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itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I remember seeing a lot of hype surrounding this book. While I'm not the type to fall for hype after reading the blurb, I came to the conclusion this book wouldn't have the same tired old problems as books that tend to get hyped (glorification of abusive relationships, gender bioessentialism, characters that act like walking tropes) and should give it a go. I was mostly right.
I think if you read books purely for vibes and you enjoy richly described dark fairy tales you'll probably enjoy this boom greatly.
What I liked:
I think if you read books purely for vibes and you enjoy richly described dark fairy tales you'll probably enjoy this boom greatly.
What I liked:
- Vasya was a realistic protagonist who was easy to empathise with. Though set mostly in the Russian countryside, I think anyone growing up on the fringes of society in some capacity can relate to Vasya's struggles as our world seems to be heading in a darker direction and we're expected to keep our heads down and not question anything.
- I also enjoyed Vasya's family's dynamics with each other.
It really paid off when Dunya died and eventually came back as a thrall of The Bear, and Pyotr chose to sacrifice himself to bind The Bear. Dunya's ghastly resurrection was especially hard to read. Vasya did not end up in any last minute unnecessary romantic relationships or forced by the plot to "find the right man". I don't know if she is explicitly aromantic, asexual or aromantic asexual but it was depressingly refreshing to have a female lead whose freedom from romantic or sexual relationships was seen as a good thing. It would have been so easy to have her hook up with the Frost King at the end and major kudos to Arden for not going there. More MCs like this please! The bar is subterranean!
What I didn't like:
- I feel like the bulk of the plot was backended towards the last third of the book. While it was necessary to build up
the village's conversion to Christianity through fear and the consequences of ignoring the demons that used to help them the same things kept happening and got very repetitive to the point of it being accidentally comedic. Seeing how this is Arden's debut novel, I'm sure she can improve her pacing in later novels. - Some of the characters do end up feeling kind of tropey. While this is to be expected in fairy tales, said characters feel more like a means to progress the plot rather than be organic characters or twists on the trope they were embodying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Sexism
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
kneecole's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death of parent
harmshoney's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
DNF! back at it again with my unpopular opinions π«£
first I want to say that if you loved this book, ππππ ππ πππ ππ ππππππ ππ πππ ππ πππ. we all have such different brains & convictions. you're allowed to have your own unique perspective. so, here we go..
I disliked this book so much that I'm in a major funk, & haven't wanted to read or create videos π₯²
this is meant to be a fairytale/folklore story, & that concept fascinates me. as I've stated before, I believe that as a Christian, it's possible to be able to enjoy & learn moral lessons from fiction stories without taking them on as a religion. with that said, these are my issues with this book..
as stated, I enjoy fairytale/folklore.. when they're just that. this, however, did my least favorite thing when it comes to that genre: it mixed in a real religion - Christianity. the *second* this theme came up, I knew I would have a problem. had this story remained solely folklore, I am sure I would have actually enjoyed it a bit more.
why did this mixture bother me? because there was an incredibly strong biased against Christianity. I'll paint a picture for you: this story follows a little girl who is able to see the folklore creatures. the water nymph, the stable guardian, etc. this initially intrigued me before religion was introduced.. thinking it was going to be about those relationships between her & these creatures - a fairytale story. but no.
her stepmother comes into the story. a devout "Christian" & absolutely TERRRIFIED of everything under the sun. she can also see these creatures, & she believes they are demons. this woman is crazy, cruel, & abusive. her "pastor" is a fairytale version of a gospel preacher, oozing with narcissism & having no care or honor for Christ. he had good one-liners, but don't all false teachers? the reviews stated he got worse throughout the story.
so really, this turned into paganism vs. Christianity. the story strongly in favor of the former. the folklore was presented as very real, while Christianity was viewed as a false system of legalism & abuse.
I can't help but see everything through a Christian lens. not sorry π€·π½ββοΈ reading this book, all I could think was, "I'd be the crazy woman calling the creatures demons". because in reality? that's what they would be. in a story, in a fairytale? they're pretend. just like Narnia or Lord of the Rings. but here, they were presented as real in our world & that Christians are crazy, hateful, & wrong to think they're bad. other things I disliked: the writing was probably some of the worst I have read. it was choppy, robotic, confusing, & the story telling was hard to follow & just weird. I couldn't find a "flow" at all. there were far too many characters, most of unimportance. overall, I reallIIIlly didn't like this. so yeah, don't recommend. avoid.
first I want to say that if you loved this book, ππππ ππ πππ ππ ππππππ ππ πππ ππ πππ. we all have such different brains & convictions. you're allowed to have your own unique perspective. so, here we go..
