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line's review against another edition
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
foreveryoungadult's review against another edition
Graded By: Brian
Cover Story: I Could Go Either Way
Drinking Buddy: Твоё здоровье!
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (adult situations, drinking, crude humor)
Talky Talk: Who Wants to Live Forever?
Bonus Factors: Russian Folklore, Death Prophecy
Bromance Status: Friends to the End
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: I Could Go Either Way
Drinking Buddy: Твоё здоровье!
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (adult situations, drinking, crude humor)
Talky Talk: Who Wants to Live Forever?
Bonus Factors: Russian Folklore, Death Prophecy
Bromance Status: Friends to the End
Read the full book report here.
madisonreyome's review against another edition
4.0
I’m gonna go ahead and tag this for spoilers just in case. This book was really good. It was almost a five star, but I’ll explain why I only gave it 4 later on. I loved the LGBTQ+ representation in this book. A trans character, as well as two lesbian characters and one bisexual character. I had fun reading the old Russian folklore and learning more about the family’s culture. I enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book. It was slow to start, but I didn’t mind. However, the ending was abrupt and felt very rushed. It was open ended, which I don’t really enjoy to begin with. It made me believe this book was the beginning of a series, which I didn’t know. I then found out this was a stand-alone book and was very disappointed. Brought this book from a 5 star to a 4 for me :(
thoughtsontomes's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 stars
Although I don’t read much YA contemporary these days, this had enough tropes that I like that I wanted to give it a try: contemporary fantasy, witches, and Russian folklore.
This ended up being an enjoyable mystery about the history of a family of Russian witches. The modern witch vibes were fun. Also, there was unexpected LGBTQ+ rep that I loved! The main character’s love interest is a trans boy (with frank discussions about binders, coming out, etc) and his sister is dating her cousin. Their budding romance is cute without taking away from the main plot and mystery. There’s a lot of good lines in here about the power of men, the killing of magical women, and how stories evolve over time with each side thinking they aren’t the villain. While I loved a lot of those things, it ultimately didn’t blow me away. The pacing was off at times, especially the end which was wrapped up suddenly and didn’t feel like an ending for a stand-alone. There’s no resolution. I’d still recommend this for those that like witchy things, but not necessarily for the plot overall.
Although I don’t read much YA contemporary these days, this had enough tropes that I like that I wanted to give it a try: contemporary fantasy, witches, and Russian folklore.
This ended up being an enjoyable mystery about the history of a family of Russian witches. The modern witch vibes were fun. Also, there was unexpected LGBTQ+ rep that I loved! The main character’s love interest is a trans boy (with frank discussions about binders, coming out, etc) and his sister is dating her cousin. Their budding romance is cute without taking away from the main plot and mystery. There’s a lot of good lines in here about the power of men, the killing of magical women, and how stories evolve over time with each side thinking they aren’t the villain. While I loved a lot of those things, it ultimately didn’t blow me away. The pacing was off at times, especially the end which was wrapped up suddenly and didn’t feel like an ending for a stand-alone. There’s no resolution. I’d still recommend this for those that like witchy things, but not necessarily for the plot overall.
mcacev's review against another edition
3.0
The Wise and the Wicked is a stand-alone magical realism (fabulism?) written by Rebecca Podos. It follows the Chernyavskys, a family of witches who have moved from Russia to America and now live in Maine. Over the generations they have lost most of their powers, except for one: they can foretell the day they are about to die.
I was interested in reading this from the moment I found out this book was about a Russian family and would revolve around Russian mythology and fairy tales. I am starved for some Slavic rep in books, and I’ll take what I can get, even if Russia is the furthest it possibly can be from where I’m from.
So it should be no surprise to you that I had some mixed feelings on this book. It does in fact revolve around a Russian family, and I was honestly impressed with how much of the culture Podos had managed to interject into the book. However, I did have some issues with the representation that we’ll talk about later.
Let’s start with the positives: this book relies heavily on fairy tales and oral retellings of family tales. A big theme of the book is storytelling; how much of certain tales is true, what stories are chosen to be preserved and passed down, different views on the same event, etc. As any book that deals in Russian Folklore, this too contains Vassa in the Night which is probably the most overused and famous Russian tale in existence.
