I started this book great guns and then for some reason I just stopped reading it. It languished on the end table, sad and neglected. Then last week I picked it back up and just ripped through the last 2/3 and it was amazing. Why on earth did I stop reading it?

This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book. Lush and so alive with stories and myths. I loved it. ( )

Beautifully written but hella weird. Cathrynne Valente is a supreme word-smith but sometimes I have no idea what she is talking about. Still, it was an interesting venture. ( )

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I am sure this book was brilliant. On the other hand, brilliance didn't hold my attention very well. I think a major problem is that I didn't know the Russian folktale that this book was based off of, and I spent a good portion of the book feeling like the person at the party who wasn't getting the inside joke. I love fairy and folk tale retellings, but a great portion of my enjoyment of such stories is me seeing how the original tales are twisted into something new and wonderful. I did not get that enjoyment from this book.

By itself, I found the story very good, the prose delicious at times, and the characters fascinating but lifeless. I could not get myself to care about Marya, which was ultimately what kept me from even giving the book 3 stars.

I also really wanted a glossary in the back for Russian terms and characters. (The epilogue lost all its punch when I couldn't remember who one of the characters was, who appeared briefly mid-way through.)

I am going to declare this an aberration and try more of Valente's books because I have heard such fabulous things about her - so fabulous, in fact, that I actually have most of her books in my possession. It's a shame this was the first one I picked up. ( )

Came across this book by accident. I loved the fairy tale charm of it wrapped around real historical events. ( )