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freezeveganpolice 's review for:
Where the Dark Stands Still
by A.B. Poranek
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I devoured this in a single cross country plane ride. This has everything I love in a fantasy: haunted woods, many a demon encounter, a grouchy wizard with a weird-ass house. I love how unabashedly Polish it all is, and loved watching the mystery unfold. Also love that, like Nathaniel Thorne (another spiritual successor to Howl), Eliasz is a fellow bisexual king. (Though reading the acknowledgments does make me wonder whether AB Poranek was intentionally creating another white-haired Eliasz styled after Elias of Sorcery of Thorns fame, or if the vibes simply possessed her so thoroughly she forgot. Either way, I am apparently collecting white-haired Elias(z)es. This now makes three.)
And the prose! AB Poranek is doing things with metaphor I could never dream of; her way with words occasionally reminds me of Markus Zusak. Occasionally it gets a little purple even for me (notorious purple prose enjoyer) but for the most part I was locked in and in love.
VERY excited to read A Treachery of Swans now, which may somehow be even more of a book designed Just For Me.
And the prose! AB Poranek is doing things with metaphor I could never dream of; her way with words occasionally reminds me of Markus Zusak. Occasionally it gets a little purple even for me (notorious purple prose enjoyer) but for the most part I was locked in and in love.
VERY excited to read A Treachery of Swans now, which may somehow be even more of a book designed Just For Me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Fire/Fire injury