TL;DR: A book that made me physically uncomfortable, Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko kept me hooked even when I didn’t understand what I was reading.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
A girl, Sasha Samokhina, is given a task while on vacation by a man, Farit Kozhennikov, who makes her uncomfortable – swim to the buoy at 4 am, naked, and back. She does this, because she is afraid of him. When she returns to the beach, she throws up gold coins. This begins her journey of control by fear and transcending the reality as we know it.
This book made me so anxious and uncomfortable. I can’t explain it except to say I had an odd tightness in my chest while I read it. And yet, I needed to finish it. I’m not sure how they created a story that gave the reader the same sense as the character, but there you have it. The characters were interesting, the world-building even more, and it had a message that resonated. For all that and more, I gave it 4.5 stars.
The Plot
Sasha Samokhina was finally at the beach, vacationing with her mother. It was everything she wanted it to be, until she noticed a man following her. The man made her uncomfortable and yet her mother noticed nothing wrong. Sasha is powerless to resist him when he gives her an odd task – swim to the buoy at 4 am completely naked. When she completed it, she threw up gold coins.
He continues to ask her to do the morning swim, but tells her if she does not, something terrible will happen to her mom. The one day she fails to wake up on time, and her mom’s new boyfriend has to go to the hospital for an apparent heart attack. Sasha is now trapped by this man and her fear.
He gives her more tasks and when she completes those, he sends her to the Institute of Special Technologies, a school in a small town of Tolpa. There, she learns that our minds can transcend our bodies, if we choose it. But if she fails to complete all the tasks given her, her family will pay the price.
Can Sasha overcome the difficult challenges put before her or will her mother suffer for her failures?
What I liked & liked less
This book is odd and I’ve read a lot of odd things recently. But this takes the cake. First, it’s a translation and I wondered if the clunkiness of the language had to do with that or the original was intentionally written that way (Ukrainian). I’m thinking it was written that way.
I can’t explain it except to say this book made me physically uncomfortable. Not in the traumatic way, but more in the couldn’t sit still, bad things were going to happen, need to push through it kind of way. I didn’t like it and yet I did.
It is also really hard to follow at times. I struggled to understand what was happening at key moments and had to go back to reread passages again. There is a science to this book that is beyond my comprehension to understand.
However, there is also a character arc, and character journeys that are rich and detailed. Sasha has flaws and she continually pushes the limits because of those flaws. The bad guy is still a bad guy and yet he isn’t. The Institute is horrible and yet it isn’t.
I liked Sasha, but I liked her friendships with the others more. I couldn’t understand her drive, which meant there was a small disconnect for me. And maybe that’s what made me uncomfortable. Or maybe it was the premise of the story. I’m not sure.
I liked the way they used the setting to show the hardships they endured to attend the school were ‘normal’, and everything else was not. I liked that not everyone finished – some failed and some succeeded when you didn’t expect them to.
This is a different story than a girl growing up and going to college, and yet that is at the heart of the story as well – life goes on without her. Her mom has a new life, a new husband, a new baby and Sasha doesn’t fit in, especially not after her training.
I didn’t like the ending because I didn’t understand it. That’s not to say it wasn’t good – it was, but it left me confused and wondering just how much of this book I missed. (Apparently, a lot).
To Sum Up (Too Late!)
Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko is an odd, discomfiting book with an interesting premise, a beyond my comprehension world, and a strong story arc and character development. However, even writing this review, I felt the uncomfortable weight of this book pressing on me. I can’t explain it except to say that I want to squirm away from it and throw up at the same time, but can do neither. I’m guessing that’s how Sasha felt as well, which is why I give this book 4.5 stars. I will never read it again, but I am still fascinated by it.
About the Author(s)
Marina and Sergey Dyachenko – co-authors of novels, short fiction, plays and scripts. They primarily write in Russian (and in the past also in Ukrainian) with several novels translated into English and published in the United States. These include, Vita Nostra (2012), The Scar (2012), The Burned Tower (2012), Age of Witches (2014) and Daughter from the dark (2020). The primary genres of their books are modern speculative fiction, fantasy, and literary tales.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice here, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon here.
Originally published on Feedium. This fills in the 2+ Author square on my Fantasy Bingo 2022 card.