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codexmendoza's review against another edition
2.0
Look maybe it’s my own fault for reading a YA novel, but this book has such a cringey self insert energy. Everyone loves the heroine or secretly is jealous of her so they hurt her. She’s described as a “witchy fey little thing” ad nauseam and given knowledge that outstrips all the blind people around her in addition to being the most special girl in the world due to her mysterious bloodline. Also she can talk to horses. Every supporting character is made more cartoonish and unreasonable in order to burnish her light and it destroys any tension in the story.
Plus points for the unique setting inspired by Russian folktales, but it also means that everything good in this book is built on something created by someone else and underneath the gilt paint, the prose and plotting aren’t terribly interesting. Ultimately, I would rate this higher for the setting, but this book also has this undercurrent of eating disorder romanticism — the heroine starves herself secretly to “save everyone” by feeding the house spirits, self harms for the same reason, and vomits quite a bit. All ostensibly for plot reasons, but it’s as transparent as a tumblr aesthetic blog.
Just because it’s better than the median YA novel doesn’t make it good.
Plus points for the unique setting inspired by Russian folktales, but it also means that everything good in this book is built on something created by someone else and underneath the gilt paint, the prose and plotting aren’t terribly interesting. Ultimately, I would rate this higher for the setting, but this book also has this undercurrent of eating disorder romanticism — the heroine starves herself secretly to “save everyone” by feeding the house spirits, self harms for the same reason, and vomits quite a bit. All ostensibly for plot reasons, but it’s as transparent as a tumblr aesthetic blog.
Just because it’s better than the median YA novel doesn’t make it good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Self harm
sauvageloup's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
a brilliant book that i got through slowly, but through no fault of its own, i think
pros:
- stunning, lyrical, fairytale writing. simple style but really lovely in originality of description and poignant turns of phrase. the story is carried along beautifully, smoothing over time skips.
- the character development was also so good, with Konstantin descending into worse evils, Anna's rise and fall, Vasya growing into her strength while still being fallible, and my favourite, Morozko, of sleep and death. he was cold but fair, human but other, real and not, and i just loved how Arden wrote him.
- i also enjoyed the setting so much, and the historical details too. the afternotes show how much effort Arden put into historical accuracy.
cons:
- maybe a bit slow, which didn't help my lack of reading focus
looking forward to reading book 2, and glad i won't have to leave the characters :)
pros:
- stunning, lyrical, fairytale writing. simple style but really lovely in originality of description and poignant turns of phrase. the story is carried along beautifully, smoothing over time skips.
- the character development was also so good, with Konstantin descending into worse evils, Anna's rise and fall, Vasya growing into her strength while still being fallible, and my favourite, Morozko, of sleep and death. he was cold but fair, human but other, real and not, and i just loved how Arden wrote him.
- i also enjoyed the setting so much, and the historical details too. the afternotes show how much effort Arden put into historical accuracy.
cons:
- maybe a bit slow, which didn't help my lack of reading focus
looking forward to reading book 2, and glad i won't have to leave the characters :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault
warning for eating disorder is really for starvation and struggling to get enough to eat, descriptions of extreme weight loss.