lanarkunas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, War, Vomit, Sexism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Child death, Classism, and Violence
hanz's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, and War
wordsbyzahra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: War, Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
morganaedanpearcy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is lyrical prose at its finest. The writing is gorgeous. The characters unique. The retelling of Koschei the Deathless and intermixing the fallout of the Russian Revolution after Stallin. It’s brilliantly woven storytelling is hard to put down. I enjoyed every minute of this book and it’s in my top 25 favorites of all time. I also really liked this version of Baba Yaga. It combined some of her more horrific legends and made her loveable. For me. :)
This book takes a turn at the end that I wasn’t expecting but yet also somehow in the back of my mind was always suspecting. The ending makes you think and there’s a lot to unpack there. Honestly this book would have been perfect to add to the silibus for some of my Fantasy in Philosophy/Folktales in Philosophy in college and at the graduate level.
I *really* enjoyed how the book explored the relationship between pleasure and pain. I found the spice to be just right because of the different approach. The Kink was fantastic and surprising. None of it was graphic or smutty. I would even say that it was so interwoven in the story that sometimes I didn’t even realize what was happening till a few sentences after it was over. So for it being a big part of the characters’ lives as whole persons but not the focus of the book it was great!
I also enjoyed the comparison of marriage to battle. 😂 I really appreciated the way it explored non-monogomous sexual and romantic partnerships through a different lens, which I found thought provoking. It led to some interesting discussion with my own partner.
Additionally, the representation of life under Stalin was very realistic from what I remember studying in college. I’m pretty radicalized (and US politics are not, compared to the rest of the world). It was a good reminder that systems of socialism European humans have adopted before ain’t gonna cut it. We can’t prescribe everything, including fairness. So we need to use some imagination in how we rebuild the world to be human-centered and adopt more Indigenous systems rather than prescriptive systems that erase our humanity.
All in all it was a fantastic read that I found to be really deep on multiple levels, thought provoking, beautifully written and absolutely enjoyable from the first page to the last.
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Death
I put body horror but I think it needs to be more specific than that. TW for graphic starvation. If you are actively struggling with an eating disorder just be warned ahead of time that the descriptions of starvation are graphic.cedence's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Violence, War, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Animal death, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Cannibalism
pythonesque's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War
kmacdo23's review
- 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
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Sexual violence, Violence, and War
lizzie24601's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, War, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Murder
shimikonde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Gaslighting
Starvation as a result of war is also described in significant detail.abominablesnowaro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Confinement
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, War, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Starvation