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A review by clemslibrary
Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek
4.75
this was a beautiful sweeping story filled with polish folklore and a semi-sentient house, what isn’t there to love?!
liska makes a bargain to work for the leszy for a year, and in return she gets to finally get rid of her magic as she has dreamed of. the characters were complex and compelling, each having their own struggles and desires, leaving for a world filled with secrets
the polish folklore is prevalent throughout the the entirety of the book, which I really loved as it was a different type of story with names and characters that held new meanings. The world is so cool to read about, it’s set largely within a sentient wood and house, which are things that I love in fantasy. The found family cost of characters are all so sweet and I loved seeing them grow and develop as they lived with each other and understood each other more.
I really liked the romance. I thought it was sweet and tender but it’s still had a good lead up, and when they get together, it was worth the payoff and all of the slow build up. The love interest is the Demon who controls and of warden of the woods, and because of this it means we get a slow understanding of who he is and what he wants. It does have the trope of really old loving interest with a young girl, which I’m not a fan of, but the romance itself was something that I really enjoyed.
This talks about identity and the impact of Christianity on folklore and more pagan religions, which I really liked as it meant we saw the main character grow and understand her magic whilst still struggling with her past and what she has been told.
This was a really compelling and fun story set within a sentence word and the found was one of my favourite aspects
liska makes a bargain to work for the leszy for a year, and in return she gets to finally get rid of her magic as she has dreamed of. the characters were complex and compelling, each having their own struggles and desires, leaving for a world filled with secrets
the polish folklore is prevalent throughout the the entirety of the book, which I really loved as it was a different type of story with names and characters that held new meanings. The world is so cool to read about, it’s set largely within a sentient wood and house, which are things that I love in fantasy. The found family cost of characters are all so sweet and I loved seeing them grow and develop as they lived with each other and understood each other more.
I really liked the romance. I thought it was sweet and tender but it’s still had a good lead up, and when they get together, it was worth the payoff and all of the slow build up. The love interest is the Demon who controls and of warden of the woods, and because of this it means we get a slow understanding of who he is and what he wants. It does have the trope of really old loving interest with a young girl, which I’m not a fan of, but the romance itself was something that I really enjoyed.
This talks about identity and the impact of Christianity on folklore and more pagan religions, which I really liked as it meant we saw the main character grow and understand her magic whilst still struggling with her past and what she has been told.
This was a really compelling and fun story set within a sentence word and the found was one of my favourite aspects