Vaclav and Lena.

GoodReads Synopsis: Vaclav and Lena, both the children of Russian émigrés, are at the same time from radically different worlds. While Vaclav's burgeoning love of performing magic is indulged by hard-working parents pursuing the American dream, troubled orphan Lena is caught in a domestic situation no child should suffer through. Taken in as one of her own by Vaclav's big-hearted mother, Lena might finally be able to blossom; in the naive young magician's eyes, she is destined to be his "faithful assistant"...but after a horrific discovery, the two are ripped apart without even a goodbye. Years later, they meet again. But will their past once more conspire to keep them apart? 

My Thoughts: I listened to most of this on audiobook, and I think the author was helped greatly by the narrator.  I loved the first half of this book when the kids are young-- it was very sweet, and I could easily picture their situations.  After the time jump, however, things went downhill even though I really wanted to love the rest of it.  I enjoyed Vaclav's separate story, but Lena's was nothing more than a rambling introspection that occasionally came back around to a plot.  Then when they were finally back together again, everything seemed rushed and outlandish.  I get that Lena was a messed up girl, but she (perhaps unintentionally) manipulated him from beginning to end.  And the final scene was just ridiculous.  This book was less than 300 pages.  Even only 50 more pages would have fleshed out the characters and plot enough to make it worth reading.  Alas...  Three stars (the first half gets four, and the second half gets 1, so I split the middle and rounded up).