zoeelizabethk's Reviews (642)

A quick, pleasant, and easy listen. I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if it hadn’t been British. In many ways this reminded me of reading Beatrix Potter which was very enjoyable.

Ok I’ve got to admit: this book kinda lost me in places. I loved the first book but this one felt like it took too long in places and I kept wondering why I still had like 10 hours to go on the audio book (though I will admit that maybe listening to this changed how I experienced the book). Once I got to the last third it drew me in and kept me finally.

The prose was good but did not have the consistent spellbinding quality that the previous book did. The things that bothered me last book still bother me about this book including a lack of nuance in regard to Orthodox customs and some anachronisms or things that didn’t feel quite Russian.

Despite this, I liked the deepening relationships and weaving in additional fairy tales and mythology. I can probably only honestly give this book 3.5 stars but will still read the last book.

Side note: shoutout to the audiobook narrator, Kathleen Gati, because, while there are a fee glaring mistakes, overall she does a much better job than I would have expected with all the names and places. I was really worried about listening to these on audio book but she does a really good job.

The pacing of this book was so much better than book 2. I loved the play of time, history, myth, folklore, and imagination and this book was moving and I will admit to a few tears at the end. The prose was beautiful and left me wanting more at the end.

The book is definitely problematic for me as an Orthodox Christian though. I appreciate the author’s desire to explore the intersections of faith, myth, etc, but she pulls Orthodox saints into it this time, which makes me very uncomfortable, and I think gives a wrong idea about Russian faith. Of course, syncretism happens in many places, and in Russia no doubt, and having a character like Konstantin is understandable, but to suggest that St. Sergius would be anything other than against the pagan spirits is ludicrous and sacrilegious and does not understand Orthodoxy. To her credit, she does not completely eliminate the power of Christianity. The true Orthodox believers are not powerless and she seems to have moments where she argues that God is real too. But she argues that He exists along other gods/spirits, which ultimately is a big problem. It’s a fascinating read, but very slanted.

This was a lovely and enjoyable book, a true tribute to book lovers everywhere. The comics are sweet and relatable but feel a bit disjointed because most of them are stand alones. They are the type of thing I would run across on Pinterest and love because I relate so much to them, and I think I would enjoy running into them at random better.

I’ve got to say though, the sticker residue strip was definitely my favorite!