Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Thistlefoot

This book somehow surpassed every expectation I had of it. It was simply wonderful; from the characters to the storytelling to the powerful and important messages it contained. I’d recommend this to anyone and everyone.

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owlieali's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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displacedcactus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I wanted to love this book. I loved the concept, and the opening pages really pulled me in with Nethercott's almost lyrical writing. But y'all, this book is miserable. Sparks of joy are few and far between, quickly moved past so we can focus more on Isaac and Bellatine's intense self-loathing.

I didn't like Isaac at all as a character. I have no time or patience for smarmy men or people who steal from small businesses and others who can ill afford the loss.

Bellatine was a character I could have liked, but she was so closed off that I felt like she was even closed off to me as the reader, and it was hard to connect to her.

A story about hosting a traveling puppet show in Baba Yaga's chicken-legged hut should feel fun and adventurous, even if a dangerous enemy is chasing you. But no fun was to be had.

There is a final, beautiful, hopeful message at the end, but I had a miserable time getting there. I understand why others enjoyed this book, but I was the wrong reader at admittedly the wrong time in my life for something this heavy.

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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

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savvylit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

"There is no such thing as a ghost of the dead. Yet suffering has a way of begging to be remembered. Sometimes, as a story. Sometimes, as a wraith."

Based on the Slavic folktale of Baba Yaga, Thistlefoot is a beautifully written and heartbreaking dark fairytale. The plot and the characters are compelling and not overly fantastical. Isaac and Bellatine are both perfectly imperfect protagonists with unique magical abilities. Thistlefoot, the house, is an enchanting setting AND a dynamic character all on its own. The Longshadow Man is a horrific antagonist. Hubcap, the cat, is the best character and deserved more love. The Duskbreaker Band members are all quite cool and their backstories are the one thing this novel needed to explore in more depth. Winnie is a delight. And Baba Yaga? She was a badass trying her best.

Beyond the deeply memorable characters and plot, the real power of Thistlefoot lies in its exploration of the legacy of suffering and the way that trauma echoes unseen throughout generations. Alongside Isaac and Bellatine, Nethercott invites readers to recognize the power of remembering historical atrocity. If we don't remember, we can't heal. If we don't remember, we can't honor those who have been lost.

This stunning saga is GennaRose Nethercott's debut novel. At first, this fact surprised me given the many achingly gorgeous passages in the novel. However, prior to Thistlefoot, Nethercott was most well-known for her poetry. Additionally, in the acknowledgments, she cites the prose of Angela Carter and Ray Bradbury as inspiration. That inspiration and her clear poetic skill both shine through so vividly in the magical, devastating world that Nethercott has created in Thistlefoot. I won't soon forget the Yaga family story.

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

5.0

Thistlefoot is a story about generational trauma. But - perhaps more importantly - it’s also about the power of storytelling as memory, disruption, and defiance. It’s about the duty of the audience to bear witness. And it’s about the optimism of seeing the world … as it could be.

We follow the estranged Yaga siblings, Bellatine and Isaac. Bellatine is a woodworker struggling to distance herself from a strange power which allows her to bring objects to life. Isaac is a street performer & con artist with a fantastical mimicry skill: he can shift and adapt and truly become another person.

The two are brought together after receiving a mysterious call to pick up an inheritance from a Yaga ancestor: Thistlefoot, a sentient house that walks on chicken legs (and was once inhabited by THE Baba Yaga). But as the siblings use the home to take their family puppet show on the road, they soon discover they’re being chased by the Longshadow Man, an entity with powerful magic and a connection to Thistlefoot’s curious, dark history.

Each POV in Thistlefoot has its own charm. Isaac is cynical, distrustful of bonds and living through manipulation. Bellatine is level-headed and cautious, but lives in constant fear of giving objects life (ironically, her terror around imbuing objects with power … gives them power all the same). And finally, we have Thistlefoot, the cheeky, arrogant, very-Yiddish-sounding voice of the home who stores great depths of knowledge and tells us readers stories as it pleases.

Nethercott has a delightful way of writing for & to the readers. We are chastised and led astray and punched in the gut – but her lyricality and ease of storytelling is absolutely captivating. This was a hard book to put down.

“Trust. It is a meaningless word, precious only to kibitzers who think all business is their business. I reserve the right to lie to you outright and often – and we must always make use of our rights, lest they vanish from neglect.”

A running narrative throughout the book is the constantly shifting tale of the “real” Baba Yaga. Thistlefoot shares story after story before - in one of the final chapters - landing on what is perhaps the “un-storied” truth. But we learn that lying can be the most powerful form of truth-telling, and folktales can shift to adapt to the audience, the moment, and the lesson. If you’ve heard anything about Baba Yaga, it likely contradicts what another person would say. Baba Yaga is the character she needs to be within the story that she has dropped into. And this is how folktales and retellings work: they are transformative and unpredictable.

In Thistlefoot, the characters are resilient. They reclaim their voice through storytelling in response to their ancestral trauma and the hauntings that follow them in modern day. By weaving truth with lies and fantasy, they cement their stories in modern memory. They are honored. They are not forgotten.

Violence and war is cyclical and pervasive. As he chases the siblings and Thistlefoot, Longshadow Man manipulates seemingly ordinary people. Everyone is suggestible; everyone is naive. You can be charmed into optimism or tricked into cruelty (with the knife of fear at your back, pointing to anyone who you perceive as an Other).

As Nethercott writes (through the reflections of Isaac), only some people are remembered in America. Others are turned to dust. These stories are a way to mourn them, to bring them back to life, and to defy erasure.

I think Bellatine’s power of Embering (a fiery warmth she feels as she animates) is also an act of defiance. Trauma lives on in the body; it doesn’t feel safe. Her body has a desperate need for life to continue, to pass on her bloodline, though she doesn’t always consciously understand that.

There is so much more to unpack here, but I’m not going to write an essay - I’d rather you read and experience Thistlefoot for yourself. By saving the stories, we save the people and we save the culture. Bear witness to these stories. Pick up the book yourself.

CW: death & child death, genocide, antisemitism, eugenics, racism, animal death, violence & gun violence, xenophobia, self harm, adult/minor relationship, suicidal thoughts, vomit, drugging

(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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