I disliked this book so much that I'm in a major funk, & haven't wanted to read or create videos π₯²
this is meant to be a fairytale/folklore story, & that concept fascinates me. as I've stated before, I believe that as a Christian, it's possible to be able to enjoy & learn moral lessons from fiction stories without taking them on as a religion. with that said, these are my issues with this book..
as stated, I enjoy fairytale/folklore.. when they're just that. this, however, did my least favorite thing when it comes to that genre: it mixed in a real religion - Christianity. the *second* this theme came up, I knew I would have a problem. had this story remained solely folklore, I am sure I would have actually enjoyed it a bit more.
why did this mixture bother me? because there was an incredibly strong biased against Christianity. I'll paint a picture for you: this story follows a little girl who is able to see the folklore creatures. the water nymph, the stable guardian, etc. this initially intrigued me before religion was introduced.. thinking it was going to be about those relationships between her & these creatures - a fairytale story. but no.
her stepmother comes into the story. a devout "Christian" & absolutely TERRRIFIED of everything under the sun. she can also see these creatures, & she believes they are demons. this woman is crazy, cruel, & abusive. her "pastor" is a fairytale version of a gospel preacher, oozing with narcissism & having no care or honor for Christ. he had good one-liners, but don't all false teachers? the reviews stated he got worse throughout the story.
so really, this turned into paganism vs. Christianity. the story strongly in favor of the former. the folklore was presented as very real, while Christianity was viewed as a false system of legalism & abuse.
I can't help but see everything through a Christian lens. not sorry π€·π½ββοΈ reading this book, all I could think was, "I'd be the crazy woman calling the creatures demons". because in reality? that's what they would be. in a story, in a fairytale? they're pretend. just like Narnia or Lord of the Rings. but here, they were presented as real in our world & that Christians are crazy, hateful, & wrong to think they're bad. other things I disliked: the writing was probably some of the worst I have read. it was choppy, robotic, confusing, & the story telling was hard to follow & just weird. I couldn't find a "flow" at all. there were far too many characters, most of unimportance. overall, I reallIIIlly didn't like this. so yeah, don't recommend. avoid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
valpyre's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
one of my fave authors reviewed this, so i had to check it out for myself and i'm so glad i did. this was a really refreshing read.
i'm not super familiar with russian mythology and folklore, and i appreciated the way this wasn't just a beat for beat retelling of a fairy tale. the way magic was intertwined with the way of life in the country, and with the main character in particular, just made sense -- i never felt too overwhelmed by new information, but there is a glossary at the end for reference.
i wasn't sure how to feel when i saw that the narrative involved multiple pov's but i really appreciated them all in the end as they lent sympathy to all the characters. the chapters/sections of different pov's were also brief enough that i appreciated the information i was learning, as opposed to just wanting to get back to the main character. even the omniscience of the prose was so smoothly written that it didn't break flow for me.
i'm really interested to see the development of the mc's magic so i'm diving right into the second book!
i'm not super familiar with russian mythology and folklore, and i appreciated the way this wasn't just a beat for beat retelling of a fairy tale. the way magic was intertwined with the way of life in the country, and with the main character in particular, just made sense -- i never felt too overwhelmed by new information, but there is a glossary at the end for reference.
i wasn't sure how to feel when i saw that the narrative involved multiple pov's but i really appreciated them all in the end as they lent sympathy to all the characters. the chapters/sections of different pov's were also brief enough that i appreciated the information i was learning, as opposed to just wanting to get back to the main character. even the omniscience of the prose was so smoothly written that it didn't break flow for me.
i'm really interested to see the development of the mc's magic so i'm diving right into the second book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault
geminisoul's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was just so immersive. I couldn't help but fall in love with Vasya and enjoyed watching her grow into herself. I can't wait to read the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
janieboucher's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming
doodeedoda's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Death of parent
libellchen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Religious bigotry
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5
Sometimes too descriptive but this was mostly only in the beginning to set the background, introduce everyone, etc. That made it hard to get into the story but finally around 65 pages I was intrigued!
Who is this stranger? What does he want with Vasya? I was hooked and didnβt want to put the book down! I loved the folklore and βspiritsβ throughout the story. It was very atmospheric and tense! The characters were confusing at first and it wouldβve helped to have a guide to everyoneβs names and their nicknames to keep track. I got used to it after awhile luckily!
Overall an exciting and interesting tale π I canβt wait to continue the series and see what happens with the characters!
Overall an exciting and interesting tale π I canβt wait to continue the series and see what happens with the characters!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, and Religious bigotry
colorcrystals's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty and Fire/Fire injury