I had high hopes based on the description, but I read this book for an hour and had no idea what was going on. It's overly descriptive, and the syntax and pacing made it more work than I cared for as a reader. Good premise, but the execution fell flat.

Lilith Saintcrow's book Spring Arcana is a magical, dark tale with interesting characters and one familiar flaw. She will draw you in to this realm beyond the grasp of the main character, with inviting sexuality and promises from Baba herself but an underlying sense of something very wrong. And that wrong is in the writing. Much like the major complaint for any Stephen King book that he will spend three pages on describing one leaf, at times Saintcrow spends too much time on description of every single aspect of the scene, with metaphors and similes running the story instead of events. This begins to detract from the main story, which is fun, fascinating and a little scary. If she held back on the description some, this would be an absolutely fun, good read.

I really enjoyed the first part of this duology. I found a world populated by various divinities to be fascinating. I can’t say that I liked the ending though, I would have much rather read a longer book than have this book just end. 3.5 stars.

“Tonight, though he was invoked, propitiated, and sometimes demanded, he was out of the office. Besides, it did not do to answer every cry. Humanity tended to take the reliable for granted.”

Ok, I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for anything mythology-related, and this was no exception. We have Russian gods who go where their believers go, and when their believers immigrated, well so did the gods. But moving gods from the old country to an urban haven in new lands where the soil is different and the beliefs begin to wane? Things get messy. And I love it when things get messy.

We follow Nat, who has always been bullied and punished for being a liar because she can see things that other people can’t. When her single mother falls ill and lays dying in hospice, Nat is told that the only way to save her is to go see an old and powerful god. A deal is made, a riddle is spoken, and off Nat goes on a dangerous scavenger hunt for the things that could save her mother while being plagued by too many questions on who she really is, why things are like this, and what will happen to them all.

At least the old god sent a bodyguard along with Nat. His name is Dimi, and he may be the god of thieves, have little in the way of morals, and have dubious reasons to be helping Nat, but he’s the only thing standing between Nat and the living shadows that are hunting her down to devour her.

Now here’s the thing. The first two chapters? Particularly the very first chapter? I could have done without. It’s Nat riding a bus then an elevator to get to the old god, and while there were bits and pieces of it that lay down the foundation for the difficult relationship Nat has with her mother, it was difficult to read because the details were too much for the moment. Thankfully, the rest of the book begins to pick up soon after and while the descriptions are still laid on thick, it is not quite as unnecessarily heavy-handed as the beginning.

In fact, the later descriptions serve to build the atmosphere of a world that Nat’s only been able to get a glimpse of but never live in. Others called her a liar but now she knows that it undeniably exists, even if resisting opening her eyes to it is an old habit that she has to shed first. And what I love about it is that the fairy-tale world is not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s messy, chaotic, dark, gritty (all things I love). When you think of fairy tales, you think of sparkly fairy godmothers and you forget that red riding hood was being hunted by a big bad wolf.

SPRING’S ARCANA does not let you forget that. It’s not even that there are the good gods versus the evil gods. It’s just that as gods, they are powerful, they have their own agendas, and they’re not necessarily good or evil, they simply are gods. I’d even say that SPRING’s ARCANA leans dark fantasy or fantasy horror, and that’s right up my alley on what I like to read.

The main cast consists of Nat, her mom, her uncle, and her bodyguard. While most of the book is from Nat’s perspective, you do get the occasional chapters from the rest of the main cast. And let me tell you that her bodyguard-thief-god’s POV and her uncle’s POV were some of the real gems to read. In fact, her uncle Leo? Love him, will accept zero criticism about this old car mechanic of a man whose coffee is more vodka than coffee and only knows how to cook grilled cheese.

Now usually by this time, you get my list of content warnings. This book is dark, there are a lot of warnings. But the important ones that vividly stuck out to me were: emotionally abusive parent, gore, and suicidal ideation.

Finally it is time for my star defense. The publisher, Tor Publishing Group, reached out to me saying that if I loved NETTLE & BONE then I might like SPRING’S ARCANA, and they were right. What drew me to read this book was its title, (SPRING’S ARCANA), its series title (DEAD GOD’S HEART), and the Russian gods mythology. And I’m happy to say they did not disappoint. But for the difficult beginning and abrupt ending, four stars.

I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment of this duology.

