Dog Park

I thought this book, originally published in Finnish and newly translated into English, was going to be straightforward literary fiction about the commodification of the female body in post-Soviet Europe. And it's about that, but there are also strong thriller elements, and the story goes in directions I wasn't expecting. I found it interesting and propulsive!

A novel that leaves you right at a cliffhanger, and you can pick your own ending. In a good way. Because everything about this was propulsive, vivid and raw. Part mystery, part grifter story, with a protagonist who's an anti-heroine you want to root for. This is a novel about the downfall of the soviet-union and the many ways its former citizens pull themselves out of the rubble. Drugs and coal mining in Donetsk, modeling in Moscow and Paris, fertility clinics and crime syndicats in Dnipro. Definitely will try to read more by Oksanen.It was quite interesting reading this at the same time as [b:Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia 21413849 Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible The Surreal Heart of the New Russia Peter Pomerantsev https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407196452l/21413849.SY75.jpg 40714614] and and finding a lot of overlap.