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.