She accepts to live in his manor for one year in exchange to get rid of her magic. Her curiosity makes her learn more than he wants to reveal
I have a feeling he can't stay away from her for long. Religion vs Pagan. Beauty and the Beast and Howl's Moving Castle vibes.
What a fun one. As a European, I love the vibe and mood of this novel with the religious vs pagan perspective, so many times in small towns people still go with possessed and exorcism to justify a deviant behavior. The characters are fun and once you hit that scene of the you-can-wish-for-anything-but-you-pick-cabbages... enjoy-your-cabages you won't stop reading it.
The cover is just gorgeous.

Thank you publisher for the copy

Romantasy is not usually my thing because it tends to lean more towards the romance than the world building. This is not the case here, the world building was excellent. It's like if you mixed a Naomi Novik with the Witcher lore. I loved the ending, it felt like it mattered so much, rather than just the way these things normally end. It read like a fairy tale.

Where the Dark Stands Still
by A. B. Poranek
Pub Date: 27 Feb 202

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A girl with dangerous magic makes a risky bargain with a demon to be free of her monstrous power in this young adult fantasy perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens and House of Salt and Sorrows.

Liska knows that magic is monstrous, and its practitioners are monsters. She has done everything possible to suppress her own magic, to disastrous consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska flees her small village and delves into the dangerous, demon-inhabited spirit-wood to steal a mythical fern flower. If she plucks it, she can use its one wish to banish her powers. Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to unknown horrors, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood—called The Leszy—a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.

Whisked away to The Leszy’s crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery: she is not the first person to strike this bargain, and all her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts—figurative and literal—of his past. Because something wakes in the woods, something deadly and without mercy. It frightens even The Leszy…and cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to pre-read this book and share my opinions on it.

Steeped in Slavic folklore, <i>Where the Dark Stands Still</i> was part <i>The Bear and the Nightingale</i> and part <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> with the kind of lush aesthetic one can expect from a Miyazaki film. While I wouldn’t necessarily classify this as a cozy fantasy - there was enough sorrow and death and horror here to keep it firmly out of that category - it had cozy elements. For example, a heroine who would bake when things were looking bleak, as a comfort to herself and others. Also, there is a house spirit that takes the smoky form of a cat, which lent itself well to that somewhat comfy image of a house witch and her feline familiar. Much to my delight, there is also a beautiful library with a magical door. And even though the writing itself isn’t a visual component of the book, it is lyrical and elegant. This book provides a very pretty reading experience.

I felt that the pacing, particularly in the beginning, could have used more finesse. If we had known even a little bit more about Liska prior to her creeping towards danger within the first chapter, it would have helped me feel the tension a bit more keenly. Then, once she arrives at the House under the Rowan Tree, any sort of tension or momentum the opening had managed to establish loses a lot of steam, as the story slows down a bit too much. And I <i>still</i> didn’t feel like I knew Liska well enough to care a whole lot about whether or not her problems got solved. Once the action builds back up, though, reading became a lot more fun and engaging, and it was easier to get through the pages.

I do tend to find myself on shaky footing whenever there is romance between a human and a demon, but at least I never found myself in the midst of anything too spicy for my personal preference levels. I know spicy romantasy is everyone’s THING right now, but it’s not mine, and it’s never going to be.

Uneven pacing issues aside, I enjoyed my time with this book. I am loving historical fantasy that brings folklore to life as much as this one does. My brain tends to turn what I am reading into a movie in my head, and this one was an animated feature that looked like it would be right at home alongside the aforementioned Miyazaki’s film library. I like a beautiful fantasy story, and this definitely scratched that itch. Just a lovely book.

(If I go back and re-read it at any point, I may opt for the audiobook version if there is one, because knowing how a lot of the Polish words used in this book were pronounced would be great - with my Anglo-centric eyes, I couldn’t guess how to say most of them!)

I really enjoyed this dark and beautifully crafted fairytale, firmly rooted in Polish folklore.

The story revolves around Liska Radost, a girl cursed with magic, who yearns to fit in and find her place in her small village. However, things take a wild turn when she ventures deep into the forest, seeking an unorthodox way to rid herself of the curse and finally become normal. This is when she encounters the Leszy, a powerful demon who governs the forest and controls all other demons. The Leszy agrees to lift the curse, but only if Liska agrees to serve him for a year. And so, Liska's adventure begins!

