2.5 stars rounded up to 3. This book sounded super interesting to me, as I don't know a lot about Ukraine during world war II, but unfortunately I just didn't care for the story. I found the characters to be pretty cliche, with the bossy, over organized older sister and the flighty, flaky younger sister. I also found the part that set the majority of the story in motion to be really unrealistic. I don't understand why Larissa and Ira decided to pick up and travel, not only to Poland, but then all across eastern Europe. It might be a minor detail, but who has the money for that!?? And Larissa just left her husband and kids? Does her husband not have a job he has to deal with? Again, just very unrealistic. Especially because they find out early on that their grandmother is not in any imminent danger, so I didn't really see the point of them then trying to follow her.
The world war II timeline was interesting because I don't know a ton about Ukraine during that time although I've always assumed it's was similar to the rest of Eastern Europe in that if it wasn't occupied by Russia then it was occupied by Germany, so terrible for everyone involved.

3 stars

An interesting book about Ukraine & Slovakia during WWII. I enjoyed the sisterly bond between Larissa & Ira as well as the Baba Yaga folktales, but I found the story structure & plot to be weak & messy.

[What I liked:]

•Throughout the story, several folktales about Baba Yaga are told by various characters. They fit into the narrative well, & it was nice getting to know more about Baba Yaga since she was a central theme of the novel.

•I enjoyed learning more about Ukraine during WWII. Not as much historical fiction written in English focuses on that part of Europe during the war.

•Ira & Larissa’s relationship as sisters was touching & sweet. I enjoyed them as characters.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•So many character motivations in this book aren’t explained or make no sense! Why do Larissa & Ira leave suddenly to chase after their grandma, not even saying goodbye to Larissa’s small children before leaving? Do they really think Vera’s that incompetent? Once they get to Poland they find out she’s fine & nothing’s wrong, yet they keep chasing her & even lie to the police to get her movements!

•Why doesn’t Vera still love Dmitro when they get the chance to be together? Why does her mother leave her? Why doesn’t she follow her family if she doesn’t want to be with Dmitro?

•What was the point of the sexual assault scene in the train station (modern-day timeline)? It was very disturbing, but Ira never talks about it, it doesn’t seem to connect to any other plot point (except to make her afraid of other Roma people she later meets, which just seems racist), & she just jumps in a lake randomly & then is fine? Why did that need to be part of the story?

•I struggled with the structure of the book. The framing of the present day story, with Larissa & Ira chasing their grandma, seems weak. Then we keep switching back & forth to see Vera’s childhood, which was interesting but lacked depth & could’ve been more fleshed out—I really wanted to know about Vera’s time with Noncie, but we don’t get much. I think I would’ve preferred this book if it was just about Vera’s life during WWII, or if the framing had been different for the dual timelines (such as Vera traveling with her granddaughters).

CW: murder, sexual assault, racism/antisemitism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

A fascinating and moving look into the inter generational folk tales and legends of Ukraine. Particularly moving in the light of the Russian attack on Ukraine

I am so thankful to Tantor Audio, Kris Spisak, and NetGalley for granting me advanced audiobook access to this fabulously horrifying read/listen before it's set to publish on May 9, 2023. We love when generational and cultural traumas bind together and create a work that horrifies readers from every angle.