Reviews with content warning for War - Thistlefoot

'Thistlefoot' by GennaRose Nethercott is a wonderful folklore filled novel that touches on the power of stories, memory, and community.
Bellatine and Isaac Yaga have been forging their own lives. Bellatine finds comfort in creating things out of wood while Isaac uses his ability to slip into other people's mannerisms to busk. They are brought back together when a package arrives, an inheritance from one of their family members. The inheritance in question, a house with legs. As the house starts to bring them together, it also has an enemy who has followed it to America and wishes to see it destroyed. The Yaga siblings will have to band together, pull from their family's history, and believe in one another to take down this threat.
This book is absolutely fantastic. Nethercott has created a collection of complex characters that are both easy to care for and ones that are easily frustrating in ways that feel uniquely human. This is also a story stuffed to the brim with folklore. It is told not only through the eyes of Bellatine and Isaac but also from the point of view of the house, which I absolutely loved. At the heart of this story are so many important lessons. How violence creates a lasting memory. The power and resilience of community. How stories live on. Between beautiful prose, folklore and fantastical elements, and complex characters, this is a special story. I'll definitely be checking out what Nethercott writes next because they brought something unique and magical to this story.

Content Warnings

thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you'd told me a week before I read Thistlefoot that an Americana horror novel was going to be my new favorite book, I'd have thought you were out of your mind. But here we are, almost 450 pages later, and this book is all I've thought about since I first opened it.

Content Warnings

megold12's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Nethercott is a masterful storyteller in this book. I always love books about storytelling or the power of myths, legends, history, and folklore. This book was a masterful combination of history and mystic. It’s been a while since one book has made me so utterly sad in one moment and so hopeful and joyous in another. There is a lot of very dark and difficult topics covered, but I feel Nethercott weaves these important aspects of the story in with the magic and myth well. I still felt the full weight of the painful and horrific history.

Content Warnings

sneaky_snake22's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is a beautiful tale. It weaves together the past, present, magic and reality in a way that draws the reader in further and further. You learn and grow with the characters and understand how a past that seems so far removed from ourselves is connected and ingrained. It's a story that inspires you to connect and remember those that are struggling today. The main takeaway is that storytelling ensures those that are physically lost to us are never forgotten, that no matter the atrocities that occur, by remembering and telling the stories of those that lived, we can beat the hatred and darkness. And that by remembering the past, we can heal ourselves.

Content Warnings

ehrycyna's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense

4.75

Content Warnings

uniquelymace's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

darla78's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

More...