Where the Dark Stands Still was a fantastic blend of "Howl's Moving Castle", "Beauty and the Beast", and Eastern European folklore. The characters were simply delightful. Liska was strong-willed and fearless, never backing down from a centuries-old wood-demon. The Leszy, on the other hand, was drawn to her kind heart and spirit, despite his best efforts. Their witty banter and slow-burning romance were brilliantly written, and Leszy's morally grey, tormented character added an extra layer of intrigue that I always enjoy. What captivated me the most was the fact that I knew he was keeping secrets and, despite really wanting to trust him, I was always struggling to decide whether or not I should trust him, much like Liska.
But this book wasn't just about romance; it's also a story about overcoming prejudice and finding a sense of belonging. The secondary characters were wonderfully crafted, bringing depth and vitality to the story.
The ending had a bittersweet quality that touched my heart. Although I loved it, I couldn't help but wish for another scene, just to say goodbye properly.

The only downside was that the pace was a bit slow, and it would have been nice to have a glossary or something similar at the end to explain some of the Slavic culture references in the book. Nevertheless, the book was full of unexpected plot twists that kept me on my toes and left me surprised again and again in the best possible way.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone looking for an immersive and captivating read, especially if you like:
♡ found family
♡ slow-burn romance
♡ twists and turns and layers of secrets
♡ atmospheric world-building
♡ bisexual rep

Howl's Moving Castle mixed in with Polish mythology and so much more. This was a gorgeous story filled with magic, romance, dangerous monsters, and deals with demons and old gods. Liska is a girl cursed with uncontrollable magic, every time she lets it out someone ends up hurt... or dead. In an attempt to finally get rid of it she decides to wander into the woods to make a deal with a demon. But deals with demons always comes with a cost... so when she meets the Guardian of the Woods, Leszy, he asks for one year of her servitude in exchange for her magic. For one year she will live in his manor and work under him and to her surprise he even begins to train her as his apprentice. One year should go by right? For a village girl shunned by everyone in town for being a "witch" Liska strangely begins to feel like she has found a home for herself with this strange demon and his sentient house and talking cat. Liska and Leszy are polar opposites, she is sunshine while he is darkness, she is a curious and open while he has so many guarded secrets. Yet Liska finds herself drawn to his secrets and his past, trying to figure out why he wants her magic and what happened to the previous apprentice who lived her as well as why a mysterious ghost dog keeps haunting her at night. Liska discovers more than she could ever imagine about the demon boy she lives with and that beneath his gruff exterior lies a boy who is cursed. Liska discovers that Leszya got his power from a deal with a powerful demon himself and that he gave his heart up... yet if she wants to save the boy she has begun to fall for she'll have to break his curse and save his heart before it's too late. This was an absolutely fantastic and stunning read, I adored this book so much, It's such a perfect read for fans of Howl's Moving Castle and Uprooted, it's got a great world and the relationships between the characters was absolutely perfect. My only thing is I wish there was a bonus chapter or a bit of an extended epilogue so I could see more of Liska and Leszy together again after everything. I just wanted one more happy scene for them after everything they went through so badly because I love them so much. I seriously loved this book and can't wait to recommend it!

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I love a fantasy with a mystery. I love learning about the world while also puzzling out what secrets everyone in the book is hiding. Where the Dark Stands Still skillfully balances fantasy and mystery and I could not put it down. Also, have you seen the cover? I was immediately interested as soon as I saw it and I was even more interested when I saw the synopsis. All in all, such an enjoyable read that I will be recommending!

*Actual rating is 4.5 stars*

Where the Dark Stands Still is a gothic fairytale-esque fantasy inspired by Polish folklore. It’s in the same vein as Uprooted, in that a young girl (Liska) from a village becomes stuck at the place of an ancient and powerful magical being (the Leszy) whom the villagers are terrified of. Once she’s in his domain, he helps her realize her true potential.

This book is like a being under the shade of a tree. It’s a bit dark, but occasionally some stray rays of light shine through. These rays of light are usually Liska's awareness about the almost bizarre nature of her situation now that she has to live a year in the House Under the Rowan Tree. It creates almost a deadpan kind of humour, which I found quite funny. Like when she first enters the house, she points out the weirdness of casually putting her scarf on the coathanger belonging to this horned forest demon.

There’s a balance between the darkness and light of the story. There’s pain and suffering, but also healing, self discovery and self acceptance. It’s learning to let go of the past, so that it doesn’t hinder your progress in the present. There’s also a lovely expansion to the cast of characters, which ends up joining the House Under the Rowan Tree and its found family dynamic. I love reading about a group of misfits who find solitude and acceptance with each other.

