primary source with a lot of detail on the horrific effects of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Due to the tragic death of the author, it is unfinished. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Looking at Women Looking at War by Victoria Amelina is a book with a fascinating premise. The book is the journal of a Ukrainian writer cover her own experiences of the Russian invasion as well as the experiences of other female writers involved in various types of resistance. The brave women described in this book venture into battle zones to record and document war crimes. I learned a lot about these remarkable women and the horrific realities of life in Ukraine.

The author of the book was killed and this book is incomplete. The first part of the book is fully written. However, as the book continues there are many sections of raw notes. This book is a true example of a primary document which is of great value. The editors of the book do a very nice job pulling together journal entries and placing them into a logical order. Nonetheless, the fragmented second half of the book is challenging to follow due to the very short passages.

I recommend this book as an outstanding example of a primary source but readers should know that it does not read like a complete story due to the tragic death of the author.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.