Thank you Tor Publishing Group for dropping this book on my radar and giving me an opportunity to read the eARC on Netgalley. My opinions are my own.

2.5 stars rounded up.
Spring's Arcana is an interesting concept with a lackluster execution. I tend to love stories with modern interpretations of god-like characters, and gods walking among us, but I felt like the presence of the Divinities was vague and a little everything-and-the-kitchen-sink. This is a book that has a strong theme of Russian folklore, but we also have the inclusion of notable literary figures including a major scene that features Jay and Daisy Gatsby- why? The pantheon of who or what is categorized as a Divinity feels inconsistent.
I also really struggled with our main character Nat. Tonally, this book feels like it wants to be a fantasy noir, and one of the defining characteristics of that genre is morally grey characters, or at least characters with secrets and ulterior motives. Nat is an obedient, bewildered young woman who asks a lot of questions internally but hardly ever voices her questions or demands. She even has a moment when she decides to "stop being such a good little girl"- but nowhere is this manifested in her actions. She's too soft and boring for this world and I couldn't care less.
I also struggled with the action pacing in this book. There are several moments when there is rising plot tension, and Nat and Dima get separated, and the tension gets interrupted because we flip back and forth between their two perspectives too quickly.
I think if you Really love reading noir, regardless of how strong the execution is, or if the buzzword of Russian Mythology is a strong sell for you, this book is worth a try, but for me it was just fine.

Spring's Arcana
By Lilith Saintcrow
This book was a long but wild ride! A young woman's mother is dying in hospice and she send her to a strange woman for help. The woman agrees to help but she must bring the item back to the woman. Her mother said to bring it to her. The woman is sending a man with her. He said he will take the item when she gets it and kill her. Wow! I don't think I would bother with the trip!
Seems her mother was cruel to her all her life. Never loved her. Her mother stole a heart, the heart of the guy going with her! From the strange lady!
The adventure is full of magic and danger! Once on the trip, she has a motorcycle that turns into a horse. But then it was a bit unwilling to go back to the ranch after she found one of the pieces she needed. The characters are great, unique story and fantasy, and enjoy the suspense.
It was an enjoyable read but it just stopped. Not a cliffhanger but it just stopped. I really, really hate that. It would have been a 4 star book to me before that.
I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this fun and exciting book.

Although an urban fantasy adaptation of the Baba Yaga legend had potential, this particular book fell short of expectations. The characters were weakly developed, lacking in believability and depth, rendering them as dull as unripe papaya. The author's tendency towards excessive description and overwriting contributed to the story's flatness, resulting in a tedious and meandering narrative. For instance, the opening chapters featuring Nat on a bus ride to Y.A.G.A were excessively long and boring. The protagonist, Natchenka, remained aimless and uninteresting for a significant portion of the book, making it difficult for the reader to invest in her fate. Meanwhile, the Yaga figure, de Winter, was reduced to a bitchy old woman with little complexity. The other characters were similarly unmemorable.

The story lacked momentum and failed to build towards a satisfying conclusion. Instead, it dragged on and on until it abruptly ended, leaving the reader questioning the purpose of the journey. The book failed to create a sense of connection with its characters and narrative, resulting in a joyless experience for the reader.

However, the book did correctly use Russian language and gendered surnames, which was a small consolation.

The story begins without a big animatic first line or a first page. But don't let that fool you. Even without a kickstart, the story starts gearing up in the first chapter without even letting the reader know until he flips over to chapter 2. And the writing remains the same throughout. Not very poetic or stylish, but practical. It suits the story it is conveying. The family reads as if it is part of the Russian Mafia yet remain loving as any family. Slavic fantasy speaks through the book brilliantly and the protagonist adds to the fantastical elements of the plot.
All in all, it was a good book and definitely deserves the 3 stars I am giving to it.

My Thoughts

Our main character Nat Drozdova is a young Russian woman who is portrayed as innocently naïve but she finds out things as the story unfolds that soon shatter her innocence forever.

Filled with the type of creatures she has been taught since birth do not exist and learning things about herself along the way that are just as fantastical Nat undertakes a journey unlike anything she could have conjured in her imagination.

A journey filled with danger and one that I felt ended on too abrupt of a note that would love to see continued and have the chance to read when it does.

Well, there is Urban Fantasy and then there is the authors take on it which will not appeal across the spectrum of many readers of the genre.