The Leszy is a bit of a grumpy secret-keeper, but the way he acts is very reasonable for what he has been through and is demanded to constantly do. He’s not just grumpy or cold just for the sake of it. Instead he’s a self-proclaimed horned tragedy of a bi icon. The thing that gave me a hard time getting into the book was getting a grasp on Liska and the Leszy as characters. Their dynamic took a bit for me to warm up too, but the further into the story I got the more I came to really care about them. By the last third of the book I was glued to the pages, and the ending had me crying.

If you want to read a gothic dark fantasy that was inspired by a polish folklore and a fairy tale you will what to read this
It’s a story of a young women named Lisa who makes a deal with a demon to get rid of her magical powers. This is an easy read that you will not notice how much time has passed by because you’re enchanted by the story

In theory, this is exactly what I wanted—a fantasy steeped in folklore with romance intertwined. And while I did enjoy the folklore aspect of the story, the writing—especially the dialogue—left me wanting more. As the reader, I felt jerked around as we frequently hopped from present day to a memory of the main character's and the use of third person present-tense made it even more unsettling. The dialogue between the main characters often felt unrealistic given the information we knew about them and made it harder for me to enjoy any kind of "banter" they were supposed to have. The book was also far darker than what I was expecting and there are some problematic relationship dynamics that are too underdeveloped for my taste, especially considering the way it ends.

Not a book I would recommend unless it was for the folklore aspect only.

Promoted as a read alike to A Court of Thorns and Roses, I was excited to dive into Where the Dark Stands Still. Although there were some similarities to the two stories, I wasn't as captivated by this book. I found the pacing lacking. The beginning of the book was hard to push through. I felt that the main characters could have been more fleshed out, especially Leszy. I think I struggled with the main characters because the story was told in third person. I wanted to read what Liska was experiencing first hand. Now for the things I enjoyed! I liked that Liska and Leszy's relationship wasn't instalove. I enjoyed the Polish folklore and side characters. Jaga was a fantastic and hilarious side character! Although there were aspects of this story that I didn't care for, I thought this book was a lot better than other YA fantasies. Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing this ARC!

Once again my list of fictional homes grows a tad longer. I love enchanted mansions, and The House under the Rowan Tree is no exception.

Beyond that this book is a solid spin on the Beauty and the Beast format. Liska is a great protagonist and the steady trickle of background exposition keeps the story interesting.

It's quite atmospheric, so readers who don't like constant environmental and natural imagery should be wary.

Religious motifs both Christian and Pagan wrestle throughout the book. It was a lot more dominant in the book than I was expecting so as a heads-up to other readers I'm noting it.

Also includes heartaching level of romance.


Media with Similar Vibes:
-Ancient Magus Bride
-Beauty and the Beast
- The Girl From the Other Side

Other things this book reminds me of:
-Nature walks
-Trolley Problems
- How badly I want a sentient, magic house with talking cat.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Where to begin, for the first five star of the year this was such a beautiful story.

We start with our main character, Liska, who’s a simple village girl plagued with the curse of magic.

Later on she runs off into the Draida, a spirit-wood most don’t come out of alive in search of a magic fern that will grant her her only wish, to get rid of her magic.

Quickly this story will envelop you in its mystery and charm. The found family of misfits is crafted with experience and each of the characters feel unique and comforting.

The magic system and world were also created beautifully and I felt myself being enchanted with Liska as the Leszy shows her his world.

The mystery keeps you reading and so will the romance which was sweet and developed at the right pace (I was a fan even if I don’t tend to love such a large age difference)

Everything about this story made each word feel like it was placed for just that, The atmosphere was perfect for that creepy kind of feel sometimes, or a magical freeing feeling at other times.

“A boy who loves too little and a girl who loves too much, two threads tangled on the loom of history”

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this early! "Where the Dark Stands Still" is a beautifully written story that uses Polish folklore to tell a captivating tale of growing into ones self and the trials our main character Liska faces along the way. I couldn't get enough of of the dreamlike writing and fell in love with the characters and their struggles. Admittedly it took me a minute to really get engrossed in the plot of this book as the beginning has a lot to set-up which meant the charcaters didnt really shine until a few chapters in, but once the story got going I found myself rooting for Liska and trying to piece together the mysteries of the Leszy's forest and the ghibli-esque cast of characters residing in his home which happens to have a mind of its own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me as it wasn’t my style but I’m sure others would enjoy!

