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fairymodmother 's review for:
Vita Nostra
by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko
What a ride this was! I hardly know how to martial my thoughts about it--it's sort of like trying to describe the taste of something to someone who's never even heard of the food before. If you've read it, you likely know what I'm thinking about. If you haven't read it yet...maybe try it? You might hate it and spit it out, but you might love it!
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Things to love:
-I've never read anything like this. I mean yes, magic school, sure, fine. But...this ain't Hogwarts or Kvothe's University. It's... hmm. Have you read 72 Words by Ted Chiang? Imagine that, written by Philip K Dick, but Russian.
-So effing creepy/trippy/mindblowing. I can't say any more about this, but it's hard fantasy--REALLY hard fantasy.
-But also human? Idk man, this is super cerebral but also, like, we talk about new babies and haircuts and stuff.
-I guess just the writing/translation. Brilliantly translated IMO. Tense, emotive, scary and liberating.
Things not to love:
-Everything I just said. Totally valid not to love that all.
-End...ing? A bit abrupt? Not entirely sure what happened or what the motivation there was.
This was An Experience, and I highly recommend people who like magic school stories, new weird and/or dark fantasy. I'm gonna have to think on this.
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Spoiler
coercion of will, sexual coercion, mental torture, loss of a loved one, attempted suicide.Things to love:
-I've never read anything like this. I mean yes, magic school, sure, fine. But...this ain't Hogwarts or Kvothe's University. It's... hmm. Have you read 72 Words by Ted Chiang? Imagine that, written by Philip K Dick, but Russian.
-So effing creepy/trippy/mindblowing. I can't say any more about this, but it's hard fantasy--REALLY hard fantasy.
-But also human? Idk man, this is super cerebral but also, like, we talk about new babies and haircuts and stuff.
-I guess just the writing/translation. Brilliantly translated IMO. Tense, emotive, scary and liberating.
Things not to love:
-Everything I just said. Totally valid not to love that all.
-End...ing? A bit abrupt? Not entirely sure what happened or what the motivation there was.
This was An Experience, and I highly recommend people who like magic school stories, new weird and/or dark fantasy. I'm gonna have to think on this.