The issue I had with the Russian rep, was that a lot of it felt very superficial and hollow. For example, there are a lot of Russian words used for anything from clothes, to food, to terms of endearment. It makes sense that the younger generations wouldn’t be fluent or even really speak the language, and know only the few words they have heard over and over. However, the way the language was incorporated, and especially the way the characters acted and sounded did not feel Russian.
I don’t know if Podos is Russian in heritage; my guess is no, because based on how she writes these characters, it’s as if she read a very thorough wikipedia article on Russian Americans and called it a day. Don’t get me wrong; she has done her due diligence to use the language, and incorporate traditional foods and clothing, but it all felt very flat. These characters don’t sound like any Russian, or even Russian-American I’ve ever met; they just feel false, like characters dressing up for Halloween. It’s so hard for me to explain what exactly caused this disconnect, but I could just tell it was someone who didn’t know the culture or the people, playing dress up; John Wick felt more Russian than this and he’s a) played by a Hawaiian man who can barely pronounce the language, b) supposed to be Georgian.
This wasn’t a deal breaker for me, but it did significantly diminish my enjoyment. The authenticity of the story just wasn’t there, and as such all the platitudes about family and blood felt hollow. Even reading the stories and fairytales felt hollow, like Podos doesn’t really understand why Russian folklore is as grim and gruesome, or where any of these ideas about secrecy, mimicry, family sticking together come from.
One thing this book does excel at is atmosphere. There were many sections that were downright creepy, and I got the same sense of unease and for lack of a better word, magic, as I did reading The Raven Cycle. Anything that had to do with the girls snooping around Polina’s house, the fates of the Chernyavsky women, and even some of the scenes in the Dov house were quite heavy and unsettling. It has the same half-eery, half-humorous tone as the The Raven Cycle , and the lead Ruby, especially reminded me of Blue.
The plot itself was interesting, if a bit predictable. I think, because I have read The Raven Cycle, I already saw where things were going and could predict a lot of the plot points. There was a character with an untimely death, another character with a vision of the future that didn’t match their present state, a family member with ambiguous motivations, a character who is part of a magical family with seemingly no magic, a mysterious boy, etc. None of these are necessarily bad; they were mostly just elements that I had seen already and that made me somewhat disappointed in the story. I was also confused at the end; there are open endings, and then there are endings that are clearly setting up for a sequel. The book is listed as a standalone, so I’m really not sure what happened here; so many things are left unexplained or unresolved, and it doesn’t feel like the story ended; it just simply stopped.
The characters were the part of the book that made me want to read to the end; they were what made this into a 3 instead of a 2 star. Let’s start with the Chernyavskys. Polina was the matriarch, and I really liked her. She was the only character that felt Russian; her bluntness, her clear love for her family expressed in food and tough choices. I sort of liked the explanation we get towards the end about what happened to her, but what I really didn’t like was how wasted the potential of the powers were. This is a SPOILER so if you haven’t read the book, skip the next paragraph.
We find out that the Chernyavsky power is to take Time from one person and either give it to someone else or to themselves. That’s how Polina had been able to live that long; she had stolen Galena’s time, as well as the Volkov man who owned the house she inherited. This was fascinating because this is exactly the kind of dark magic that Russian folklore is all about; it’s in incredibly powerful gift, but it comes at the cost of other living things. Imagine if we knew this from the start of the book, or earlier and we had more time and more characters dealing with the knowledge that they can buy themselves more Time, but they’d have to kill for it, and that they really were the monsters in the woods.
Dahlia and Ginger were fine as Ruby’s two big sisters; I preferred Dhalia to Ginger, but they each get a few scenes to shine. They acted like sisters (the whole barging in on you while in the bathroom or in your room bit sounded very familiar), and they were nice foils to Ruby.
Evalina was Ruby’s mother and she was literally just Neeve from The Raven Cycle.
Then we have Dov and Talia, the Volkovs. I absolutely loved the way Podos handled Dov. He is a trans character and both in the way she told us his backstory, and in the way she presented him as a character, it was great. It helped a lot that Dov himself was a really likable character, and I enjoyed his back and forth with Ruby. They both have very dry and sarcastic sense of humor, which worked well both for the tone of the book and their personalities.