So glad I am one of those it worked for.

Can say that despite its slow start things moved too quickly for me once I became fully comfortable with characters and certain plot points converged.

Partly excited to be finished yet also frustrated that it’s done.

Fantasy mixed with realism created a good beginning but what comes next is anybody’s guess.
[EArc from Netgalley]

In these troubled times, everything that seems related to Russia is eyed with mistrust. But the fact remains true that Slavic folklore holds a great deal of fairy tales and characters, especially of the dark variety, to be raw material for countless stories. Shall we find out if this holds true for dark urban fantasy roadtrips, as well?

The promise of the story seems simple enough: Natasha's mother is sick, terribly so, and she sends her to visit a woman heading a corporation named Y.A.G.A. - and while that woman's name is given as Ms. de Winter, her employees refer to her as Baba. Let's just say it's not very subtle, and I assume Baba Yaga is probably the most notorious character of Slavic folklore. (In this case, she resides in a skyscraper, not in a hut, and I somehow doubt the skyscraper has chicken legs.) I'm also suspecting a cross breed with the summer and winter court of the Fae.

The writing style is truly show, don't tell; and the overall tone is gloomy. I've never read a simple bus ride that was so gloomy, and you get the feeling the novel is starting to set out on heavy and dark notes from page 1. (That means if you don't have a knack for darker things in life, this novel might not be for you.) But the style of also exhausting, because Lilith - we need to talk about that later on - constantly uses mental pictures. A lot of them, and some really, well - let's call them really creative ones. Sometimes more than one per sentence. Let me elaborate:

"He stared out the window like he was seeing raccoons along the back fence instead of just a snowed-under postage-stamp yard mom kept trimmed, weeded, and neat until the snow came and obliterated all trace of green each year."
- a murder of mental images

Mental images are a great thing if they are able to paint a picture for the reader, but even when they are good, they should be used sparsely, so not to exhaust the reader. I felt rather overwhelmed at times by all the comparisons that were drawn into the writing, and the worst thing is that many of them made no sense to me. While I get that postage-stamp yard reference in the last sentence (I would probably have called it a postcard yard instead), I absolutely have no clue how people stare when they're seeing raccoons on the fence. Never witnessed anything like that, and there's just nothing similar I could draw upon to come even close. I've seen people starting frightened into thunder and rain, or being afraid of lightning, but raccoons along the back fence? I've got no clue.

I'm also getting heavy American Gods vibes right from the start, just in this case more Russian gods (well, Neil Gaiman did feature Slavic deities in his novel, as well). But I think that Lilith's prose is trying too hard to make the jump to American Gods.

There's those comparisons, trying very hard to sound cool, all the while making no sense. And just by judging from the pen name, the author is also trying very hard to look cool in the context of the occult. Lilith Saintcrow might be, as a friend of mine put it, a really "punch in the face" pen name. I agree.

And that's a pity, because that forced coolness is looming like the shadow of a hyper exaggerated titan, swinging an axe as dark as the exhaust pipe of a 57 Chevy, over an otherwise interesting plot that now looks like it has seen too many raccoons, despite the fact that there are no raccoons in the story. (Sorry for that sentence, but I had to make a point.)

The story underneath is sometimes hard to follow, but full of very interesting characters. Most outstanding are Nat - the heroine - and her mother as well as Baby Yaga. (I'm inclined to describe both of them as antagonists.) But if you want, you may see them as the same person, kind of. Taking the Wiccan nature of the author's pen name into account, they could very well represent the maiden, the mother and the crone. That's actually in line with some of the Yaga myths out there.

What is a lot harder to follow are the many characters and places and their standing in the world. A lot is said about that, but nothing explained - and sometimes I wish the "show, don't tell" approach wouldn't be so strict here. Like, I don't mind a little telling, you know? Just a little more context, please?

And the pace is a problem. It takes forever to really get going, and forever to clearly articulate what Nat's mother has really planned for here. (I suspected as much, but Nat had to get it straight from the horse's mouth, quite literally.) And by that time, the slow crawling pace had wasted so much pages that the story can't even be finished. It has to be continued.

*****

In the end, it's 3.5 stars for me. Really very interesting premise, but the narrating is winding, letting the reader too often in the dark, and I strongly suspect the story could have been finished within the 300+ pages with a more precise story telling.

