The Witcher meets Naomi Novik in the first book to a new fantasy series which by the way, all books are releasing this year which is just fantastic. We’re following Kosara who lives in this walled city and unfortunately it’s the foul days which is a period of time where monsters invade and you have to try to survive. Also our main character has some type of shadow magic and a deal with the enemy, her ex. I absolutely LOVED this. Made a whole video about it on my YouTube channel. PERFECT!

"It's the way their magic works. Vila told me all about it. It's nothing to do with you as a person, it's to do with their pharaoh's moans."

"Their what?"

"The way they smell or something."

As you can see, there's plenty of humor in this fantasy tale of one woman's attempt to wend her way through a gauntlet of nasty monsters to get to the creature she fears most so that she can regain her shadow which gives her her witchy powers, all while denying her growing interest in her traveling companion when she'd really rather just be at home with her dead sister's ghost.

Whew!

Yeah, there's a lot going on here, and at times it seems like one of those quest games I used to watch my kids play where you need to retrieve an item for so-and-so, then he'll give you what you need to get to the next part of your journey. In other words, this was sometimes exhausting, but also pretty darned entertaining.

I'm guessing it will appeal to fans of T. Kingfisher and Travis Baldree.

Glad I've got the sequel in my queue.

Fantastic dark fantasy story, based on Slavic folklore. The magic is refreshing and unique and the characters are interesting. This story is a page-turner and I couldn't stop reading it. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out. I would recommend this book for fans of Margaret Owen, Victoria Aveyard, and Maggie Steifvater.

Foul Days was an enrapturing tale from beginning to end. I felt completely pulled into the world, the plot was engaging the entire way through, and I always wanted to know more about the characters, and I mean this in a good way. We got enough nuggets to keep it interesting without ever getting overwhelmed by lore dumps or “pause for character development” moments.

Foul Days is a great pick for fantasy fans and for readers who enjoy the theme of overcoming personal obstacles and doubts to succeed. Kosara is such a relatable character and I loved following her journey as she learned which voices she could trust.

Kosara is quite a force to be reckoned with! She is on a mission to find her shadow, but who can she trust? I found the magic interesting and I enjoyed the fast paced read, with the monsters of Slavic folklore coming to life! This book left me wanting to immediately grab the next, luckily I don't have long to wait! Thank you to Tor Books for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

When I saw this marketed as "The Witcher meets Naomi Novik" I was immediately sold, and it did not disappoint! An amazing fantasy adventure that will leave you feeling transported and have you rooting for the characters.

Kosara is a fire witch living in a walled city where, for one week a year, monsters descend on the town. In an attempt to escape one of these monsters, Kosara trades her shadow to a collector in exchange for immediate passage outside the wall. Now in the bright, untroubled land outside the wall, Kosara begins the search to recover her shadow before she disappears. Aided by a local cop determined to capture a local crime boss, Kosara follows the trail of her shadow back inside the wall ultimately facing the monster she was trying to escape.
Foul Days is an entertaining and faced paced fantasy, adventure. It has subtle romance between Kosara and the cop and between Kosara and the Czar of Monsters. It contains elements to satisfy most fantasy readers. It may also appeal to young adult readers, but there is quite a bit of foul language. Recommended for a quick, enjoyable read.

This is a very cool premise created by Genoveva Dimova about to towns separated by a magical wall that keeps monsters on the one side. In this story we follow Kosara a witch who has grown up with monsters, but after something goes wrong, she ends up without her shadow, and magic, and enveloped in a crime ring. In this story we get to see her fight to get her shadow back but also confront some of her biggest fears and enemies. I really enjoyed the world building, and I look forward to what she does with the sequel!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up!

I did find the beginning of this one hard to get into, but once I was in, boy was I IN.

I found the worldbuilding in this fun, and very interesting. The folklore was really cool, as I haven't read much Slavic Folklore, so it was nice learning about some new things.

The plot was awesome, I loved the mystery to it, and the little twists along the way.
Our main character, Kosara, had some really great growth throughout the story.
The hint of romance was so enticing (and I hope it turns into more in book 2).

While it took me a bit to get around to this read, I do think that this is worth people's time! I will be recommending this one to people, and am now looking forward to the sequel later this year.

I freaking loved this so much. I was instantly hooked to the characters and god the plot. It felt like something i had never read before and i love that it was unique

DNF at 22%.

This had a cool premise, what with monsters only attacking on New Years and the separation between the cities, so that one might remain safe at the expense of the other. Otherwise, this felt very simplistically written. Despite comparisons to Naomi Novik, the only similarities this shares with her work is the inspiration of Eastern European folklore. Dimova's writing doesn't have the lush prose that accompanies Novik's dark fairytales.