Talia was less fleshed out, but I liked that we get glimpses into what it was like growing up as the heir, the perfect daughter who’s good at everything.
Then we have my favorite character who was Cece. She was so sweet and so good, and I really loved her. The scene where she tells Ruby her Time broke my heart.
Ruby was annoying, but I really loved her. She was very much an unlikable main character; she is moody, she is unmotivated and apathetic, she’s snappy, basically a teenager. Like Blue, she seems to only care about 3 people in total, which personally grated on me, but it was very consistent with her character. Her obsession with science and finding answers, and especially with Carl Sagan was really endearing and I really liked it.
Overall this was an ok book. It had the potential to be more, but it just fell short for me. I think if you like slow, atmospheric reads, or the The Raven Cycle, you will probably enjoy it; just be aware that the ending, leaves a lot to be desired.
I was interested in reading this from the moment I found out this book was about a Russian family and would revolve around Russian mythology and fairy tales. I am starved for some Slavic rep in books, and I’ll take what I can get, even if Russia is the furthest it possibly can be from where I’m from.
So it should be no surprise to you that I had some mixed feelings on this book. It does in fact revolve around a Russian family, and I was honestly impressed with how much of the culture Podos had managed to interject into the book. However, I did have some issues with the representation that we’ll talk about later.
Let’s start with the positives: this book relies heavily on fairy tales and oral retellings of family tales. A big theme of the book is storytelling; how much of certain tales is true, what stories are chosen to be preserved and passed down, different views on the same event, etc. As any book that deals in Russian Folklore, this too contains Vassa in the Night which is probably the most overused and famous Russian tale in existence.
The issue I had with the Russian rep, was that a lot of it felt very superficial and hollow. For example, there are a lot of Russian words used for anything from clothes, to food, to terms of endearment. It makes sense that the younger generations wouldn’t be fluent or even really speak the language, and know only the few words they have heard over and over. However, the way the language was incorporated, and especially the way the characters acted and sounded did not feel Russian.
I don’t know if Podos is Russian in heritage; my guess is no, because based on how she writes these characters, it’s as if she read a very thorough wikipedia article on Russian Americans and called it a day. Don’t get me wrong; she has done her due diligence to use the language, and incorporate traditional foods and clothing, but it all felt very flat. These characters don’t sound like any Russian, or even Russian-American I’ve ever met; they just feel false, like characters dressing up for Halloween. It’s so hard for me to explain what exactly caused this disconnect, but I could just tell it was someone who didn’t know the culture or the people, playing dress up; John Wick felt more Russian than this and he’s a) played by a Hawaiian man who can barely pronounce the language, b) supposed to be Georgian.
This wasn’t a deal breaker for me, but it did significantly diminish my enjoyment. The authenticity of the story just wasn’t there, and as such all the platitudes about family and blood felt hollow. Even reading the stories and fairytales felt hollow, like Podos doesn’t really understand why Russian folklore is as grim and gruesome, or where any of these ideas about secrecy, mimicry, family sticking together come from.
One thing this book does excel at is atmosphere. There were many sections that were downright creepy, and I got the same sense of unease and for lack of a better word, magic, as I did reading The Raven Cycle. Anything that had to do with the girls snooping around Polina’s house, the fates of the Chernyavsky women, and even some of the scenes in the Dov house were quite heavy and unsettling. It has the same half-eery, half-humorous tone as the The Raven Cycle , and the lead Ruby, especially reminded me of Blue.
The plot itself was interesting, if a bit predictable. I think, because I have read The Raven Cycle, I already saw where things were going and could predict a lot of the plot points. There was a character with an untimely death, another character with a vision of the future that didn’t match their present state, a family member with ambiguous motivations, a character who is part of a magical family with seemingly no magic, a mysterious boy, etc. None of these are necessarily bad; they were mostly just elements that I had seen already and that made me somewhat disappointed in the story. I was also confused at the end; there are open endings, and then there are endings that are clearly setting up for a sequel. The book is listed as a standalone, so I’m really not sure what happened here; so many things are left unexplained or unresolved, and it doesn’t feel like the story ended; it just simply stopped.