Disclaimer: No raccoons were harmed during the creation of this review. At least none I know of. Also, I was provided an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Having loved American Gods and having a slight recent obsession with folklore retellings, I was excited to read this promised mash up by Lilith Saintcrow. However, I was completely disappointed in the storyline, the characters, and the overall structure of the novel.

What I can only assume was meant to be a homage to American Gods ended up being an almost blatant rip off. Nat is the unknowing daughter of a Russian divinity of Spring and must make her way across the US in search of an object that will cure her ailing mother. Along the way, she meets a host of other divine and literary (?) figures.

Over-written, the author describes every object in abject detail, however the characters and the plot itself are left devoid of any meaning. The author assumes you know Russian folklore and other literary figures and fails to give any background beyond “winter, spring, and horsethief”. Even as a fan of the folklore, I was left confused.

Nat waffles between being downright idiotic in her responses to the divine events and entities she has been newly introduced to and acting nonchalant like it’s just another day in the neighborhood. There is zero consistency and it drove me mad throughout the novel and honestly, I did not care if she got eaten or not. The villains in the book, Baba Yaga and her henchman, Dimi appear to be all bluster and possessing weak bluster at that.

Plot line wise, even for an urban fantasy with plenty of magical realism, the events of the book seemed completely implausible. Nothing was explained and therefore the magic and world building made zero sense. When characters asked for said explanation, the response was either, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”, “You’re mother didn’t tell you?”, or “You’ll find out later.” Only, we never find out later, but get plenty of descriptions of Dimi’s shining boot-toes. Why the obsession with boot-toes? Also, the book simply ends with very little being resolved and answers, perhaps, promised in a second installment.

Maybe it is just me and someone else who has not read similar works will find enjoyment out of the over abundant use of adjectives and lack of complex characterizations,

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was terrible; there isn't any positive comment I can make. The plot was plodding and boring, the characters were dull as dishwater and completely one-dimensional, the phrasing/wording of the book was quite strange. It read like it was translated from several non-related languages before it was translated into English. The phrase "boot-toes" is bizarre and appears far too much in the book. Most of the text can be deleted and it wouldn't affect the story at all. The only way I would read a different book by this author is if I was given a million dollars in cold hard cash per book.

What can I say about Spring's Arcana, the latest offering from the fantastic Lilith Saintcrow?

Well I can easily say that like a lot of her other work it's actually really fabulous if a little bit confusing at times.

There is a lot of information given in this Baba Yaga/diety reminiscent tale of secret, lies and a heavy, heavy dose of mythology but also a lot of information that is held back too which does make for the confusion as sometimes there's a torrent of background information and others there is just the vaguest hint. The book has a pretty slow start and does take a while to hit its stride but once it does it flies full throttle to a pretty abrupt end that sets up for the second book that out ater this year.

The world building in the book does suffer from the vague hints and titbits you get fed through out the book but I'm sure that it'll all work itself out by the end of the series as I've seen other books of hers so a similiar thing.

It is a hard book to get into but if youre brave enogh to stick with it is really is an entertaining read and im positive that after the next book things with the storyline will be much, much clearer. Stick with it as Lilith Saintcrow is a clever, exciting and very enjoyable author to read and I personally love her work.

Bring on the next book as I cant wait to find out where things will go next.......

Having thoroughly enjoyed the Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet books by this author I was overjoyed to discover this new series. The synopsis likens it to a cross between American Gods and Baba Yaga and I can see why as there’s powerful beings and a lot of Russian folklore thrown into this . Plus I’d add that it even reminded me of the John Wick movie with its strong performance by Anjelica Huston who would make the perfect Baba Yaga but I digress .
Nat will do anything to save her mother but she’s got no idea exactly what she’s agreed to when sent on a quest with a dangerous male who admits he wants to kill her ! Traveling across the US Nat encounters all manner of strange, hungry beings but perhaps the hungriest of all is much closer to home !
This is urban fantasy that sprawls and drags the reader into a world that is as strange as it is interesting. Nat is without a doubt naive and seems to just blunder blindly from one bad situation into another. Dima whilst undoubtedly antagonist for very good reasons is an interesting character with flaws but I have hopes for him. At times it felt certain descriptions were overlong and then it just seems to jump but I did enjoy this particularly as Nat slowly becomes a more rounded character. The ending is abrupt though and whilst not strictly a cliffhanger does leave this reader somewhat adrift and really wanting more which is surely a good thing ?
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Whilst an urban fantasy retelling of Baba Yaga sounded like a great plot premise, the book unfortunately didn't deliver. It had the weakest characterisation I've seen in a while, people quite hard to believe and rather bloodless, by which I mean about as exciting as unripe papaya.

