Reviews

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

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megan1002's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was amazing. I feel that if only I had a better grasp of Russian history, culture, and folklore I would have enjoyed it more. I do adore the various references—they were subtle yet whimsical. Some parts were just not for me, but overall it was great.

klparmley's review against another edition

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2.0

I didn't actually read it; I listened to it. And the problem may very well have been the narrator rather than the story. As I listened, I suspected that her careful enunciation took all humor and charm out of the telling of the story.

10000bees's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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

5.0

I realized from page one I would love this book. I absolutely ate the prose up for one, and then the story! It had me hooked in the most dreadful way. The atmospheric folklore grounded in such a bleak and harrowing period of history gave the mystical elements a desperate realness. A War Story Is a Black Space was a masterful chapter set against the rest of the book as a whole that that first paragraph lives rent free in my head.

Look, I am holding up my two hands, and between them is Leningrad. ... A war story is a black space. On the one side is before and on the other side is after, and what is inside belongs only to the dead. Besides, what happened between the two hands I am holding up is squeezed between the pages of the books of the dead, which is written on my hands, because I died in that space.

sunflower_martha's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a hard one to review.
Chaotic, lyrical, magical.
I enjoyed the book despite taking some time to adjust to the writing style.
Sometimes I felt like there was so much the author was trying to convey at the same time, different images, metaphors and ideas and it got me confused.
There's also the cultural appropriation to consider. I wasn't bothered by the representation of creatures from the Russian and Slavic folklore the way it's been done here, but I am heavily biased by the fact that I'm not so familiar with that mythology.
I wish I had more background knowledge so I think I will research russian folklore and maybe it's a point in favour if a book makes you want to learn more on a topic.
Overall, it wasn't an easy read but a poetic, evocative one nonetheless. It will stay with me for a while.