Where the Dark Stands Still will draw you in if you enjoy Margaret Rogerson, folklore-inspired historical fantasy, and a rough on the outside, soft on the inside love interest. I liked the main character, and really felt like a part of her journey throughout. There are enough twists and intense moments to give it a horror flair, though it is ultimately a fairly cozy fantasy romance--just with a few more ghosts than usual.
This is also a debut, so I won’t nitpick the writing too much. Poranek obviously has talent and skill, and I’m excited to see how her style develops over time. Two tropes featured here that I am not a fan of: the immortal/centuries old love interest and the love interest using a nickname for the main character almost exclusively. I know these are popular tropes within the genre, they just aren’t my favorite. I also feel like the pacing was a bit stop-and-start; the first chapter throws us into the plot with little explanation, the middle third or so is comfortably slow paced, and then we ramp up again toward the end. This is another aspect that I think will improve in future books from this author.
Ultimately, this was an enjoyable read of average quality that I will recommend to anyone who enjoyed A Sorcery of Thorns/An Enchantment of Ravens, My Throat An Open Grave, Bone Weaver, and similar titles.
Many thanks to Netgalley and McElderry (S&S) for the opportunity to read and review this!

"Where the Dark Stands Still" is a young adult fantasy inspired by Polish mythology starring Liska, who has magical powers that she fears. The church has told her that these powers are evil, and she can't control them, and so she runs into the forest to get rid of them, where she runs into the evil-yet-hot spirit of the forest who tells her that her powers aren't evil at all.

....y'all can see where this is all going, right?

Okay, so "Where the Dark Stands Still" is as easy to predict as anything, and boy is it Beauty and the Beast-ish without actually claiming to be so, BUT it's well-written and paced. While I could see every single beat coming (oh, is the evil spirit actually just grumpy? Is he going to get hurt, and she'll have to take care of him, and this will foster more closeness between them?), it was a fun, quick read. I think anyone wanting a retelling with unique worldbuilding will find this one a satisfying read.

I'm not sure what I expected when starting this book other than thinking after reading the synopsis that this should be something I would enjoy. Well, I just have to say that it blew me away.
The writing was beautiful and vivid, and the characters were stubborn and sassy and made for each other. And the story itself was lovely and heartwarming. It broke my heart and then put it back together.
All Liska wants is to get rid of her magic, especially after she caused the death of someone in her village. Her only hope is a flower that grows in the demon woods. There is a high probability that she won't survive, but the hope of her magic being gone propels her forward. She finds the flower.. and something else the Lezzy, the warden of the wood and he makes her a bargain. She can have the flower for a year of service. Of course, she takes the bargain, and off starts this amazing story that had me glued to the pages and feeling all the feels. I loved the Lezzy. You can tell he keeps his feelings walled off, but seeing Liaka worm her way through was lovely and highly entertaining. I also loved seeing Liska become who she was always meant to be and watching her become unafraid of the lezzy and constantly be a pain I'm behind while they were falling in love was so much fun. While this story didn't end how I thought it would, the ending was amazing and fit the tone of the story.
This is a book I will buy a physical copy of. I can't wait to add it to my shelves.

Where the Dark Stands Still is a charming, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of For the Wolf and Howl’s Moving Castle. With endearing characters, beautiful writing, and a lush setting this story feels straight out of a fairytale.

I adore all of the characters in this book. Liska is strong and determined but also kind and caring. It was incredible watching her heal her relationship with magic and grow beyond the constraints of her village. The Lesky is everything you want from a fantasy love interest—a tortured boy with a prickly personality that hides a caring heart. Liska and the Lesky’s relationship was adorable and heart-wrenching. Their banter was hilarious and really reminded me of Sophie and Howl’s dynamic in Howl’s Moving Castle.

With a magical forest as threatening as it is beautiful and a temperamental sentient manor, Where the Dark Stands Still has a rich fairytale atmosphere inspired by Polish folklore. The magic is simple but beautifully woven throughout the story.

Unfortunately, something about the last third of the book didn’t quite work for me. A major reveal brings a shift in the story that really interested me. However, I feel like the story rushed to the end after this reveal. I would have liked more time for this last arc of Liska and the Lesky’s relationship. Furthermore, having this reveal earlier would've helped build tension for the final confrontation and made the bittersweet tone shift feel more appropriate. The rushed pacing of the final act is particularly jarring because the majority of the book has a slow, meandering, almost cozy pace.

Where the Dark Stands Still was a stunning debut and I would happily read more from A.B. Poranek in the future.

This book is so deliciously atmospheric. I'm unfamiliar with Polish folklore, and it was such a refreshing take on romantic fantasy. I enjoyed the magic system, and as far as gothic fairytales go, it's engaging. It's a little bit Beauty and the Beast, and I think fans of the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo will enjoy this one a lot!