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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
No
A believable enemies to lovers with surprising depth. Perfect balance for a YA novel.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
tldr:
Everything in these pages has impeccable vibes. The protagonists are really fun and the side characters are also surprisingly compelling. The world and non-romance plot too are way better than they needed to be. However the romance itself leaves something to be desired. Until the very end, the story feels more like enemies to friends than enemy to lovers. Also the protagonists are much less morally gray than you’d expect from their set-up.
Long version:
If you were to describe this novel in only one word, it would probably be: vibes. It is really good at evoking certain feelings in all aspects of itself; mostly whimsy, festivity, melancholy and somberness. Usually, these opposing feelings masterfully appear simultaneously; for example the story is set during a great time of festivals and joy in the middle of a cold, unforgiving winter.
The story takes place in a fantasy version of 19th Century Poland in the middle of a major political drama: after a lost civil war, the nation is occupied by fantasy Russia. While these politics never take center stage, the history and conflicts of the place feel as if there is a lot going on that's not written down. The novel doesn't focus too much on worldbuilding but just enough that everything feels real and is a joy too experience. What is there is quite interesting and digging deeper into it sounds enticing.
However, it is a little irritating how close to reality this world is in parts. For example, the Russia stand-in is called Rusja. And there are other details, like the mention of real world religions. It never actively harms the experience, but it does make you wonder why the author (barely) tried to obscure the very obvious real world analogies.
Like the world, the characters are also a lot of fun. Both of the protagonists have very distinct and enjoyable personalities that complement each other in interesting ways. Especially Marynka is a pure joy to experience most of the time. Zosia too has an engaging identity and backstory but is sort of drowned out by Marynka's sheer force of personality in the beginning. However as the story goes on, she does a great job at establishing herself as an equal to Marynka in terms of reader enjoyment.
On top of that, the side characters are amazing too. There are three of them who are more fleshed out, but even those that only appear for a few pages are great. A lot about them is revealed in the short time they are given attention. Similarly, the more important side characters – Beata, Jozef and Kajetan – have a quickly established identities and even character arcs that rival those of the protagonists.
Some characters that are sadly lacking however are the witches; the foster parents, teachers and to some extent antagonists to Marynka and Zosia. For all the talk about them, they appear precious little. Zosia's witch does not appear a single time but is only ever talked about or threatened to be nearby. Marynka's witch appears shortly in the prologue and at the end for the final climax. And when she's there, she is a bit underwhelming. Neither witch feels like the threat their students want us to believe they are – or like fleshed out characters in general.
It is also needed to point out that the back side of the book can be a bit misleading as to where the story goes. Firstly, the story heavily implies itself to be enemies to lovers, which is debateable. Were it not for the final chapter and the epilogue (which should have been cut anyway), there would not be a single romantic interaction, thought or scene in here. The dynamic between Maryinka and Zosia reads more like two people who realize they went through the same hardships and want to help each other heal now, rather than develop romantic feelings for the other.
Similarly, Marynka and Zosia are not morally gray/dubious characters, even though it feels like they should be. They are instead morally good people who VERY occasionally kill. Side characters who do dubious things also either spend their time redeeming themselves for that or are full-on villains.
The final potential problem is that, somehow, the protagonists never turn into public enemies. Prince Jozef takes until the very end to learn they are witches. Whenever they interact with him, there’s a convenient aspect of the scene at hand that conceals their identities from him and everybody else. Therefore their interactions with him rarely demand for caution and they can walk the city streets no problem. The tension in these spaces is never very high, even though the novel suggests it would be eventually and it would make for very interesting stories and challenges.
Finally, the ending. It’s where the novel stumbles the most – not only because it ends either roughly 20 pages later than it should have or a few pages too soon, depending on your opinion. Because of that, the story hangs in a weird limbo between open-ended and concluded. The character are so close to getting what they want, but don’t have the two additional pages to actually get it.
The other option – where the novel stopped earlier at a point with the conflicts resolved but it’s not quite clear where the character would/should go now – would have made for a more interesting ending.
(Spoilers for the rest if the review)
The build-up to the final climax is nice, narratively and emotionally. Where it fails however is how unapologetically good it is, despite some clear signposting it shouldn’t be. The author seems to have run out of pages or ideas to explain what happened, therefore the characters suggested to die here simply don’t. And there’s no explanation given as to why and how they survived – unless you count ‘They wanted to/sheer willpower’ as a sufficient explanation.
Everything in these pages has impeccable vibes. The protagonists are really fun and the side characters are also surprisingly compelling. The world and non-romance plot too are way better than they needed to be. However the romance itself leaves something to be desired. Until the very end, the story feels more like enemies to friends than enemy to lovers. Also the protagonists are much less morally gray than you’d expect from their set-up.
