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clairemdrake17's review against another edition
5.0
I’m literally so confused right now. Is this a good book? I don’t know if I can answer that. I put the book down and cried three single tears... but I don’t know why?
This is definitely the type of book that will mean different things to you during different stages of your life. When I picked it up I expected it to entertain me not shake me and leave a piece of itself with me.
It feels unfinished, like there is a part of it still hanging in the air. But I think that’s because I will have to read it again a few years from now.
This is definitely the type of book that will mean different things to you during different stages of your life. When I picked it up I expected it to entertain me not shake me and leave a piece of itself with me.
It feels unfinished, like there is a part of it still hanging in the air. But I think that’s because I will have to read it again a few years from now.
umairah's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a fairy tale. Not a nice fairy tale where they all live happily ever after. Not fulfilling or pretty or sweet. It's a poignant tale, a monstrous one, a magical one, a vicious one. And now that I've finished it I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. I'm still giving it 5 stars.
The writing is beautiful and crisp- I loved it. I also loved the use of Russian mythology and legend and how it wove into the political situation in Russia at the time (it was overdone at times however). The story has no real plot- it just follows Marya Morevna's story - and it has no real ending but it still takes you on a journey and is captivating. Fairy tales and legends are always too perfect and always ends the same way with the same stock characters. This book challenges those predictable, perfect stories and endings. It was different, a welcome change.
The writing is beautiful and crisp- I loved it. I also loved the use of Russian mythology and legend and how it wove into the political situation in Russia at the time (it was overdone at times however). The story has no real plot- it just follows Marya Morevna's story - and it has no real ending but it still takes you on a journey and is captivating. Fairy tales and legends are always too perfect and always ends the same way with the same stock characters. This book challenges those predictable, perfect stories and endings. It was different, a welcome change.
cindyy_'s review against another edition
3.0
I thought Koschei was supposed to be the bad guy in these stories but Marya kinda came out as the most unlikeable to me. The prose was weirdly nice in how utilitarian it was but it was hard to stay interested. I liked Koschei parts, but mostly I just spent the time thinking about how much better the winternight series did with this vaguely same concept. That's probably not a good look for this book but at least good news for me, now I think I'll reread those next.
selenajournal's review against another edition
5.0
I'm so sad I've finished reading this. I never wanted this book to end.
"I will see him with his skin off before I agree to fall in love. For this was how Marya Morevna surmised that love was shaped; an agreement, a treaty between two nations that one could either sign or not as they pleased." -page 24
"She had become quite good at keeping her face hidden in a book while never faltering in her steps, never swerving from her path. Besides, a book kept the wind out." - page 26
"Marya thought she knew the house on Gorokhovaya Street. After all, she had lived there all her life. She had sipped 3,070 bowls of soup in the kitchen with black tile. She had eaten 2,325 entire fish at the cherrywood table with three knots in the center. She had dreamt 5,475 dreams in her little bed with its red blankets. She had lived inside the house - she belonged to it." - page 31
"His eyes sparkled in the cold, the way distant stars will when the night freezes." - page 56
"His lips shone bright and dark, soft and heart-shaped. She felt, looking at him, that she could not see him at all, but could see only the things that made him unlike a man, the lushness of his face and the slowness of his manner." - page 56
"Children may wear through their socks marking in righteous parades, but Papa never misses his wine with supper. Therefore, it is better to be strong and cruel than to be fair. At least, one eats better that way. And morality is more dependent on the state of one's stomach than of one's nation." - page 65 (this sounds like something Felix would say)
"He simply murmured to her, stroked her hair, called her volchitsa, medevezhka, koshechka. Wolfling, she-bear, wild little kitten." - page 69
"'Do you still love me, then, Mashenka?'
'Of course, Nashenka. Punishment doesn't mean you aren't loved. On the contrary. You can really only punish someone you love.'" - page 94
"She expects you to cheat! Masha, whom I love: These tasks do not test your strength or your wiliness; they test your ability to cheat, which is the truest measure of a devil. They are designed to be impossible if you play fair. What should you do instead? Walk into no-man's-land unprotected and be lost forever?" - page 118 (his smile comes to mind here)
The stallion snorted, and his breath curled in the cold. "Marya Morevna, we are better at this than you are. We can hold two terrible ideas at once in our hearts. NEver have your folk delighted us more, been more like family. For a devil, hypocrisy is a parlor game, like charades. Such fun, and when the evening is done we shall be holding our bellies to keep from dying of laughter." - page 148
"I will see him with his skin off before I agree to fall in love. For this was how Marya Morevna surmised that love was shaped; an agreement, a treaty between two nations that one could either sign or not as they pleased." -page 24
"She had become quite good at keeping her face hidden in a book while never faltering in her steps, never swerving from her path. Besides, a book kept the wind out." - page 26
"Marya thought she knew the house on Gorokhovaya Street. After all, she had lived there all her life. She had sipped 3,070 bowls of soup in the kitchen with black tile. She had eaten 2,325 entire fish at the cherrywood table with three knots in the center. She had dreamt 5,475 dreams in her little bed with its red blankets. She had lived inside the house - she belonged to it." - page 31
"His eyes sparkled in the cold, the way distant stars will when the night freezes." - page 56
"His lips shone bright and dark, soft and heart-shaped. She felt, looking at him, that she could not see him at all, but could see only the things that made him unlike a man, the lushness of his face and the slowness of his manner." - page 56
"Children may wear through their socks marking in righteous parades, but Papa never misses his wine with supper. Therefore, it is better to be strong and cruel than to be fair. At least, one eats better that way. And morality is more dependent on the state of one's stomach than of one's nation." - page 65 (this sounds like something Felix would say)
"He simply murmured to her, stroked her hair, called her volchitsa, medevezhka, koshechka. Wolfling, she-bear, wild little kitten." - page 69
"'Do you still love me, then, Mashenka?'
'Of course, Nashenka. Punishment doesn't mean you aren't loved. On the contrary. You can really only punish someone you love.'" - page 94
"She expects you to cheat! Masha, whom I love: These tasks do not test your strength or your wiliness; they test your ability to cheat, which is the truest measure of a devil. They are designed to be impossible if you play fair. What should you do instead? Walk into no-man's-land unprotected and be lost forever?" - page 118 (his smile comes to mind here)
The stallion snorted, and his breath curled in the cold. "Marya Morevna, we are better at this than you are. We can hold two terrible ideas at once in our hearts. NEver have your folk delighted us more, been more like family. For a devil, hypocrisy is a parlor game, like charades. Such fun, and when the evening is done we shall be holding our bellies to keep from dying of laughter." - page 148
bballenski's review against another edition
dark
5.0
I haven't read any old Russian fairy tales, but the author really has a talent for writing in the fairy tale styles I am familiar with (grimms mostly). It really amazed me how she really nailed the deeply meaningful nonsense that defines fairy tales as I know them. Truly a masterpiece.
sdloomer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The language is beautiful, but I'm a bit lost as to what it is supposed to be describing.
smblanc1793's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What amazes me most about Catherynne Valente is not only her incredible ability to put a grand story together in the most unique and unexpected way—though that is certainly nothing to scoff at—but her ability to awe me into stunned silence on a sentence-by-sentence basis with individual morsels of language so creative and beautiful that I find myself whispering them to myself even after I’ve put the book down.
wayward_flowers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
"That’s how you get deathless, volchitsa. Walk the same tale over and over, until you wear a groove in the world, until even if you vanished, the tale would keep turning, keep playing, like a phonograph, and you’d have to get up again, even with a bullet through your eye, to play your part and say your lines.”
I'm broken and shattered. Finishing this book wasn't like breathlessly running through the fire but rather as though you've plunged into the depth of the coldness of the ocean-- a different kind of intensity and breathlessness.
Deathless has yet to be one of the most tragically beautiful tales I've read.
In it we follow our beloved classical fairytale characters and aspects of them, that we have grown up with. But, It is also the story of Russia during the 20th century and the tragedies that occurred in its history. Intertwining both elements together,
It is a world that possess the beauty and richness of fairytales but is entailed with the inevitability of war and death.
It talks about War and Grief. Love and Lust. War and Love.
"All the human world is the Country of Death, and in thrall, and finally, after all this time, we are just like everyone else. We are all dead. All equal. Broken and aimless and believing we are alive. This is Russia and it is 1952. What else would you call hell?”
The delivery of the story was immaculate. The writing and atmosphere was absolutely stunning.
The relationship dynamics between Koschei the Deathless and Marya Morevna was told beautifully but had the care to not conceal the terror or toxicity of it. And than seeing her navigate through this strange yet seemingly beautiful relationship, her heart and head in a constant argument, her fairytale life eclipsed over the one she lived when she was young.
"Oh, I will be cruel to you, Marya Morevna. It will stop your breath, how cruel I can be. But you understand, don’t you? You are clever enough. I am a demanding creature. I am selfish and cruel and extremely unreasonable. But I am your servant. When you starve I will feed you; when you are sick I will tend you. I crawl at your feet; for before your love, your kisses, I am debased. For you alone I will be weak.”
"Do you know, Masha, how revelation comes? Like death. So sudden, though you knew all along it must occur. A revelation is always the end of something. It might even be cause for grief.”
One of the things that Catherynne portrayed in this book that had me experiencing moments of realisation and reflection, were the aspects of..what does it truly mean to be good or bad.
Koschei, though in Russian folklore is a menacing and wicked creature, and while the author did not strip that element from the story, she, in my eyes, kept his true intentions hidden. I, as the reader at times tried to place Koschei as the character that is.."wicked" or whatever that is supposed to mean. Often times, especially in fairytales, it is obvious as to who is the wicked and virtuous. The good or the evil. But taken into consideration. It is much more complicated. I suppose IF taken simply, it really comes down to your intentions and what you do with them.
At the end of the day, no one is rightfully either when it comes to the play of Life and Death.
Other than that, I think the various topics and discussions done in this book, were quite meaningful and, once again, beautiful.
"The rapt pupil will be forgiven for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be virtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe. In service to itself, it will commit any offense. So, too, is Death possessed of infinite strategies and a gaunt nature—but also mercy, also grace and tenderness. In his own country, Death can be kind. But of an end to their argument, we shall have none, not ever, until the end of all."
I shall end my review here. I could go on and on raving about this book. Every aspect of this book was enthralling and heartbreaking. I truly loved this.
"I will not let her have the whole thing. I have this power. I will not let her speak because I love her, and when you love someone you do not make them tell war stories. 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 are written on my hands."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and War
theladydoor's review against another edition
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
3.5
linkwithlinda's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Hmm, I'm not sure how to rate this yet. I liked it? But it was difficult to read. Was it difficult to read because of the way it was written or because I didn't understand enough of the subtext? I'm waffling between 3, 3.5, and 4.
This is certainly not an escapist romantasy nor is it a charming historical fiction. It's a mournful, wistful reimagining of Russia from its early communist days to the end of WWII, interwoven with a Koshchei retelling, and filtered with fantasy that often appears more like magical realism. It's a thinker!
I had added this book to my TBR a few years ago because I wanted to learn about the Koshchei lore and now with Fairyloot's upcoming special edition and me trying to be wiser with my book spending, I decided to pick it up.
I can't say this helped me learn a whole lot about Koshchei as I soon stumbled over several bits of Russian folklore I had been completely ignorant of and in fact got a third of the way through the book and decided to restart it 😅
That being said, I did enjoy the dark romance between Koshchei and Marya and the why-choose twist instead of a cuckold.
I guess I must've been sick the weeks we reviewed Russian history in AP European History because I remembered nothing and needed help understanding the end of this book. The final chapters pick up the pace, dispensing with the grand exposition, cuts from scene to scene, gives no internal monologue, and becomes a stark parallel to Russian history with the gloss of magical realism making everything extra ambiguous.
⭐⭐⭐💫
🌶️
This is certainly not an escapist romantasy nor is it a charming historical fiction. It's a mournful, wistful reimagining of Russia from its early communist days to the end of WWII, interwoven with a Koshchei retelling, and filtered with fantasy that often appears more like magical realism. It's a thinker!
I had added this book to my TBR a few years ago because I wanted to learn about the Koshchei lore and now with Fairyloot's upcoming special edition and me trying to be wiser with my book spending, I decided to pick it up.
I can't say this helped me learn a whole lot about Koshchei as I soon stumbled over several bits of Russian folklore I had been completely ignorant of and in fact got a third of the way through the book and decided to restart it 😅
That being said, I did enjoy the dark romance between Koshchei and Marya and the why-choose twist instead of a cuckold.
I guess I must've been sick the weeks we reviewed Russian history in AP European History because I remembered nothing and needed help understanding the end of this book. The final chapters pick up the pace, dispensing with the grand exposition, cuts from scene to scene, gives no internal monologue, and becomes a stark parallel to Russian history with the gloss of magical realism making everything extra ambiguous.
⭐⭐⭐💫
🌶️