Her every “Wait!” is met with “I can’t!” and her every “No, stop” is met with, “No, tell me you love me.” This scene alone contributes so much to the toxic atmosphere of rape culture, and what’s even more disgusting is that Tatiana is deprived of having any sort of substantial inner monologue that would indicate that these unwanted advances are wrong. The first time they have sex-mind you, Tatiana’s first time ever-the entire scene is loaded with dialogue in which Tatiana tells him to stop and wait because she’s anxious and hesitant, whereas he is insistent and insensitive.

He controlled who she talked to, and banned her from being with others because he was supposed to be the most important person in her life. He decided where she went, who she visited, how long they would be there. He controlled every aspect of their relationship. I figured that once he and Tatiana’s sister broke up, an actually healthy relationship would form.Īlexander turned into a tyrant. It was disturbing, but not entirely unheard of for young women at that time. All this, and he is 22 while she’s merely 17. He dated her sister yet got mad when she gave attention to any other boys other than him. He would always tell her what to do, and threaten her if she were to disobey his orders. When he comes over to dine with her family, he always insists that she be the one to serve him tea. The first time they meet, he follows her onto a bus, and when she refuses to get off at her stop, he continues to stay on the bus, watching her. Throughout the first 500 pages of this book, I would sometimes think to myself, “Eh, he’s kinda horrible for doing that, but it was the 1940s, so what can I say.” There were little things that I let slide. An obscenely controlling rapist framed as a love interest. Which brings me to how this book is such a trashfire.Īlexander is the worst. It’s so gruesome, and I think it works great as a book about war rather than a book about romance. However, the atmosphere of the book and the starvation and sickness that the characters endured was so tangible that it was almost unbearable to read at certain points.

The setting is excruciatingly real and well-done, provided that I’m not an expert on Russian WWII history and can’t vouch for the historical accuracy. The first 500 pages of this book set up to be a 3-4 star book. See my original Twitter thread for live reactions/extended thoughts: TW// rape, sexual abusive, violence, controlling partners, domestic abuse, suicide mention

Tatiana the bronze horseman