A review by cpalmisanod
The House of Frost and Feathers by Lauren Wiesebron

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I picked this up because of the comparison to The Bear and the Nightingale and you definitely will get that Slavic witchy folktale vibe.

Marisha is desperate for work as her parents were both hit with a plague that causes permanent sleep.  With few choices she opts to be an assistant to the apprentice of Baba Zima.

Now the big drama is that Baba Zima is second in line of a trio of witches (or koldunya) who basically have no ability to communicate or trust.  So yeah, that's going to cause issues.

Marisha is tasked with assisting the third witch in this line, Olena.

So there's a lot of sneaking around, concealing truth, and assumptions that make everything harder than it needs to be.

But there's also magic and character growth.  So some wins in there.

Spoilery comment below.

I'm kind of disappointed it ends before Marisha reconnects with her parents as it seems her dad was hiding A LOT.  Wondering if this is supposed to be part of a series or if we're just supposed to wonder.