Lily has recently returned to Russia, where her parents fled when she was a child, to start a new life for herself and rediscover her roots. While she is on her way to work, she runs into a woman on the street who is trying to get rid of her dog. After an unfortunate accident, the two wind up spending a lot of time together, and slowly the woman begins to tell her about her experience with the famous Soviet fighter pilot Natalya Azarova, who disappeared during WWII and was labeled as a probable spy by the Soviet Union. As Lily is drawn into Natalya's mystery, Natalya's lover and wing man from her war days, Valentin Orlov, is investigating the mystery himself, and his story is playing out across the pages of newspapers nationwide. As he discovers a crashed WWII plane in a small village in Russia and Lily learns more about Natalya from the old woman, the mystery behind the most famous fighter pilot in Russia may finally come to light.

I am not interested in Russia in the slightest. It's not a place I can envision myself visiting, I have never really had any interactions with Russians that would make me interested in learning more about their culture or history, and in light of current politics, I'm just not a fan. I had liked Belinda Alexandra's Silver Wattle, however, and thought I may as well give this a try. I was surprised to find myself enjoying it a lot more than I was expecting, but the subject matter still didn't interest me much.

Alexandra has a great way of bringing the past to life and making her characters jump off the page. I appreciate her skills with writing historical fiction and find her characters, plots, style, and pacing to all be top-notch. I look forward to reading another one of her books, but the subject matter of this one just wasn't my cup of tea. If any readers are more interested in Soviet history, this would likely be a rewarding read. As for myself, I think I'll be picking up Tuscan Rose next.

This is the first book I've read by Belinda Alexandra, and won't be the last - it was amazing!! I never wanted to put it down and when I did, I kept thinking about what I had read so far. Even now, two weeks after finishing it the story is still with me. It's been a long time since I've been so enthralled by a book.

Daaaaammnnn.

Now this is what you call a book :"(

Awalnya emang agak slow dan I braced myself not to expect too much from this book. I bought it just because it's not so expensive and I'm so interested with historical fiction novel right now and it sets in Russia too and it has so many glamorous Russian names <3 Tapi baca terus dan terus lama-lama kecantol beneran sama ceritanya T___T It's sooo beautiful yet tragic. Stalin, Nazi, WWII, labour camp, and all the horror T___T Nggak nebak plot twistnya sama sekali, trus setelah lewat setengah buku beneran susah berhenti bacanya karna penasaran. Sampe begadang trus bangun-bangun langsung baca lagi =)) Risetnya detil banget, adegannya diceritain detil tapi ngga terlalu detil yang bikin capek. Agak slow di awal tapi juga tipe slow yang bisa dinikmatin pembaca, bukan yang bikin bosen.
Trus kesel banget sama endingnyaaaa grao, tega bener penulisnya bikin ending gitu :((( It's soooo cloooose, they should have met T ^ T Sama kurang banyak adegan Natasha sama Valentin :(

Pengen rekomenin / pinjemin buku ini ke temen jadinya *cari korban* *...*

I liked learning more about the hardships in Russia and the government under Stalin. And the mending if a broken heart story was beautiful both of them.

Sapphire Skies by Belinda Alexandra is a story about Natalya Azarova, an ace pilot in Stalinist Russia whose plane was shot down by the Germans during World War 2 and who vanished without a trace. The aftermath of Natalya’s crash is clouded by the suspicion that she may have been a traitor who defected to the Germans. When the wreckage of a plane is discovered in 2000 by Natalya’s lover and fellow pilot Valentin Orlov - who has been desperately searching for her since she vanished – a variety of people are drawn together to share their perspectives and to piece together the story of what happened to this controversial national heroine. One of those touched by Natalya’s story is Lily, an Australian visitor in Moscow who is struggling to put her own life back together after a personal tragedy. This book is engaging, an easy read, and full of historical detail. Fans of wartime fiction with a little bit of romance on the side, Russian history, and cats (yes, cats) will definitely enjoy it.
I don't usually read these romanticised, realistic types of books but I really didn't mind this one; the story engaged me and it was well-written. So don't just write it off if these types of books aren't usually for you. :)

This review contains (what could be construed as) spoilers...

This book had everything I love in a story, history, strong female characters, animals, a swoon worthy love story... but it just didn’t do it for me...

I don’t know if I’m a sucker or what but I just sooo wanted it to be a happier ending than it was. I just felt that there was a lot of misery in the book, really, it was pretty bleak, and then the ending was just... ahhhhh I just wish it had’ve ended differently. *sigh*

another great one - this time Russia in WW2 but a parallel story in 2000
looking forward to her next one...i have read all the rest

Loved this one! I think it's up there as her best.