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ttorisaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Pregnancy, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
babyskillet's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I liked this book but it was really tough for me to get through. I was interested but I felt like I could easily leave the characters and put the book down. I really liked Yaga and her character as well as Marin and Vasily. I would love to hear more about Baba Yaga and where her story came from. I also liked the friendships she made through the book. And her animal companions? Love. It was a good book, but I just struggled to get through it because of who I am as a reader.
frankatzenzungen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lemonieh1's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
bazayas's review against another edition
I might come back to this one, but I wanted more from a story about Baba Yaga, who I love! I wanted monstrous and she’s really just a gentle girl in the woods in this one.
kltemplado's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
3.25
oisinthewizard's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I loved this book up to about page 340.
The characters are robust and dynamic, even in their flaws. I appreciate Yaga's flaws and limited perception of time and place, even as the daughter of a god. It takes a deft hand to write a vulnerable immortal and Salnikova Gilmore pulled it off. The landscape of Ivan the Terrible's Russia draws the reader in with its starkness and brutality. I enjoyed the found family dynamics with the Skomorokhi Knights, although sensitive readers may find the brutality of the Oprichniki to be too much. (To be fair to the author, they were far more brutal in actual history than in this fantasy novel.)
As my issues with the book are primarily with the ending, I will write them as spoilers.Once it became obvious that Selica, Lady of Death, sister of Baba Yaga, is also Kostroma, Lady of Spring nad Rebirth, sister of Kupalo, I thought the plot to kill Selica would have an obvious ending - it is in the killing to of the deity of winter that she can become the deity of spring. This is a known mythological cycle and makes sense. So when Yaga's ritual just perma-kills her and the goddess of spring and winter is no more - I am honestly confused as to how that would possibly restore the order of seasons in Russia, especially with Morozko, who has been inflicting eternal winter on Russia, unpunished and unfettered.
I also found Vasily's story from page 340 on to be unnecessarily complicated and without proper resolution. He could have just disappeared in the war against the Lithuanian and Polish armies. To have him under some unexplained spell and then just appear, perfectly fine, at the end of the book, despite Yaga and Marina waiting for him for months in Psok makes no sense.
Selica's anger at men does not have any textual support, as it was her mother who sold her into marriage and her husband, Morozko, who supported her escape from it. On page 344, she accuses Morozko of infidelity and punishes Vasily for "Yet he is a man, and how easily they forget. She is doing Yaga a favor. Look where men have gotten Selica. Like all women, her sister is better off on her own." None of this is supported by the text. We have no evidence prior to this of Morozko having any lover other than Selica and Vasily has loyal to Yaga.
Lastly, I was very disappointed that after Selica is banished to the lands of the dead, none of the characters who were participating in brutal massacres for basically the entire book have any responsibility to their actions and in fact, appear to just stop now that the Lady of Death is gone. Do they not have any agency of their own?
The characters are robust and dynamic, even in their flaws. I appreciate Yaga's flaws and limited perception of time and place, even as the daughter of a god. It takes a deft hand to write a vulnerable immortal and Salnikova Gilmore pulled it off. The landscape of Ivan the Terrible's Russia draws the reader in with its starkness and brutality. I enjoyed the found family dynamics with the Skomorokhi Knights, although sensitive readers may find the brutality of the Oprichniki to be too much. (To be fair to the author, they were far more brutal in actual history than in this fantasy novel.)
As my issues with the book are primarily with the ending, I will write them as spoilers.
I also found Vasily's story from page 340 on to be unnecessarily complicated and without proper resolution. He could have just disappeared in the war against the Lithuanian and Polish armies. To have him under some unexplained spell and then just appear, perfectly fine, at the end of the book, despite Yaga and Marina waiting for him for months in Psok makes no sense.
Selica's anger at men does not have any textual support, as it was her mother who sold her into marriage and her husband, Morozko, who supported her escape from it. On page 344, she accuses Morozko of infidelity and punishes Vasily for "Yet he is a man, and how easily they forget. She is doing Yaga a favor. Look where men have gotten Selica. Like all women, her sister is better off on her own." None of this is supported by the text. We have no evidence prior to this of Morozko having any lover other than Selica and Vasily has loyal to Yaga.
Lastly, I was very disappointed that after Selica is banished to the lands of the dead, none of the characters who were participating in brutal massacres for basically the entire book have any responsibility to their actions and in fact, appear to just stop now that the Lady of Death is gone. Do they not have any agency of their own?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail
mrittika's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Look, it's not bad by any stretch of imagination and it's definitely someone's cup of tea. It just reads like someone set out to write a globetrotting saga and abruptly realised they didn't have the constitution for grimdark, nor much control over pacing.
californian_vagabond's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
slow-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? Yes
4.0