Reviews

Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova

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shmadsie's review against another edition

3.0

3.5. I wish this had been pared down, ultimately it felt like there was too much going on for me and I wish it had just concentrated its focus on one vein, because what it had was good but it so easily could've been great if it had just dug in to some bits and let others go (or saved it for the next book).

brethebookbean's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful fast-paced

3.5

sparksbooks's review

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5.0

The world of Foul Days has such a dichotomy of the dreary city of Chernograd versus the vibrant city of Belograd, separated by a wall that keeps the monsters, and the people trapped inside of Chernograd during the 12 Foul Days when the Zmey and his monsters roam the land. This world is built up nicely and while there is some telling going on to build it, we also get shown the streets and feel the fear of the residents who get trapped by monsters every year.

Kosara has suffered a lot of trauma at the hands of the Zmey that we learn about throughout the story. Essentially think of him as the world’s most toxic boyfriend. And the commentary on this type of relationship is so spot on. There is also a lot of us versus them going on between the two cities, instead of trying to work together to keep everyone safe and you can feel the classism and prejudices present in this world.

As the tagline says, “The scariest monsters are the human-shaped ones,” and oh boy is this ever present. There is a lot of deception and twists and turns of the plot that I really enjoy in the urban fantasy mystery. I also really loved the different types of monsters pulled from Slavic folklore and roaming the streets, terrorizing the people of Chernograd.

There is also a bit of a romantic subplot between Kosara and Asen, a cop from Belograd who is trying to solve a murder that so happens to be linked to Kosara’s pursuit of her lost shadow, something that if she doesn’t not get back will lead to her death. This romance is not fully explored yet, but looks like it will maybe play a bigger part in the second book of the duology that is releasing this year too.

Four and half stars rounded up.

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours, Tor Books, and NetGalley for my gifted copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.