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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: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and War
morganpearcy'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: Violence and War
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: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
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
5.0
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, 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, Grief, and War
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
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: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
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: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Starvationthewordsdevourer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
however, i personally feel that this focus on hammering home the themes might have taken a toll on the story and its ~purely story~ aspect. the book's jam-packed w/ themes and while it's indeed--as a review puts it--bold and subversive, it's also confusing and somehow confoundingly lacking. while marya and koschei def deals w/ themes of love and power, i feel that their scope of story is not expansive enough to deal w/ life and death. the story's partly set in russia during world war ii, led by characters who fight decades long battles, yet a majority of it reads like a domestic drama of an open relationship. i wouldve liked more depiction of the gap between the end of part 2 and start of part 3: what was koschei and marya's relationship like during at least some of the interim 13 yrs? how was marya during her first few battles? a lot went into the start of the leads' relationship, but not enough was illustrated of its everyday meat and subtance. it just feels like a good chunk of the book shows things after they happen, and the few action it shows is not very substantial.
also i dont truly like any of the characters?? not asking for black-and-white characters who are all good or bad, but somehow they're all at least a lil unlikable lol. and after a winding path towards the end, i dont even rly get the ending either, and idk if it's bc im too dumb to understand or if the msg's too obfuscated at that point. this had a lot more potential and im just very sad that it wasnt explored.
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Child death, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
korpney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child death and Blood