Rebecca's Thoughts

City of Thieves – David Benioff

Goodreads Synopsis: During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.

By turns insightful and funny, thrilling and terrifying, City of Thieves is a gripping, cinematic World War II adventure and an intimate coming-of-age story with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.

I really, really enjoyed reading this book. I am usually not a fan of historical fiction, let alone World War II books, but there was something about this one that I felt incredibly charming. There is something quite sardonic and sarcastic about this book, yet there are very small glimpses of hope scattered through out the book making it special and engaging. Additionally, the scope of this book is quite small, the big quest the hero of the book are trying to complete don’t really have any impact on the Soviet Union or World War II outside of some Colonel having a birthday cake for his daughter. I think this makes the book feel really grounded and endearing.

Its a book about the horrors of war without being gratuitous or grim. Its about family, community, and how relationships can be impacted by war. It’s a small story about people and their interactions with each other and the city they live in. This makes the book special and beautiful.

The characters are the best part of this book and they way they communicate with each other and their environments feels effortless yet very intentional. This makes the book feel grounded in reality and like the characters could be real people. The single POV of the book makes it feel like a running monologue and since we see the city from only Lev’s perspective the setting of the book feels lived in and familiar.