“Chernobyl Prayer” was one of those books that simply took you on an emotional roller-coaster ride while reading it. The collected stories would probably be the most authentic ones you’ll get to read when trying to find the real background stories of people affected by the Chernobyl disaster. With tears of sadness, feeling touched by the stories of loved ones lost, shaking your head in disbelief at the irresponsibility of authorities around that time and also feeling touched by the devotion of people towards their nation, home country and mentality. It’s a story of the people and all the different ways their lives have been changed forever by the accident.

Even though what you read was hard to digest at times, it was impressive how well the author managed to transfer genuine feelings into writing. It definitely is a book that you will remember and it has made it onto my list of absolute favourites.

To me, the best thing an author can accomplish, is for you not only to be enchanted by the story you just got through, but to also want to read more, written by the same person. That has absolutely been the case for me and I’ll surely reach towards other books by Svetlana Alexievich soon.

★★★★★ (5/5)