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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don't want to say this book is bad. I could have been in a bad state while reading it, because what the F did I just read. I was fighting for my life each chapter.
I wanted to love this book SO BAD. I felt like I was fighting for my life through every page
Genre-defying storytelling, Vita Nostra is strange and hypnotic. It's like Kafka wrote a book about a magical school, dark academia in a Russian boarding school. Is it magic or is it science and does it really matter? It draws on Russian sci-fi traditions that have distinctly different flavour to Western ones, but despite its strangeness it's never hard to follow (though some previous knowledge of Russian names and how they're used will help to follow the story better).
Some of the elements are hard to tolerate, like how Sasha is blackmailed in the beginning to perform unpleasant and intimate acts for seemingly no reason. I feel like Western literature would never go there - there's definitely a gender-related imbalance (young girl - older man) that makes a Western reader highly uncomfortable. These trials are never fully explained, but the reader can deduct why they have been justified.
But once the story kicks in at school it's hard to put down. I like my dark academia books to have a heavy academia focus - and you have that here in spades. Sasha's studies are non-sensical and there's a constant looming threat if the students don't perform. She works insanely hard and the inner straight A student in me loves that she's not just a genius - she works hard and that's how she succeeds. If you're more into aesthetics side of DA - in here there are more from Soviet era here than what you find on Pinterest under dark academia. Heating is constantly broken and students drink vodka and eat anchovy out of a tin.
I can't emphasise how weird this book is - and I would heartily recommend it to all my fellow weirdos. Get through the squeaks in the beginning, and I can already say that this is very high on "book of the year" candidate for me. Superb.
Some of the elements are hard to tolerate, like how Sasha is blackmailed in the beginning to perform unpleasant and intimate acts for seemingly no reason. I feel like Western literature would never go there - there's definitely a gender-related imbalance (young girl - older man) that makes a Western reader highly uncomfortable. These trials are never fully explained, but the reader can deduct why they have been justified.
But once the story kicks in at school it's hard to put down. I like my dark academia books to have a heavy academia focus - and you have that here in spades. Sasha's studies are non-sensical and there's a constant looming threat if the students don't perform. She works insanely hard and the inner straight A student in me loves that she's not just a genius - she works hard and that's how she succeeds. If you're more into aesthetics side of DA - in here there are more from Soviet era here than what you find on Pinterest under dark academia. Heating is constantly broken and students drink vodka and eat anchovy out of a tin.
I can't emphasise how weird this book is - and I would heartily recommend it to all my fellow weirdos. Get through the squeaks in the beginning, and I can already say that this is very high on "book of the year" candidate for me. Superb.
Au début sceptique de par l'ambiance plus qu'étrange, j'ai fini par tout lire d'un coup, et j'en suis sortie avec l'envie irrésistible de retourner à l'école, alors qu'on était samedi. Inventif, ambiance parfaite, personnages intéressants, ce roman a tout pour lui.
At the start this felt like it had the makings of Seth Dickinson’s Masquerade, but somehow metamorphosed into a Jeff Vandermeer novel. It’s tricky to review translated works as I ponder how much I attribute to themes and principles common in Russian literature and what might actually be the result of the translator’s interpretation of the original work. Either way I don’t know what I read, but it was certainly captivating.
My friends will hate me for this but I did not love it. I enjoyed the read but was not left satisfied by the end. It is definitely a unique read and recommend for those into dark academia books and fantasy but it isn’t for everyone.
Read if…
-you like dark academia (think Ninth House, Catherine House)
-you’re into physics
-you like puzzles and are ok not having ALL the answers at the end (the book is a series)
Skip if…
-you want everything wrapped up in a bow at the end
-you hate sci-fi/fantasy
Read if…
-you like dark academia (think Ninth House, Catherine House)
-you’re into physics
-you like puzzles and are ok not having ALL the answers at the end (the book is a series)
Skip if…
-you want everything wrapped up in a bow at the end
-you hate sci-fi/fantasy
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this was absolutely insane and one of the weirdest most magical most confusing most complex books i’ve ever read. Wow
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense