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A review by thereadingfaery
Little Black Bird by Anna Kirchner
5.0
I honestly don't know where to start about this book. I beta-read it a while ago, and I loved it back then, it was a solid four stars, but now, after reading the ARC, well, it's definitely five stars. Honestly, this book... there aren't words good enough to describe how I feel about this book, other than it made me feel everything.
The characters were the highlight of this story. I mean, the mythology is so interesting, the plot is very well-paced, and there are so many great things about this book, but the characters are just special. Wiki is so easy to relate to and impossible not to like, and Artur... you guys, Artur is just the sweetest guy on the planet. I want to be best friends with him. But seriously, these characters are so incredibly well-written and they truly pop off the page, they feel so real.
The plot is very well-paced. Not too fast, not too slow. What really impresses me about it is how the author manages to balance between plot and world-building almost perfectly. And the world-building is amazing. It's clear that the author is very interested in the Slavic mythology that the book is based on, and it makes it hard for the reader not to be sucked into the world and mythology. It's also incredibly well-written. Vivid and imaginative, it makes the city and the magic come alive. It makes it easy to get lost in the book.
I also have to mention something about all the diversity in this book. For one, it was very refreshing to read about a character who is questioning her sexuality. I'm all for books about proud gays and lesbians, but I also need the questioning characters. And Wiki's and Artur's struggles are so very relatable. There's also mental health representation in the form of eating disorders and anxiety, and it's incredibly well-written and relatable. This is exactly the kind of diversity I want - need - to see more of in YA literature.
Honestly, I could go on forever about how amazing this book is, but I'm going to stop myself here. Little Black Bird has everything I want in a YA Fantasy; characters that you can't help but love, lots of magic, and diversity. It takes some popular tropes and turns them into something fresh and new, and uses a fairly unknown mythology to build an irresistible world. I can't wait to dive deeper into it!
The characters were the highlight of this story. I mean, the mythology is so interesting, the plot is very well-paced, and there are so many great things about this book, but the characters are just special. Wiki is so easy to relate to and impossible not to like, and Artur... you guys, Artur is just the sweetest guy on the planet. I want to be best friends with him. But seriously, these characters are so incredibly well-written and they truly pop off the page, they feel so real.
The plot is very well-paced. Not too fast, not too slow. What really impresses me about it is how the author manages to balance between plot and world-building almost perfectly. And the world-building is amazing. It's clear that the author is very interested in the Slavic mythology that the book is based on, and it makes it hard for the reader not to be sucked into the world and mythology. It's also incredibly well-written. Vivid and imaginative, it makes the city and the magic come alive. It makes it easy to get lost in the book.
I also have to mention something about all the diversity in this book. For one, it was very refreshing to read about a character who is questioning her sexuality. I'm all for books about proud gays and lesbians, but I also need the questioning characters. And Wiki's and Artur's struggles are so very relatable. There's also mental health representation in the form of eating disorders and anxiety, and it's incredibly well-written and relatable. This is exactly the kind of diversity I want - need - to see more of in YA literature.
Honestly, I could go on forever about how amazing this book is, but I'm going to stop myself here. Little Black Bird has everything I want in a YA Fantasy; characters that you can't help but love, lots of magic, and diversity. It takes some popular tropes and turns them into something fresh and new, and uses a fairly unknown mythology to build an irresistible world. I can't wait to dive deeper into it!