johnlynchbooks's review
4.0
Baba Yaga is new to me, so this was something a bit different than I usually read.
Steele takes his time building characters and setting the mood before diving into the meat and potatoes. Once it gets going, it gets bloody, weird, and good. Steele writes some good scenes here and the characters also feel real, which is a plus. This is the third book I've read by the author, and it's my favorite so far.
With his latest, Steele has written what I consider his best book yet. Pick this one up and give it a spin!
Steele takes his time building characters and setting the mood before diving into the meat and potatoes. Once it gets going, it gets bloody, weird, and good. Steele writes some good scenes here and the characters also feel real, which is a plus. This is the third book I've read by the author, and it's my favorite so far.
With his latest, Steele has written what I consider his best book yet. Pick this one up and give it a spin!
curiosityboughtthebook's review
4.0
Also reviewed on www.curiosityboughtthebook.com
Imagine you are booking a nice weekend getaway without your brother and your best friends. The destination is a beautiful and huge cabin in the Appalachian foothills, and you packed enough food and booze to make this one memorable trip for all. Having recently broken up with your girlfriend, you find out the owner is a drop dead gorgeous woman named Marina. But soon you figure out something isn’t quite right with either Marina nor the house. It might just be that Baba Yaga is now haunting your nearly perfect vacation…
I absolutely breezed through this book. It took me about two days to finish it, which is pretty fast for me. It is highly entertaining and Steele has a way to suck you in straight away.
The book is filled with folklore, drama and gore! It took about the first 40% of the book to get to the good parts, but I rather enjoyed getting to know the characters and getting the gist of the story. I’m a big fan of mystical folklore, and Dire Branches hit the spot!
A big thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
Imagine you are booking a nice weekend getaway without your brother and your best friends. The destination is a beautiful and huge cabin in the Appalachian foothills, and you packed enough food and booze to make this one memorable trip for all. Having recently broken up with your girlfriend, you find out the owner is a drop dead gorgeous woman named Marina. But soon you figure out something isn’t quite right with either Marina nor the house. It might just be that Baba Yaga is now haunting your nearly perfect vacation…
I absolutely breezed through this book. It took me about two days to finish it, which is pretty fast for me. It is highly entertaining and Steele has a way to suck you in straight away.
The book is filled with folklore, drama and gore! It took about the first 40% of the book to get to the good parts, but I rather enjoyed getting to know the characters and getting the gist of the story. I’m a big fan of mystical folklore, and Dire Branches hit the spot!
A big thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
biancarosesmith's review
2.0
I’m afraid this ended up becoming a bit too weird for my liking. I was excited about the premise - Baba Yaga and a group of teens on a boozy weekend in the Appalachian Mountains? Yes please! Unfortunately it wasn’t executed in a way that I enjoyed.
The beginning of the book was promising and engaging. I flew through and enjoyed the introduction of the setting and characters. It felt like a great set up for an epic read. Then when the cosmic horror elements came in it felt like everything slid into way too weird land. I enjoy cosmic horror but this was too strange for my standards and felt jumbled. Things didn’t seem to make sense which for me still need to even in a cosmic horror story. I just couldn’t buy into it.
This wasn’t for me but maybe it will be for you.
The beginning of the book was promising and engaging. I flew through and enjoyed the introduction of the setting and characters. It felt like a great set up for an epic read. Then when the cosmic horror elements came in it felt like everything slid into way too weird land. I enjoy cosmic horror but this was too strange for my standards and felt jumbled. Things didn’t seem to make sense which for me still need to even in a cosmic horror story. I just couldn’t buy into it.
This wasn’t for me but maybe it will be for you.
lifeofafox's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
2.0
Liked the baba yaga element but my brain just kept me thinking about cabin in the woods and I set felt like I needed more throughout
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, and Violence
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