Scan barcode
maeverose's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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
A note: If you dnfed just because it’s slow, pls don’t give up! The second and third books are much more fast paced and plot driven. It makes me sad that so many people give up on this series because the first book is slow. It gets better!! But if you disliked it for other reasons then you can ignore this I guess.
Themes/Tropes:
-russian folklore
-snow/winter
-nature/house spirits
-clashing of christianity and paganism
-small medieval town in the middle nowhere
-realistic, morally grey characters
-realistic, morally grey characters
-witches
-talking horses with individual personalities (not in a cheesy way I promise)
-vampires (but they're very zombie-like)
-god of death
This book is atmospheric, fairy tale-esque and dark. I loved how the Russian folklore was incorporated into the story, and reading the author's notes in the back of each book, I felt that both the folklore and history were very well researched, which I always appreciate in historical fiction/fantasy. I loved the house and nature spirits, they reminded me of studio ghibli characters a little bit, maybe that's just me. If you like assassin's creed valhalla, this series reminded me a little of that. Especially the later books. The story is different, and it's probably not quite as gruesome but the time period, setting and some of the themes are similar. I loved how believable the characters felt. I really value realistic characters in stories, and this book definitely has that. They're also all morally grey.
I will say that despite this being written as an adult novel and having some darker themes, it does read a little YA to me. Thankfully it doesn’t have the super annoying irrational/stupid characters thing that I hate in YA, but it does still have a little bit if a YA fantasy feel to it. Maybe just because the heroine is 17? (and even younger in the first book)
As I said at the top, this first book is a bit slow. It’s really just introducing you to the characters and setting things up for the next books. But I loved the atmosphere and characters so I didn’t mind it at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Rape, Gore, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Animal death, Death, Child death, and Child abuse
The gore is only really in one scene, but it is somewhat graphic in that scene. It’s brief enough to kinda skim it. Also, this book does have the ‘17 year old girl ends up with an immortal man’ trope, if that’s something that bothers you.cynicalraven's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Animal death
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
Corporal punishmentweminence's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I liked this story all the way through for various reasons but my problems with the story are still present and so I couldn't give this a five star rating. I loved the folklore in this book, the world for all its faults felt expansive and magical and the evolution of Vasya's village felt real and heartbreaking. I especially loved the ending when the plot is happening. The scenes in the cottage where my favorites. I do want to read the next book, but I do have issues with the story.
Please if you are going to read this book check trigger warnings.
While, I loved the world, I didn't like the accuracy to the period. Not the Christianity coming in and ruining everything for everyone; that felt par for the course, but Pyotr, Dunya, or Anna hitting Vasya I hated. I understand again that that is time accurate but as a fiction writer you get to pick which accuracies to portray. I also understand that Pyotr and Dunya were only trying to protect Vasya and make her act "right" but even if their motives are pure, it ultimately made the story hard to enjoy. Also, treating Vasya like an adult when she is fourteen is gross. Again, accurate for the time, gross for a book released in 2017. Yes, that one dude who briefly appears in the story is treated like a creep but not really because he's twenty-four and she's fourteen. Konstantin should've died at the end too for all his shitty behavior towards Vasya, but that is purely a personal opinion. Morozko, who I think is supposed to be Vasya's main love interest, is the creepiest in this regard but for some reason he is the nicest person to Vasya? Yeah, he gives her frost burn at one point, he still is some how the nicest person to this girl. (Besides her siblings to be fair) The scenes in the cabin were my favorite but they set up a relationship that just gets weirder the more you think of it. I just wish there was more care put into these aspects of the book. Especially considering more than once Morozko refers to Vasya as 'child'.
I am not saying this as someone who hates this book, in fact I bought into the propaganda and Morozko is my favorite but that's not to say that he should be, he's just some how the nicest adult in Vasya's life despite being the one with the most concerning age gape between them.
Please if you are going to read this book check trigger warnings.
I am not saying this as someone who hates this book, in fact I bought into the propaganda and Morozko is my favorite but that's not to say that he should be, he's just some how the nicest adult in Vasya's life despite being the one with the most concerning age gape between them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Child abuse
alanadeluca's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
cthornhill's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, and Child death
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Rape
jmorel22's review against another edition
It was boring and could not get past there being more than one forced child bride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Incest
writingcaia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Brilliant debut!
I loved this book. The story is based on Russian mythology and folk tales, and the descriptions and magical details are beautiful and so visual.
The book tells the story of a family whose children, some more than others have inherited the blood of a princess who is part of a magical tale, and was so beautiful that even though she was poor she end up catching the prince. The main character is the youngest child, a girl, who according to the mother will be like that princess. It’s really great to see the main character grow, and discover herself and the magic in her blood. She’s fierce and wild, and brave.
I really couldn’t put this book down, I didn’t find it slow at all, and can’t wait to dive into the next one and see what we can expect next.
Also, I have a crush on Morozko
I loved this book. The story is based on Russian mythology and folk tales, and the descriptions and magical details are beautiful and so visual.
The book tells the story of a family whose children, some more than others have inherited the blood of a princess who is part of a magical tale, and was so beautiful that even though she was poor she end up catching the prince. The main character is the youngest child, a girl, who according to the mother will be like that princess. It’s really great to see the main character grow, and discover herself and the magic in her blood. She’s fierce and wild, and brave.
I really couldn’t put this book down, I didn’t find it slow at all, and can’t wait to dive into the next one and see what we can expect next.
Also, I have a crush on Morozko
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Blood and Rape
quietlyfierce's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Body horror, and Sexism
leah_j's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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? Yes
3.75
realistically this was more, the first 100 pages were a 3 star read and the last 200 were 5 star. it was very very slow to start with and i felt as though i was being dragged through a whole story that i feel could definitely have been condensed a little; or at least sped up.
however, once it hit the 100 mark i struggled to put this down. the story is something incredibly unique and vasya was one of the most likeable heroines i’ve ever encountered. (and solovey was one of my favourite additions)
the gradual character arcs were brilliant, and i loved how intimate i felt with almost every character, like Konstantin, his thoughts were particularly gripping in a kind of morbidly fascinating way.
while i may not pick up the sequel straight away, i definitely will be attempting to finish this series as it was the begging of a fantasy story i would love more of.
however, once it hit the 100 mark i struggled to put this down. the story is something incredibly unique and vasya was one of the most likeable heroines i’ve ever encountered. (and solovey was one of my favourite additions)
the gradual character arcs were brilliant, and i loved how intimate i felt with almost every character, like Konstantin, his thoughts were particularly gripping in a kind of morbidly fascinating way.
while i may not pick up the sequel straight away, i definitely will be attempting to finish this series as it was the begging of a fantasy story i would love more of.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death and Rape