so to start out, this book is insanely horny. i get that the story centers 2 young men but it got to the point where it felt like every chapter would have a mention of sex/jerking off/naked women/etc. go to be pretty annoying. vika shows up and they probably talk more about wanting to know if she has boobs or is flat chested more than they talk about anything else to do with her. other than that i enjoyed the story. even though it was dark and the setting is grim, the writer brought a sort of light heartedness that was needed. having an optimistic character like kolya to be the opposite of the pessimistic lev was a good idea. there almost needed to be a suspension of disbelief that these two could go on this crazy mission with barely a scratch. that’s why the end to me felt very lazy. like a cheap grab for emotion right at the end. would have been a more interesting and consistent story if the author didn’t make that choice. i’m sure there’s some sort of convoluted metaphor there that i don’t really feel like taking the time to figure out. 

It seems like everyone gives this book a 4 star or higher, so I'm wondering what I missed. The over arching plot about stealing eggs is meh, but once our characters get outside Leningrad, then things get more interesting. The relationship between the two main characters is sweet, and they have a great bromance; Kolya's optimism and liveliness is a treat.

What really detracts from the story here is this 17 year old male virgin gaze. There is just too much of an obsession on getting a woman naked in these pages. Of course I'm aware that this is very accurate to how young men think and behave, but I don't want to read it for 250 pages. I'm also aware that this sort of humor is used by the characters as a coping mechanism for dealing with all the tragic things they are experiencing, but I still wish it had been handled differently. Just not my cup of tea.