Foreword Clarion Review (★★★★) 4 STAR GIVEN BY FOREWORD CLARION

This beautifully written and complex story follows decades of historical turmoil.

The Labyrinth of Vukovar by Blanka Raguz is a heart-wrenching book that explores love, loss, education,
dreams, and friendship during modern times of war and peace.

This sweeping saga follows Marta Tomic from her childhood through to adulthood. She grows up in
communist Croatia and Yugoslavia, dreaming of a life as an actress in America, until war comes directly to her
doorstep.

Marta is a very well-written character; she is fleshed out with intricacies and depth, and that development
becomes the novel’s best feature. She seems like a typical girl in the beginning, with infatuations and idealistic
dreams of a lavish life in America. But her character evolves in a fluid and natural way; she becomes
an intelligent and insightful woman who no longer sees the world through rose-colored glasses.

The story is surprising and unfamiliar, and it goes in unexpected, unpredictable directions, making it hard to
put down.

Labyrinth of Vukovar is a beautifully written and complex story that follows decades of historical turmoil.
ALLISON BUTLER (May 22, 2017)

BlueInk Review

Blanka Raguz’s coming-of-age novel follows protagonist Marta from childhood in Tito’s Yugoslavia through young womanhood in war-torn Croatia and beyond.

As she reaches young adulthood, however, Marta finds herself caught up in more urgent events: the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Croatian people’s fight for independence. She falls in love with Goran, a fellow university student and freedom fighter. As she weathers the harsh conditions of wartime, she must endure terrible loss and rely on her inner strength.

The Labyrinth of Vukovar offers a compelling, relatable protagonist in Marta. From her youthful admiration of Scarlett O’Hara, to her resilience during the war, to her pining for a man who is not nearly as interesting as she is, Marta is both believable and sympathetic.

Overall, this is an engaging novel that should appeal to fans of plot-driven literary fiction, with crossover potential for older teens.

Kirkus Indie Review

A young Croatian girl dreams of America in this debut historical novel.

In this book, Raguz tells the story of Marta Tomic, a girl growing up in the Croatian city of Vukovar during the reign of Yugoslavian dictator Josip Tito in the 1970s. Her father loses his job due to his involvement in the Croatian Spring political movement years earlier, and her family is under constant scrutiny because of their Roman Catholic faith and refusal to join the Communist Party. But Marta finds solace in watching American movies and acting in school plays. When she’s chosen to participate in a student exchange program in New York City, she’s overjoyed. She’s even more excited when she meets her host family and finds that the parents have a handsome son, Ian. But even in America, life is not all sunshine and rainbows.

And more conflicts await Marta when she returns to Croatia, as a change in regimes threatens to spark a war between the Communists and the nationalists. Throughout the many changes in her country and her own life, she keeps up her love for and connection to the U.S.—and to one American man in particular—while struggling to cultivate her talent for the theater. The narrative moves along at a quick pace despite the book’s length. Marta makes a sympathetic protagonist, and when she and her loved ones are in danger, it’s easy to care about what happens to them.

An earnest but uneven guide to an oft-overlooked period of Croatian history.