Buy Book "Don’t look back and keep quiet" in Ukrainian

Every new Kidruk novel I’ve ever written, I’ve “gobbled up” in just two or three days, they seemed so interesting and exciting. But unfortunately, not this time. I must say that I barely finished the book, hoping that at least the ending would make up for it. But, as for me, the ending turned out to be secondary, even though it is far from a classic happy ending – and I like that.

What is the reason why I didn’t like the novel by one of the most successful contemporary writers, and one of my favorites? To be honest, there are a number of reasons for this.

First, lately, Kidruk has been notable for his attempts to raise acute social issues in his books. This was noticeable in Cruel Skies, even more so in Look into My Dreams, and in this novel, I believe, it has reached its peak. Of course, I’m not against such topics, and I’m happy to find out the opinion of my favorite author, at least about bullying and other difficulties of adolescence. But it seems to me that in the last two novels, Kidruk went a bit overboard with this, and as a result, very, very little of the mystical thriller remained. Perhaps this was the author’s intention, but still, I, and I think most of his fans, expect mysterious riddles, secret deadly developments of underground laboratories, various scientific theories or assumptions. In short, everything he became famous for in his first novels.

Of course, I understand that the author does not stay in one place-he develops both as a writer and as a person, trying to draw the attention of his readers to difficult social issues. And this is quite good, I would even say that I support Kidruk in this mission. But if in the previous novel, the social component and the mystical secret still divided the book in half, this time there is almost no mysticism as such. What there is, unfortunately, is secondary. Secondary due to the fact that I had already read all this, one way or another, from other authors or watched it in some movies, more than once.

The author did not reveal to me anything new about parallel worlds and the possibilities of traveling through them, and what was written in the book, in my opinion, turned out to be “pulled by the ears,” with all my respect for the writer.

I got the impression that Kidruk himself did not fully understand what he was writing this time: a mystical thriller, a science fiction novel, or perhaps acutely social prose about the life of a bullied teenager. In any case, I won’t criticize the writer too much, because it is his vision of the themes raised in the novel, and his opinion should be respected. But with all that said, I disliked the novel more than I liked it. To me, it has a lot of things mixed in it, and mixed in such proportions that it is not clear what I have read. It seems to be a thriller-but, no, it falls short of a full-fledged thriller. There was a hint of some kind of science fiction, but it never went beyond a hint. It’s a pity, because Kidruk is very good at explaining scientific facts, developing various hypotheses, and

Imagine that we can go to another dimension, space, or world (whatever you want to call it).

You can escape from all your problems, bask in the hot sun, swim in the cool sea, and meet your dead classmate.

Everything can be easily arranged: you get into the elevator, go through a certain order of floors, and on the 5th floor you are met by an incomprehensible creature and escorted to a summer paradise. It’s not hard at all, but the main thing is to NOT look back and keep quiet.

That’s where Mark and his friend Sofia ended up. This is the novel “Don’t Look Back and Don’t Talk” by M. Kidruk.

Mark and his family recently moved into a new building. The boy was interested in science, and his grandfather Arsen helped him with this: he gave him books, did experiments with him, explained everything. He met Sofia by chance, even though they lived in the same house. But it was this meeting that turned their lives upside down.

This is the second book I’ve read by the author. It’s very easy to read. It touches on important topics in our society: bullying, domestic violence, and escapism. I just drowned in this book and swallowed it in 2 evenings. But after reading it, I still had a few questions, not everything became clear. But in general, the book is just wow.

P. S I felt very sorry for the cat. Why did they do this to him?

My rating 4.5/5

I am increasingly pleased with contemporary Ukrainian literature. I cannot call myself a big fan of science fiction, but I love Stephen King. I can safely call Max Kindruk the Ukrainian Stephen King! “Don’t Look Back and Be Silent” is my first acquaintance with the author. I really liked it, although this book is more about teenagers and for teenagers. So, according to the classics of the genre, there is a main character – a smart schoolboy Mark. He is somewhat complex, doesn’t communicate much with his peers, and his family has just moved to a new city. At school, he is loved by his teachers and openly disliked by his peers. Firstly, because of his love of learning, and secondly, because Mark has been close to schoolchildren who have died several times. This creates an aura of mystery around him – some people think that Mark is somehow involved in these mysterious deaths. It’s only natural that he wants to find a place where he feels good.

A chance meeting with his neighbor Sonya will turn into a real friendship. Sonia will also tell Mark a secret about a parallel world that can be accessed from the elevator in the building. We would also like to single out Arsen, Mark’s grandfather. A wise former sailor who knows how to make science interesting and understandable, he will help with everything and is a friend to his grandson.

The plot develops quickly and is written in easy language, so it is easy to read.

The book introduces us to Mark Grozan, a 14-year-old with very high intellectual abilities. While his peers are playing sports, watching movies, and dating girls, Mark is involved in science, reading books, doing experiments with his grandfather, and studying the stars. He is like a black sheep among his peers. One day Mark meets a girl who lives in his entryway, Sonya. Sonya is a typical girl with atypical family problems, but she has absolutely no interest in science. She and Mark have an argument over this and to prove that not everything is subject to science Sonya gives the boy instructions on how to get to the ‘other’ world using the elevator in their building. From then on, their friendship and joint adventures begin. But there’s no magical world with pink unicorns. It’s a Stephen King style dystopian world of the dead, suicide, the scary creature in the elevator, the missing people… The world where the teenagers originally went to hide from the cruel reality turns out to be a not so harmless refuge…

In fact, the end of the book leaves many unanswered questions. Which is surprising, by the way, considering that many of the physical, mathematical and scientific processes were described in great detail by the author before… But the fact remains – although the book has a bold point, but for me it remains with an open ending.

Otherwise, the book hooks. I’m like Sonia not a fan of all things scientific and the exact sciences in general, so long descriptions and mostly ran glimpses) But I think for many it will be informative to read about all these scientific points.

The book touches on many serious and relevant topics. Topics of bullying in school, topics of domestic violence, relationships with the abuser, family priorities, topics of justice, impunity, and more. Just to the point of tears were Mark’s “why did they do this to me, I didn’t do anything to them!” And even the very clever Grandpa Arsen couldn’t give an answer to that question… It’s so sad, but so real when you’re being hounded just for being different from others.

It’s just a shame that the finale is not encouraging and gives you no faith in the best. Mark of course was balancing on the edge himself repeatedly, he couldn’t just leave that world and move on without solving all the problems… I love stories with a concrete ending. And in this story, an uncertain ending doesn’t really fit in.

Following numerous recommendations, I decided to start my acquaintance with Max Kidruck’s work with the book Don’t Look Back and Don’t Talk, and I must say that it is one of the best thrillers I have read recently.

The author introduces us to Mark, a guy in love with the exact sciences, especially physics. Because of his excessive interest in learning, our hero suffers from bullying at school. To me, this is a very important topic to raise, especially in books aimed at a teenage audience. So Mark, of course, doesn’t believe in mysticism or anything supernatural, but this is exactly what he encounters when one day a girl named Sonya tells him about another world. The guy tries to compare it with the laws of physics and explain the mystical world with the help of science, but what price he will have to pay for it later….

The plot is tense and dynamic, the author does not lead us in circles, the only thing I have is a few questions about the ending. In general, I recommend reading it, it’s great for getting to know Max Kidruck, as in my case. Enjoy your reading!