Long version:
If you were to describe this novel in only one word, it would probably be: vibes. It is really good at evoking certain feelings in all aspects of itself; mostly whimsy, festivity, melancholy and somberness. Usually, these opposing feelings masterfully appear simultaneously; for example the story is set during a great time of festivals and joy in the middle of a cold, unforgiving winter.
The story takes place in a fantasy version of 19th Century Poland in the middle of a major political drama: after a lost civil war, the nation is occupied by fantasy Russia. While these politics never take center stage, the history and conflicts of the place feel as if there is a lot going on that's not written down. The novel doesn't focus too much on worldbuilding but just enough that everything feels real and is a joy too experience. What is there is quite interesting and digging deeper into it sounds enticing.
However, it is a little irritating how close to reality this world is in parts. For example, the Russia stand-in is called Rusja. And there are other details, like the mention of real world religions. It never actively harms the experience, but it does make you wonder why the author (barely) tried to obscure the very obvious real world analogies.
Like the world, the characters are also a lot of fun. Both of the protagonists have very distinct and enjoyable personalities that complement each other in interesting ways. Especially Marynka is a pure joy to experience most of the time. Zosia too has an engaging identity and backstory but is sort of drowned out by Marynka's sheer force of personality in the beginning. However as the story goes on, she does a great job at establishing herself as an equal to Marynka in terms of reader enjoyment.
On top of that, the side characters are amazing too. There are three of them who are more fleshed out, but even those that only appear for a few pages are great. A lot about them is revealed in the short time they are given attention. Similarly, the more important side characters – Beata, Jozef and Kajetan – have a quickly established identities and even character arcs that rival those of the protagonists.
Some characters that are sadly lacking however are the witches; the foster parents, teachers and to some extent antagonists to Marynka and Zosia. For all the talk about them, they appear precious little. Zosia's witch does not appear a single time but is only ever talked about or threatened to be nearby. Marynka's witch appears shortly in the prologue and at the end for the final climax. And when she's there, she is a bit underwhelming. Neither witch feels like the threat their students want us to believe they are – or like fleshed out characters in general.
It is also needed to point out that the back side of the book can be a bit misleading as to where the story goes. Firstly, the story heavily implies itself to be enemies to lovers, which is debateable. Were it not for the final chapter and the epilogue (which should have been cut anyway), there would not be a single romantic interaction, thought or scene in here. The dynamic between Maryinka and Zosia reads more like two people who realize they went through the same hardships and want to help each other heal now, rather than develop romantic feelings for the other.
Similarly, Marynka and Zosia are not morally gray/dubious characters, even though it feels like they should be. They are instead morally good people who VERY occasionally kill. Side characters who do dubious things also either spend their time redeeming themselves for that or are full-on villains.
The final potential problem is that, somehow, the protagonists never turn into public enemies. Prince Jozef takes until the very end to learn they are witches. Whenever they interact with him, there’s a convenient aspect of the scene at hand that conceals their identities from him and everybody else. Therefore their interactions with him rarely demand for caution and they can walk the city streets no problem. The tension in these spaces is never very high, even though the novel suggests it would be eventually and it would make for very interesting stories and challenges.
Finally, the ending. It’s where the novel stumbles the most – not only because it ends either roughly 20 pages later than it should have or a few pages too soon, depending on your opinion. Because of that, the story hangs in a weird limbo between open-ended and concluded. The character are so close to getting what they want, but don’t have the two additional pages to actually get it.
The other option – where the novel stopped earlier at a point with the conflicts resolved but it’s not quite clear where the character would/should go now – would have made for a more interesting ending.
(Spoilers for the rest if the review)
The build-up to the final climax is nice, narratively and emotionally. Where it fails however is how unapologetically good it is, despite some clear signposting it shouldn’t be. The author seems to have run out of pages or ideas to explain what happened, therefore the characters suggested to die here simply don’t. And there’s no explanation given as to why and how they survived – unless you count ‘They wanted to/sheer willpower’ as a sufficient explanation.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Despite my average rating I did quite enjoy a good portion of this book. However, I do really wish we were able to see more of Zosia and Marynka relationship as lovers. This is rivals to lovers but most of the book is focused on their rivalry or really Marynka one sided rivalry against Zosia lol! I do think it’s funny that Zosia didn’t care for the rivalry until half way through the book. I’m going to keep my rating at 3.25 ⭐️ for now, I may change it later.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I really liked the concept of this book, but I felt like it was either continually moving too slow or too fast. I didn’t like that they ended up going after hearts in the end even though they kept saying they only did it to get out of their situation. There could’ve been another way to keep the competitive spark alive
Love the queer representation, but if I’m being honest that’s the best part about this story. If it was a bunch of straight people, I wouldn’t have gotten through the book.
Overall love the concept and representation, but wasn’t the biggest fan of the storyline
Love the queer representation, but if I’m being honest that’s the best part about this story. If it was a bunch of straight people, I wouldn’t have gotten through the book.
Overall love the concept and representation, but wasn’t the biggest fan of the storyline
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes