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A review by shadesofwind
Little Black Bird by Anna Kirchner
4.0
There's so many good things about this book - Slavic mythology, wonderful characters, queer rep, beautiful setting.
The story follows Wiktoria, a telekinetic that can't control her powers, as she is introduced to a world of sorcerer's and Guardians and demons, all while trying to figure out who she is and what to do with a curse that's bound to forever change the magical world.
It's set in Poland. In a city I've been to. You have no idea how dumbly proud and happy I felt reading about places and situations so familiar. No googling, no searching my memory for a Netflix series I could use as reference for a setting, no shrugging "makes no sense but apparently Americans do THAT".
I liked plenty of characters, even our MC! (Mostly because she wasn't so fond of making completely dumb decisions) I liked how she was neither a Mary-Sue, nor a dumb cry-baby. Just a realistic person navigating all those crazy events as well as she can. Artur, Rafi, Karina, Laura and the others are such a squadgoals, I can't wait to see more of them. Especially them being a squad.
Their relationships were beautiful and messy, just like real life. It was probably the first time I've read about ace protagonists (yes, shame on me) and even though I've read posts and articles and definitions, this was so much different. I'm sure it will be wonderful for people to feel seen in these characters, and for others to understand these identities more. I feel like it was especially poignant seeing how lost the characters themselves are - good reminder that figuring things out takes time.
Slavic mythology was such an awesome part, magic and world's explanations woven seamlessly into the story.
It was action-packed, and the only thing that bugged me was that sometimes plot twists came so out of blue I was confused - they were happening before we even knew what's happening.
The plot is gripping, mysteries and secrets appearing one after the other, and even when most of them seem uncovered, many questions still remain. I am reaaaally looking forward to seeing how it develops. I feel like LBB was just a prelude to something way bigger, and that things are just beginning to unfold.
The story follows Wiktoria, a telekinetic that can't control her powers, as she is introduced to a world of sorcerer's and Guardians and demons, all while trying to figure out who she is and what to do with a curse that's bound to forever change the magical world.
It's set in Poland. In a city I've been to. You have no idea how dumbly proud and happy I felt reading about places and situations so familiar. No googling, no searching my memory for a Netflix series I could use as reference for a setting, no shrugging "makes no sense but apparently Americans do THAT".
I liked plenty of characters, even our MC! (Mostly because she wasn't so fond of making completely dumb decisions) I liked how she was neither a Mary-Sue, nor a dumb cry-baby. Just a realistic person navigating all those crazy events as well as she can. Artur, Rafi, Karina, Laura and the others are such a squadgoals, I can't wait to see more of them. Especially them being a squad.
Their relationships were beautiful and messy, just like real life. It was probably the first time I've read about ace protagonists (yes, shame on me) and even though I've read posts and articles and definitions, this was so much different. I'm sure it will be wonderful for people to feel seen in these characters, and for others to understand these identities more. I feel like it was especially poignant seeing how lost the characters themselves are - good reminder that figuring things out takes time.
Slavic mythology was such an awesome part, magic and world's explanations woven seamlessly into the story.
It was action-packed, and the only thing that bugged me was that sometimes plot twists came so out of blue I was confused - they were happening before we even knew what's happening.
The plot is gripping, mysteries and secrets appearing one after the other, and even when most of them seem uncovered, many questions still remain. I am reaaaally looking forward to seeing how it develops. I feel like LBB was just a prelude to something way bigger, and that things are just beginning to unfold.