Beauty and the Beast, but with a medieval Russian flair. I love the Russian folklore aspects, and that the sisters are kind, and that the father doesn't need Beauty to sacrifice herself. I love Beauty's agency.

But. This book felt like a slog. Every time I went to pick it up, I'd put it right back down again. The writing is good and the story itself is interesting, but this is over 300 pages of just Beauty in her own head, whining about how unhappy she is like that's unusual for a peasant in medieval Russia. There are no side stories. When she gets kidnapped, you don't see what her sisters are doing or what her fiance is thinking. There's no break from her thoughts, which aren't that unusual for a teenager, but are a pain in the ass when it's all you get for the entire book.

I did love the firebird and the leshy and all the other Russian folklore creatures, and wish there had been more of them.