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elizafiedler's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I love a good Baba Yaga story! This one is a really cool weaving together of magic and the mundane and the power of the arts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Violence, Racism, and Genocide
Moderate: Death, Murder, Hate crime, and Toxic relationship
claire8's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, Genocide, Death, and Murder
tcameron85's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
This is a lovely twist of Baba Yaga folklore.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Genocide, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Xenophobia, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
razzberry_pi's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
a haunting and beautiful story about families and the lasting impacts of memory and trauma.
main thread of the story is told like a folktale from an unreliable narrator with present day events and memories of the characters intertwined
main thread of the story is told like a folktale from an unreliable narrator with present day events and memories of the characters intertwined
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Genocide
Moderate: Murder, Antisemitism, and Fire/Fire injury
Book contains one chapter in particular that most of the CWs apply to as it depicts in detailtorturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Antisemitism, Blood, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Body horror, and Child death
laurareads87's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I liked a lot about this book. I found the writing beautiful, and I feel like the author has handled serious and difficult themes -- intergenerational trauma especially -- very well. I liked the last quarter of the book best, and found that while some questions were left unanswered, the ending was absolutely a satisfying conclusion. I am not the most versed in Jewish myth, but I appreciated how it was interwoven into the story from what I do know; the historically informed chapters of the story are at times difficult reading, but are very, very well done. What really didn't work for me was one of the two main contemporary characters (several other reviewers have gotten at why); I found Isaac a very frustrating character, and did not like the way the Isaac/Benji storyline in particular was written like it took place in a much earlier time period (Great Depression, perhaps?) than it did.
<i>Content warnings:</i> Antisemitism, genocide, murder, grief, self harm, blood, suicidal thoughts, animal death, animal cruelty, fire/fire injury, xenophobia, death, child death, violence
<i>Content warnings:</i> Antisemitism, genocide, murder, grief, self harm, blood, suicidal thoughts, animal death, animal cruelty, fire/fire injury, xenophobia, death, child death, violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Gore
Minor: Alcohol
faethverity's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death, War, and Sexual content
ava_marie_sunflower's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, and War
Moderate: Antisemitism and Xenophobia
Minor: Child death
jaimeeslitlife's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Death and War
Minor: Cannibalism
nettleviolet's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Thistlefoot is a spell and you might not realize you're in it until you finish the book. It weaves themes of ancestral trauma and healing, story as sacred witness, folk lore and community together into a beautiful tapestry that will leave your heart shaking afterwards.
If you are a witchy person -- reading this book felt to me, like ending a ritual. It invites us between worlds. It is truly magic.
I could write out the premise but the premise of the book does nothing to illuminate the depth and breadth of this work.
For folks who think that fantasy novels are just escapist and don't deal with real life, read this. The prose is stunning, the multiple POVs executed flawlessly, the characters incredibly well thought out.
This is now one of my favourite books of all time. What more can I say?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, and Murder