The characters were the part of the book that made me want to read to the end; they were what made this into a 3 instead of a 2 star. Let’s start with the Chernyavskys. Polina was the matriarch, and I really liked her. She was the only character that felt Russian; her bluntness, her clear love for her family expressed in food and tough choices. I sort of liked the explanation we get towards the end about what happened to her, but what I really didn’t like was how wasted the potential of the powers were. This is a SPOILER so if you haven’t read the book, skip the next paragraph.
We find out that the Chernyavsky power is to take Time from one person and either give it to someone else or to themselves. That’s how Polina had been able to live that long; she had stolen Galena’s time, as well as the Volkov man who owned the house she inherited. This was fascinating because this is exactly the kind of dark magic that Russian folklore is all about; it’s in incredibly powerful gift, but it comes at the cost of other living things. Imagine if we knew this from the start of the book, or earlier and we had more time and more characters dealing with the knowledge that they can buy themselves more Time, but they’d have to kill for it, and that they really were the monsters in the woods.
Dahlia and Ginger were fine as Ruby’s two big sisters; I preferred Dhalia to Ginger, but they each get a few scenes to shine. They acted like sisters (the whole barging in on you while in the bathroom or in your room bit sounded very familiar), and they were nice foils to Ruby.
Evalina was Ruby’s mother and she was literally just Neeve from The Raven Cycle.
Then we have Dov and Talia, the Volkovs. I absolutely loved the way Podos handled Dov. He is a trans character and both in the way she told us his backstory, and in the way she presented him as a character, it was great. It helped a lot that Dov himself was a really likable character, and I enjoyed his back and forth with Ruby. They both have very dry and sarcastic sense of humor, which worked well both for the tone of the book and their personalities.
Talia was less fleshed out, but I liked that we get glimpses into what it was like growing up as the heir, the perfect daughter who’s good at everything.
Then we have my favorite character who was Cece. She was so sweet and so good, and I really loved her. The scene where she tells Ruby her Time broke my heart.
Ruby was annoying, but I really loved her. She was very much an unlikable main character; she is moody, she is unmotivated and apathetic, she’s snappy, basically a teenager. Like Blue, she seems to only care about 3 people in total, which personally grated on me, but it was very consistent with her character. Her obsession with science and finding answers, and especially with Carl Sagan was really endearing and I really liked it.
Overall this was an ok book. It had the potential to be more, but it just fell short for me. I think if you like slow, atmospheric reads, or the The Raven Cycle, you will probably enjoy it; just be aware that the ending, leaves a lot to be desired.
sandiereads's review against another edition
Well written tale inspired by Russian folklore and magical realism. I didn’t love the ending, but it was a compelling read. The author is definitely worth following.
enne's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
TW: attempted murder, underage drinking, death
Rep: trans boy LI, (two) lesbian major SCs, Russian-American family (and MC)
The Writing
The writing in this book was very atmospheric and felt very fitting to the setting. I especially loved the descriptions of the different houses and the detail that went into all of that. I felt transported into the small town and it felt very homey and creepy at the same time and I loved that so much.
The Plot/Pacing
The plot felt like it was a bit all over the place for me, which is really my main complaint with this book. The build-up to the climax felt like it didn't raise the stakes quite enough, and I thought the climax sort of felt like it came out of nowhere. Also, the pacing of the romance felt really weird to me?? Like I didn't really feel the chemistry between them and it felt like it came out of nowhere?? But you get used to it, ig.
The Characters
I really wanted more from these characters. I didn't really feel like we saw much development from anyone who wasn't the main character. And while I really enjoyed what we did get from the main character, I felt like there was a missed opportunity to explore her character further that just,, didn't happen and I wish it had.
I would have also liked the side characters to have been established better because I know that they're important to the main character, but they're not necessarily important to me, as the reader.
The World
LISTEN, the magic in this world is inspired by Russian folklore and I thought this was one of the best uses of Russian folklore that I've ever read and, as someone who's Russian, I don't say that lightly. Although there were times where I found myself wishing that the author went a bit deeper when it came to the history of the folklore/magic itself, I do get that not everything can be done in a 350-page book, so I didn't really have a major problem with it.