How can you make a story based on Baba Yaga folklore this insipid? By overdescription and overwriting. If you're more into describing and describing (that initial couple of chapters with Nat in the bus on her way to Y.A.G.A were interminable) instead of infusing life and emotions and complexity into your characters, this is what you get. Natchenka is such an aimless ninny for so long that you wouldn't even care if Dima killed her by accident or just because he could, and de Winter (the Yaga figure) is hardly more than a bitchy old woman for the most part. And don't ask me about the other characters, because I struggle to remember their names already.

The story just goes on and on until it just . . . ends. Yes, just ends, and one is left wondering what was all that about because the overdescription dragged you around for a bus ride to a destination you can't even care about because the capacity to care about the characters and story wasn't built from the beginning. It's almost like taking a joy ride on a bus without the joy.

At least the Russian is correct and the surnames are duly gendered as is done in Russian, small mercies.

Thank you to Tor Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
1 like

Don’t expect this to be your standard urban fantasy. Saintcrow is a master of creating an atmospheric and deeply unsettling environment. This is my 8th book by the author and it still surprises me how much some of her characters can give me the ick. I would almost class this as a horror fantasy.
Nat is a sweet but deeply naive character that is thrown headfirst into the world of Gods and magic. I really feel for her especially as the plot develops and some things come to light. That being said she seems like the only character with real depth so far, despite the multiple PoVs. I’m hoping this will change with the next installment. I love Saintcrow's twist on Russian folklore, and the classic divinities we all know as well as a few modern gods of her own invention.

I’m not sure this would be the best book as an introduction to the author but it is as solid as her other work. The wording was a little more flowery than what I have read from her before but I think it adds to the sense of ‘other’ in the world. This book does finish on a mild cliff hanger but does not feel unfinished.

It did take me a chapter or 2 to get into it but overall I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next book!

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGallley and the publisher for an honest review.

I couldn't stop reading this! Saintcrow's attention to detail kept the story engaging and leaves you wanting more. I can't wait for the next book. The word usage is incredible. For someone who reads hundreds of books a year it is a joy to come across new words. I loved the story and the characters in this book..Saintcrow is an adept world-builder. The stunning visuals she conjures in the reader's imagination rival those of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis..

Five stars!

This book should include a list of prerequisite reading so you can understand all the mythology and culture references. I know just enough to know I'm missing a lot. Nonetheless I enjoyed it a lot, right up until the author ended it on a cliffhanger.

This book ends on an abrupt, not really a cliff hanger, but also not a real ending. Kind of like the whole story was written and they decided to break it up into two books. Just picked the half way point to stop the story.

Had 60% of the pages not been info dumping, and flowery writing that focused on stuff not important to the scene, the book might have been able to fit Nat's full journey within it's pages. So needless to say, once I hit the 70% mark I realized we weren't getting the full story, and hoped it would at least end on a climactic ending. But it was really just eh.

If you have seen the John Wick movies, this book feels like a rip from that. But instead of a man out for revenge, it's a teenager *surprise you have magic* on an adventure to save her mom who is likely, probably, going to kill her anyway if she succeeds. But you only get 1/2 of the adventure, which is mostly just world building (lots of great potential with the Russian folklore and such) and long monologues about the un-natural world from multiple POVs.

It was intriguing enough to keep me picking up between other reads, but not interesting enough to make me want the second half of the story. (NOTE: It also didn't help that the copy provided to me by NetGalley / TOR Publishing Group wasn't properly formatted. So there were numbers, and odd spacing throughout making for a distracting read.)

The characters all had personality, but they were very predictable if you've watched / read any paranormal stuff like Supernatural, etc. Very YA, and very lackluster main character.

You'll enjoy this book if you enjoy magic in plain sight stories based in Russian folklore. Colorful writing, with the world building being it's own character to follow throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR Publishing Group for providing me an early copy of this book.

I tried really hard to get into this book. Everything about it screamed as something I would love. For whatever reason I could not get into it through no fault of the author or the writing. Just not the right time.