If you've played any fantasy RPGs, you've probably played one in which farmers and shopkeepers are suddenly overrun by menacing orcs, and their homes, farms and livelihoods are destroyed. As the character, you pick up a rusty sword and fight the invaders, which are under orders from some distant evildoer. This is pretty much the situation that unfolded in Ukraine, and several people who have been living through the chaos and destruction tell their stories. They are Anna, Vitaly, Maria, Volodymyr, Yulia, Oleg, Polina, John, Tania.

Some chose to fight in the early days or later. Some chose to flee or stayed at home with family until they had to evacuate. Some came to Ukraine from America to help run a centre for refugees. And one man, who sorted recycling until he could set up his coffee shop, then saw his apartment building smashed by ballistics, did it all again. He noticed people spray painting on the wall opposite his new shop window. This picture of a kid using martial arts to throw a bigger opponent was by an artist, but he'd never heard of Banksy. Now he has. Our world has grown smaller and more connected.

The author, a professor from Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, uses the background of each person to take us through the history of Ukraine, from Cossack horsemen to a thriving grain and materials exporter. We learn about the Soviet-caused famine which killed four million people in the grain basket.

Continued on Goodreads.

It’s a riveting story that choked me up! 


This is the story of a few people who recount the journey of their lives through the war times. Their journey outlines their grit as well as helplessness.
The book will lead you to see how the world easily turns blind and apathetic towards the pain of other people.

How warring nations embark on a journe that turns them into soulless people with cruel political agendas and strategies and ambition to destroy the other. 

For what actually? A set of man-made beliefs? Beliefs which may not thrive even in days to come!


The stories of these people have left an indelible mark on my soul. I pray for their lives ahead and that they find peace in days that are ahead. 

This book has hit my soul with a longing I really don't understand myself.

Gratitude does not come easy! 
Stories like these change your perspectives.

This book is one of those things that have taught me gratitude.  

I am beyond grateful to the author and the people who have shared thier lives with the world through this book.

Indeed war is horrendous!

BY THE SECOND SPRING: SEVEN LIVES AND ONE YEAR OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE by Danielle Leavitt is a unique ground-level look at the conflict from multiple perspectives.

In BY THE SECOND SPRING, the author provides what she promises in the title: seven people's stories of how the war mixes up plans, uproots families and still, within its turmoil and confusion, offers hope for the future. By studying diverse characters- some young, some middle-aged, some of older age - the author finds the feature that brings these people together, which is their love for Ukraine. These individuals could have been the typical representatives of the oppressed minority Vladimir Putin likes to mention: native Russian speakers, many from Eastern and Southern Ukraine, some struggling financially. At the beginning of February 2022, Vitaly opened a coffee shop in Borodyanka near Kyiv. After many years of hard labor, Tania and her husband Viktor, as well as Yulia and her husband Oleg, could finally enjoy relative prosperity. Anna's family had been in survival mode since their escape from Luhansk in 2014. Polina and her husband John lived in LA and were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Maria and Leonid just became parents to David in Mariupol. Nevertheless, none of them supported the intruders, and almost all of them switched to Ukrainian in their everyday lives in protest.

The book's tone in describing the events doesn't rise to the level of pure glorification of the Ukrainian resistance in the face of Russian aggression. On the other hand, the author, being guided by decency and common sense, sometimes softens hatred toward everything Russian that has prevailed in the war depiction.

BY THE SECOND SPRING may also suit those readers who don't want to delve into the Ukrainian-Russian complicated relationship by reading academic books. Intertwined with personal stories come snippets of the historical background, crucial for understanding the current situation.

As the third anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities approaches and ordinary people, overwhelmed with their concerns, are tired of hearing about the war on the news, it is important to remind them that the war isn't only about abstract politics. War doesn't distinguish between the good and the bad people. It may come to anybody. Anytime. Anywhere.

I received an advance review copy through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.