Reviews

The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

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lisajh5858's review

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-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

4.5

koalachick's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This is not a normal read for me. It was very interesting and I'm happy that I read it. There were so many small details in the story and it took a lot of focus to figure it out. The story was interesting and heartbreaking. The prose is beautiful.

mweaver's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

princesskarley6's review against another edition

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5.0

Amazing!! I didn’t know anything of Baba Yaga or Ivan the Terrible before reading this, but now I’ll be doing some research and reading “The Witch and the Tsar” again!

Gilmore has woven a beautiful story throughout classic Russian tales and history in a book that I just couldn’t bear to put down!

ahhhhginger's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

thereadingmuffin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I really enjoyed reading about Russian/Slavic folklore and mythology, it's something I've always been interested in but never really looking into.
This was a fun spin on the myth of Baba Yaga and introduced some cool Russian characters that I'd never heard of.
This wasn't amazingly written, I must admit. Nothing terrible, but some parts were almost a little jarring in how a scene shifts to another.
To me, it feels like the author had the story imagined in her mind in a film-like sequence and she tried to write the book following that. It felt like I was reading a film, if that makes sense. It felt like reading scenes of a film without really anything truly connecting it together apart from repetitive lines.
I liked the characters, they were all interesting. Yaga was nice but she ain't the fierce, fiesty witch that I think the author thinks she is. She doesn't have a "sharp tounge", if anything she keeps her emotions within her and is quite diplomatic.
I still enjoyed this debut novel and I would be interested in reading future books, but more editing and better writing is needed.
For my first foray into russian folklore, this was a fun book!