Over a million people died that winter, most of them from starvation and exposure. And they had no way to get the bodies out. St. Petersburg is not very big. I can't even imagine.

Did you read the sequels? (BTW I have never been more glad to discover a sequel existed in my life, after TBH ending) Personally I thought it could have ended at book 2, but it was nice to see how their lives played out because I got so invested in them.