Great idea for a book and really well executed. A thoroughly good read. Highly recommended. .

I should have known better to pick up a book about Russian immigrants (because I am one). They rarely appeal to me. Also, the app they are developing seems really odd. This book was just OK.

This book gave an interesting perspective on the American life through the eyes of Russian immigrants. It was interesting to see how these characters view the life in America that is culturally different from their home country.

Vapnyar managed to lighten up the “boring” day-to-day life. I have to say that the plotline is not all tied together, but it’s so rich with emotions. Each character has different views of what makes them happy and the journey of that is what gives the book its depth.

This book was definitely a pleasant surprise and I didn't regret picking this up.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book!

This is the story of 4 Russian immigrants who come to the US and their lives are linked through either love or friendship - although those links change as the book goes on. I never got real into this book - it seemed to have promise and there were parts that I really liked. It was intriguing to read about the perceptions of the US that these immigrants have and their reactions to their new world.

Social media plays a big part in this book as 2 of the main characters are trying to develop an app called Virtual Grave - a way to keep an online connection alive to a person that has died. Fairly creepy. But I did like some of the characters' perceptions of social media in general - how we all put on our best faces to the rest of the world and how fake that feels at the end of the day.

I just had a tough time getting into these characters and caring about what happened to them. None were real likeable