A review by clmckinney
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

4.0

This is a re-telling of a character from Russian mythology. In this narrative, there is a feminist slant given to her persona. She is a witch during the years of Ivan The Terrible. I found the historical elements interesting, much as I recently enjoyed the facts of the book, Glory. I also liked the magical aspects of the story. It is essentially about good vs evil, but the battle is over Russia. What I didn't like so much is the one dimensional people in the tale. It seemed they were mostly good or evil, which made the tale a bit superficial. As well, she did this thing where she would be looking for someone and suddenly run into that person, and I just found this a bit trite. It took away from the believability of the novel, and its premise. I give this one a 4/5.