A great YA or entry level read about the 2022’s Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of a displaced teenage girl who uses Instagram just like the rest of us. Despite being British, I didn’t know much about the Homes for Ukraine scheme but thought the novel was a balanced account of the difficulties faced by the Ukrainian refugees forced to leave their homes and move countries looking for safety - like so many refugees around the world. 3.5 stars rounded up

This was a fantastic read and one that I will be recommending in my classroom. Not only does it highlight the terrifying worries of a Ukrainian family who have found safety in Britain but the protagonist is very relatable for young readers experiencing first love, friendship issues and sibling tensions. A great book for teaching empathy and compassion.

I chose to read this book, because, although I’ve seen news about Ukraine I online frequently for almost 2 years, I really had no idea what it was like there. I have a better feel for the war after reading it, but if I had realized it was a young adult love story, I would not have chosen it. The description of the physical aspect of the romances didn’t go any further than holding hands, hugging and kissing, but I did not enjoy reading about people in their mid teens being so wrapped up with boyfriends and girlfriends. I did find it quite interesting to see Kat learning to deal with her PTSD and the whole family learning to live with the consequences of the war.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

9 a fantastic book. Told from the POV of Kat, a Ukrainian refugee who narrowly escaped death at the beginning of the war with Germany, this book perfectly highlights the struggles and ongoing emotional upheaval that thousands of Ukrainians are going through daily. The tales of loss, separation and prejudice is a perfect educational tool to give young people an insight into what is happening in the world.

Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read this story

On the 24th of February 2022, the lives of Katheryno, her family, and many other Ukrainians, take a drastic turn.

Inspired by the true events of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Seven Million Sunflowers follows 15 year-old Katheryno, her mum, and older brother, as they flee Ukraine to seek shelter in England while her father stays behind to fight in the army. Struggling to fit in to their new reality, Katheryno has to balance processing recent events and finding a new life away from the war.

This book does well in making the reader empathise with the struggles of our main character, walking the line of struggles caused by the war and struggles of a normal teenager. It did feel quite light given the circumstances though, so the reader is not to expect very heavy descriptions in this book.

Having followed the unfolding of events from the news, I was first intrigued by this book to read about the Ukrainian experience in fiction. The relationships of our main character with her family and others felt real, but without being too heart-wrenching. All in all, a good book for those interested in YA with inspiration on current events.

The formatting on Kindle is not optimal, but the reading experience on the Kindle app for mobile was good, so hopefully they can fix the former before release.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kat lived an uneventful life in Kharkiv until the night of 24th February 2022 when a huge explosion resulted in her bed disappearing from beneath her and the floor falling in with Kat desperately hanging on to save herself. The Russians had invaded Ukraine and Kat’s family home took a direct hit.
The family were lucky to all survive and after moving around within Ukraine from relative to relative they made the decision to leave having been sponsored by a British family who provided a home for them. But Kat’s father had to stay behind to fight. Her brother Marko also wanted to fight. But at 17 he was not considered old enough.
The Hawkins at first seemed welcoming. Georgia, who was the same age as Kat, was happy to be friends. But 2 families living together began to take its toll on relationships as Marko was not the tidiest of people and when Georgia and Marko became closer her parents worried.
Kat also fell for a boy she met at a party and whilst things went well at first, a major hurdle was encountered which threatened her happiness.
This is likely to be the story of many families, exiled from Ukraine and struggling to adjust to different expectation in new households and will help readers from elsewhere understand what ordinary Ukrainians are experiencing.

This story follows the life of Kat and her family, after the Russian attacks on Ukraine in February 2022. Kat recovers from her physical injuries and moves, with her mum and brother, Marko, to England, where they stay with a host family. Kat's Tato, her dad, must stay behind and fight.

I would say to anyone struggling with the formatting (which is a bit all over the place) or with the way that it is written, like a stream of consciousness by Kat, just keep going! You will get used to it and the story is worth it.

I found the characters to be really well written and some of the issues caused by the formatting, of knowing who was speaking, for example, were not a problem because the characters all had such distinctive voices and personalities.

I also enjoyed how Kat and her brother were still normal teenagers, albeit ones severely affected by their experiences. I felt that a lot of the behaviours of the characters were far more realistic than in a lot of YA books.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley because I was attracted by the title; I'd guessed from that alone that it was about Ukraine. The cover also was eye-catching I thought and when I read the description, I thought it sounded just my sort of thing. I am pro-Ukrainian and a supporter of Zelenskyy and his team; I thought then that this book was a very topical and important read at the moment.

This novel follows what happens to the Kovalenko family after the full-scale war in Ukraine erupted on February 24th 2022. They then travel to England to stay with the Hawkins family; things are not always easy for the Kovalenko family and there are plenty of twists, turns and surprises along the way. Although there there is some romance in this book, it is very subtle; it is more focussed on family dramas than genuine romance.

I really liked Kateryno as a character and I was genuinely concerned for her father on the frontlines. (I won't divulge more than that for fear of spoiling the plot.) I also liked her friendship with Georgia Hawkins and Kat's fraught and tense relationship with her troubled brother, Marko. There are plenty of Ukrainian words used throughout this book (although they are spelt phonetically rather than utilising the Cyrillic script. As someone has a very very basic grasp on Ukrainian, I was very glad to see these words included. I'm actually learning Ukrainian myself now.)

This book is aimed at the younger audience and i think that this serves that purpose well - youngsters will be able to follow what's going on and understand what is actually happening to Ukraine and Ukrainians right now. As an older reader myself, I enjoyed this book too; I've been following the news regarding Ukraine since the war erupted and am glad that a lot of the major occurrences were covered in this book (i.e. Commander-In-Chief Zaluzhnyi's statements regarding the onset of stalemate between the Russians and Ukrainians). I would recommend this book to be read by others no matter the age group.