I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed reading it the plot was interesting and the characters made me want to know more about them. I highly recommend.

This is an unconventional thriller set in the global fertility market, a world completely unknown to me. The details of that world coupled with insights into post-Soviet Ukraine's reality are chilling. These details and insights are what kept me reading. About a quarter of the way through, I admit, I almost gave up. Who was this mysterious 'you' the narrator was addressing? Where were the usual thriller elements I was expecting? Now, upon finishing, I cannot stop thinking of the masterful way this book was plotted. Looking back, I realize that the opening chapters are filled with metaphorical smoking guns, the imports of which are made apparent in later chapters. The narrative moves back and forth in time, building our understanding of the narrator, Olenka, her back story, her motives, her character, her focus. To anyone intrigued by the publisher's synopsis of this book, I recommend you resist entering the novel with set expectations. Give it time. If you're like me, you will learn something, and you will feel something for the narrator, if not outright sympathy, perhaps an instinctive respect. 

[Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my opinion.]

This was a grim little number. I thought it might be but the plot was so interesting, I went for it. Unfortunately, the pace and writing were leaden and despite the interesting, intricate plot, it was hard to stay invested in the story. This is a shame because a book about the Soviet Union, blackmail, medical ethics, egg donation taking place in Scandinavia should be fascinating!

I would give this 3 1/2 stars...this is a fascinating book about the buying and selling of children and the exploitation of women who have the ability to be mothers.. I am not going to write a full review, however, because as much as it was compelling and the writing was stellar, there were moments where I lost time with the book...I felt like the book vacillated back and forth too much, which made me a bit disoriented. That may have been why the plot is convoluted, but it works better oftentimes in movies than in a novel. Also, because I am not familiar with that area of the world-Helsinki-I feel like I would be doing the book an injustice by attempting to be comprehensive. The most I know about Helsinki comes from the movie Night on Earth, back in 1991.. The work is a translation, and sometimes I do catch the translator's diction...she mentions that that may happen before the book begins. A strong work, overall, with a shaky timeline that can be jarring at times.

"He didn't seem to notice that the whole house smelled like Yves Saint Laurent Opium and a strange old woman, a remarkable combination of impending death and luxury."

The blurb for The Dog Park pulled me in immediately. Olenka is a Ukrainian woman living in Helsinki, Finland in 2016. The Olenka of the year 2006 - the one who wore fur coats, lived in a posh apartment, and was on the top of her game in the fertility industry - likely wouldn't recognize the Olenka of 2016 who has taken a tumble from grace and is living her life as a cleaning lady. But no matter - Olenka feels safely hidden from her past life (and past problems) living under an alias in a foreign country. Or at least she did until a blast from her past finds her in a dog park, plops down next to her on a bench, and threatens to expose her. But... expose her for what? What exactly happened a decade ago that would promote Olenka to walk away from everything she knew and loved for this drab life?

When I first started reading this tale I had a hard time grasping why it has less than a four star average on Goodreads, especially given that most of those reviews and ratings are based on the original Finnish version. But as I kept plodding along, I started to understand why all of the reviews weren't exactly glowing. Although the premise and the introduction of the novel are fascinating and well done, the overall execution leaves something to be desired. While the jumps in the story between Ukraine in 2006 and Helsinki in 2016 initially were crisp and clear cut, as the novel wore on they became more muddled and messy. Oksanen throws in snippets from Olenka's childhood, detailed descriptions of political drama in Ukraine, and more side characters than were necessary (and more than my wee brain could easily keep track of). Additionally, the character development was nonexistent. I'm perfectly fine with minimal character development if the story itself is well done (lookin' at you, Stephen King) because the focus of that type of book is on the plot itself. But the plot in The Dog Park is too weak to make up for the lack of interesting characters.

When I first cracked open this book I was dying to find out what Olenka's whole story was. But the closer I got to the conclusion, the less I cared. The fact that the ending was rather lackluster fell right in line with my expectations for it, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Dog Park.

The premise was intriguing but it wasn't what I expected.

It's less a thriller and more a thought provoking novel about struggling for female independence in a patriarchal society in a war torn country; what few opportunities are for women of limited education and means and how our sexist world regards women, fertility and parenthood.

The novel flip flops between present-day Finland and the past in Ukraine as the main character recounts her past, her family, and what led her to her current circumstances.

The main character, Olenka, struggles with the misdeeds and mistakes she's made in her past and when a former client reappears to cause havoc, Olenka realizes her life has come full circle.

The translation is good, though I found some parts of the narrative dragged, like when Olenka described her childhood, her parents, the politics and intrigue, how the supporting characters all related to each other in a direct/indirect way.

I had trouble keeping track of all the characters and their names.

Since I had hoped for some mystery/thriller elements, I definitely didn't care abut Olenka's brief relationship with her boyfriend, who she annoyingly refers to in the second person when she talks about him.

I didn't care about Olenka and Daria, though I sympathized with their plight and understood why they made the choices they did.

This wasn't bad, just not for me.