hidinginstacks's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not a big horror fan. This graphic novel made me reconsider this. Very grotesque, suspenseful, horrific. A survival story that combines the desperation behind human suffering and a creature of folklore that may or may not exist. A very good read.
Personal complaint unrelated to the story--IDW, the binding is crap with this title. The pages were just falling out as I was reading it. >:(
Personal complaint unrelated to the story--IDW, the binding is crap with this title. The pages were just falling out as I was reading it. >:(
alisonfio's review against another edition
4.0
Great wee find in the library. Very haunting, very gripping. I blasted through it and enjoyed some excellent chills.
thedoctorsaysrun's review against another edition
4.0
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2022 Task #22: Read a history about a period you know little about.
barb4ry1's review against another edition
3.0
Bleak, bloody, and brutal. Not a bad story, but darkness tends to overshadow other stuff here.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
4.0
I read and reviewed each of the comics collected here separately, so this is basically for my own records. The individual comics all got four stars from me, so it was a no-brainer what the collection would receive. This was a very, very enjoyable book. The combination of historical horror with creature horror, and how both could contribute to dehumanisation and madness, was really effective. Furthermore, the art was excellent. I wouldn't call it beautiful, exactly, but with its limited range of colours and bleak aesthetic it was certainly striking, and matched perfectly with the story.
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.75
It's 1953 and in Siberian prison camp there is no justice and little hope of surviving the year, let alone a full sentence. A plan of escape forms between three men, Grigori and Sergei, who have ties to the Russian mafia, and Roman, a man who was sentenced as a dissident after telling a Stalin joke at a party.
Roman is the central character here, he is essentially an innocent in the camp and gets into trouble for leaving food offerings for a domovik - a domestic protective spirit - but there seems to be more to the myth then people suspect...
When the opportunity strikes, they make it out of camp, but with little food and thousands of miles of snow-laden wilderness between them and civilization they will have to make terrible sacrifices.
This book is brutal, quick and terrifying, and made all the more so by the fact that it is grounded in reality. These prison camps existed and few prisoners survived them. Many inmates were guilty of little more than the mild political joke that Roman made at the wrong party. The horror elements compliment the nasty reality perfectly. This is absolutely worth seeking out.
Roman is the central character here, he is essentially an innocent in the camp and gets into trouble for leaving food offerings for a domovik - a domestic protective spirit - but there seems to be more to the myth then people suspect...
When the opportunity strikes, they make it out of camp, but with little food and thousands of miles of snow-laden wilderness between them and civilization they will have to make terrible sacrifices.
This book is brutal, quick and terrifying, and made all the more so by the fact that it is grounded in reality. These prison camps existed and few prisoners survived them. Many inmates were guilty of little more than the mild political joke that Roman made at the wrong party. The horror elements compliment the nasty reality perfectly. This is absolutely worth seeking out.
abhi_thelegend's review against another edition
4.0
This book had its pluses and minuses and I honestly really enjoyed it, the art was great, the story flowed smoothly, it was easy to follow, but on the other hand some flaws were bit predictable, the storytelling did have a bump or 2 at parts, but overall I read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it!
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