Reviews with content warning for War - Thistlefoot

Very interesting store about family, healing, and memories. It sheds an amazing light on how generation old trauma and memory can effect the newest generation. Slow moving story but wonderful ending

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nbreezy17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jaimeeslitlife's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"What happens when the walls we raise outlive the dangers they were built to keep out? At what point does a fort become a cage?"

Thistlefoot was weightier and more beautiful than I imagined; in this novel, folklore meets immersive fantasy meets real-life horrors (horrors that Nethercott's ancestors actually witnessed).

Baba Yaga, a figure from Slavic folklore, is reimagined as a Jewish woman living in an Eastern European shtetl during a time of civil war and pogroms; she is fierce and maternal, she can help or harm, she is shunned and sought after. Thistlefoot is similarly full of opposites; it is solemn and joyful, gruesome and humorous, realistic and fantastical. The folklore of the past leaks into present-day in a heartwrenching story about inherited trauma, roots, and the power of storytelling.

Nethercott creates a world in which the magic is tantalizingly revealed and not overly explained. This world feels just slightly off-center from ours; houses grow legs and gills and no one bats an eye, but horrors like pogroms still haunt history. Parts of this book had me on the edge of my seat, flipping pages as fast as I could. Other parts felt like I was floating along, picking up crumbs of information but mostly soaking luxuriously in Nethercott's beautiful prose.

I also think that there's a lot to explore here re: the idea of houses as bodies; trauma alters Thistlefoot the house, just as it alters generations of the Yaga family. The house holds trauma but it also holds (and creates!) stories. Thistlefoot is the perfect vessel for the story Nethercott tells.

Thistlefoot is a powerhouse (pun intended) of a debut novel, and I cannot recommend it enough.

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miak2's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

But, little house, you say, what is a memory if not a ghost?

3.5 stars

I saw another review on Thistlefoot that said that this book simultaneously had a lot going on and not much at all, which I found to be largely true. The core of the story could've probably been told in half the pages, without losing any of the plot or the character development. I loved the ending though. Loved it. I loved how it pulled together the folklore and the themes of the book, and how the sibling's powers were tied to their people's history.

Nethercott told this story in such a unique way, I mean, some chapters were told from the perspective of the house, that's SO cool! Those chapters focused on the Baba Yaga folklore, which was my favorite part of the book. The house had so much personality, not just in those chapters but in the modern-day chapters where it interacted with the Yaga siblings.

I thought Thistlefoot had some great character development, although I did find some pieces to be a bit shoehorned in. I found both Bellatine and Isaac to be compelling, complex characters, but I also found that I didn't feel very connected to them or their struggles. Most of the supporting characters felt pretty one-dimensional, existing only to further the Yaga sibling's story. You could, hypothetically, remove all the side characters and still have the same book and the same ending. The Longshadow Man was a pretty unique villain, however, and all of his scenes were appropriately bone-chilling.

**Not a spoiler but maybe skip this bit if you plan on reading the book**

My big gripe was just with the writing. It's odd to say because Nethercott does have beautiful writing. It was just...too much for me. Every line was a metaphor or analogy. I'm hardly exaggerating, at one point I counted 5 analogies in one page. I think there's a balance to be had with writing like that, and Nethercott went too far over the line. I mean, did we really need lines like "[the cat] reappeared like a promise"? Once I noticed it, I couldn't unnotice it, and it really took away from my reading experience. I wish I could have been more engrossed in the story, but I eventually got to the point where I was rolling my eyes every time I saw "like a" written on the page.

Now, I say this as someone who isn't a writer, but I think once Nethercott tones down the analogies and tightens up her storylines, she'll be a really formidable writer. I'm excited to see what she comes out with next!

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mossgoblins's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was hands-down the best story I’ve read in years. I might be a bit biased since my family history is not dissimilar to that of the Yaga’s, yet I believe anyone can appreciate the masterwork of GennaRose Nethercott in Thistlefoot. The plot is airtight, the characters complex and endearing, and the setting simply sparkling with life.

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alisiakae's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

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pins's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book took me three tries to start and I almost dropped it because of that! But the third time it got it's claws into me and I'm so glad it did.

A story about the importance of stories, how even if our talents may be unconventional, they're still worth something and about how we can affect those around us- even after were gone.

"Kill the lantern, Raise the Ghost"

P.S.

I would very much like to hold both Winnie and Bellatine's hands tyvm

P.S.S. I did listen to this at 1.75x speed, and I do think this tale works MUCH better in audio format than it would written. Plus January LaVoy does a really great job doing distinctive voices

especially for a very specific house

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