For the most part, I really loved the way Russian fairy tales were used and I honestly found myself wishing I was a part of this magical family even though seeing when you die sounds quite horrifying, not gonna lie.
Overall
I have been looking for books that feature Russian-American characters for literally ages and when I found out that this one had Russian-American queer people, I got even more excited. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I would also like to know if there's going to be a sequel because the way this story leaves off feels very,, unfinished, you know??
~~~
Anyways, I would like more Russian-inspired stories set in a contemporary setting, thank you.
TW: attempted murder, underage drinking, death
Rep: trans boy LI, (two) lesbian major SCs, Russian-American family (and MC)
The Writing
The writing in this book was very atmospheric and felt very fitting to the setting. I especially loved the descriptions of the different houses and the detail that went into all of that. I felt transported into the small town and it felt very homey and creepy at the same time and I loved that so much.
The Plot/Pacing
The plot felt like it was a bit all over the place for me, which is really my main complaint with this book. The build-up to the climax felt like it didn't raise the stakes quite enough, and I thought the climax sort of felt like it came out of nowhere. Also, the pacing of the romance felt really weird to me?? Like I didn't really feel the chemistry between them and it felt like it came out of nowhere?? But you get used to it, ig.
The Characters
I really wanted more from these characters. I didn't really feel like we saw much development from anyone who wasn't the main character. And while I really enjoyed what we did get from the main character, I felt like there was a missed opportunity to explore her character further that just,, didn't happen and I wish it had.
I would have also liked the side characters to have been established better because I know that they're important to the main character, but they're not necessarily important to me, as the reader.
The World
LISTEN, the magic in this world is inspired by Russian folklore and I thought this was one of the best uses of Russian folklore that I've ever read and, as someone who's Russian, I don't say that lightly. Although there were times where I found myself wishing that the author went a bit deeper when it came to the history of the folklore/magic itself, I do get that not everything can be done in a 350-page book, so I didn't really have a major problem with it.
For the most part, I really loved the way Russian fairy tales were used and I honestly found myself wishing I was a part of this magical family even though seeing when you die sounds quite horrifying, not gonna lie.
Overall
I have been looking for books that feature Russian-American characters for literally ages and when I found out that this one had Russian-American queer people, I got even more excited. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I would also like to know if there's going to be a sequel because the way this story leaves off feels very,, unfinished, you know??
~~~
Anyways, I would like more Russian-inspired stories set in a contemporary setting, thank you.
jilljemmett's review against another edition
4.0
This story reminded me of The Raven Cycle. Ruby’s family is a little like Blue’s family in that series. They both have some mystical powers. The women in Ruby’s family see their death when they get to a certain age. It’s called their Time. They had to flee their original home in Russia generations before because their family was being hunted by a man. This old battle was reopened in this story.
I liked this story but I found some parts confusing and unclear. There are some queer characters, which was great representation. One character was transgender. I thought that the character magically changed gender in some way, so it was only later that I realized they were living as a transgender person.
I also found the multiple generations of the family confusing. There hadn’t been that much time since the family moved from Russia, but they made it sound like it was many generations ago rather than two. A family tree could have helped me keep everything straight.
This is a good story.
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I liked this story but I found some parts confusing and unclear. There are some queer characters, which was great representation. One character was transgender. I thought that the character magically changed gender in some way, so it was only later that I realized they were living as a transgender person.
I also found the multiple generations of the family confusing. There hadn’t been that much time since the family moved from Russia, but they made it sound like it was many generations ago rather than two. A family tree could have helped me keep everything straight.
This is a good story.
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
nicoletort's review against another edition
3.0
Really enjoyed this. Not as bothered by the open ending as others seem to be. Will read a sequel if it comes out, but feel satisfied even if it doesn’t.
lapassemiroir's review against another edition
3.0
I wish the author had explored more ruby's relationship with her sisters, sometimes the mistery was annoying and nothing is reaaaally explained butttttt gave me a raven cycle vibes when I needed most. Nothing happened besides drama so.... yeehaw 🤠 (3.5*)