In Russian, the two cities literally translate to "dark town" and "light town", and it was that kind of lack of depth or complexity was also present in the writing that drove me to put this book down. Especially, when Dimova also tries to handle the complex experience of fleeing a place of danger to a foreign city- essentially that of a fantasy refugee and fails to portray it with any kind of thoughtfulness.

I'm glad I stopped when I did, and maybe I'll check out this author's future work. This one didn't appeal to me, and I felt maybe best suited a YA audience.

Thanks so very much to Netgalley and the publisher for kindly providing me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I do reviews on my main social media platforms and will be providing my full review there as I get through my TBR blacklist. Thanks again!

A big thanks to NetGalley and Tor for providing both an eARC and an advance audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The Witcher meets Naomi Novik? Say less. I need it now.

Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova is a fantasy novel set in the walled city of Chernograd. As a witch living there, Kosara has plenty of practice treating lycanthrope bites, bargaining with kikimoras, and slaying bloodsucking upirs. There’s only one monster she can’t defeat: her ex, the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed by someone close to her, Kosara’s only choice is to trade her shadow—the source of her powers—for a quick escape. Unfortunately, Kosara soon develops the deadly sickness that plagues shadowless witches—and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To find it, she’s forced to team up with a suspiciously honorable detective. Even worse, all the clues point in a single direction: To get her shadow back, Kosara will have to face the Foul Days’ biggest threats without it. And she’s only got twelve days. But in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the biggest monster from her past?

What isn't there to love? There's monsters, magic, and a slow burn romance. Foul Days redefines the very genre it inhabits. And so much more!

Genoveva Dimova has written a smart, captivating fantasy that borrows heavily from Russian/Slavic mythology.

Witch Kosara bargains away her shadow and must go on a quest to get it back before shadow sickness overwhelms her. Her quest will lead her to a way to save her city and get revenge on her powerful ex-lover.

I really liked this and will be looking for the conclusion to the duology. I’d recommend this to mid-teens and up, there’s some fairly adult themes but nothing terribly overt.

We need a new sub-genre of fantasy that is a little bit cozy, but still thrilling and mysterious. Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova is a book you want to read with a big cup of coffee under a large blanket. It gives the feel of some of the new adult fantasy, with the ambiance and detailed descriptions, but still has high fantasy themes of monsters, political strife, and adventure. I am really excited to have a new series to have in my to read list!

Thank you Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title! I can't wait for book two!

Will be discussed in upcoming Youtube video
Imgur link goes to graphic scheduled for August 3rd
Blog link goes live August 2nd
Amazon review posted, pending system approval


TL;DR: A unique urban fantasy that I think I read at the wrong time.
Source: NetGalley! Thank you so much to the publisher!

Plot: I liked this! Kosara bargains away her shadow in a moment of desperation. And in attempting to retrieve it gets caught up in a plot that ties her past into the city’s futures.
Characters: The characters were very fun. I actually quite liked everyone in this.
Setting: The pitch on this one of ‘The Witcher meets Naomi Novik’ is very spot on. It feels very Slavic in origin, and unique in it’s setting.
Magic: I wish we had a bit more magic, but I suspect subsequent books will see more of that.

Thoughts:

Foul Days follows Kosara who in an attempt to outrun the monster that emotional abused her as a child, bargains away her witch’s shadow for safety. This causes her to loose her powers, and once safe she realizes the foolishness of this action. She sets out in what she hopes will be a simple attempt to retrieve the shadow. It’s not simple, not at all.

This book hit weird for me. I genuinely forgot I was reading it at times, I wasn’t incredibly excited to return to it when I put it down. Yet when I did pick it up I plowed through it, I wanted to know what was coming next and I found it creative, funny and fun. I genuinely think that was a me problem, I’ve been extra moody in my reading lately so I don’t blame the book for that. This one had a bit of everything and it was drawn together in a really fun way. Murder, a sweet and goofy ‘partner’, monsters, and humor.

I’d recommend this for anyone who enjoys urban fantasy that leans more fantastical. I don’t know if The Witcher is a good comp, but Naomi Novik in a urban setting seems spot on. It’s also the beginning of a series that I definitely would pick up again.

4 out of 5 missing shadows

A fast moving tale of two separated cities and monsters that haunt them.

The story follows a witch. And witch's powers lie in her shadow. Well, this witch looses hers in a gamble. On the worst day of the year, the Foul Day. It is a day (or 12) between the old year and the new, when all the ghosts, ghouls and monsters come knocking. And everything goes up in the air for our witch, Kosara. She has to team up with a cop, from the other side of the wall, to figure out how the gambler, a murder, and the King of Monsters are all connected.

It was a story full of adventure and action. Never stopping, never moving. But also full of hear, and heartbreak, and a loss of family, finding a new one, and of course growth as a person and as a witch.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and now need to see how the story ends in the second book.

This was a great start to a new duology! I love the folklore-inspired world Genoveva Dimova created and I can't wait to see where Kosara and Asen end up next.

When this book was pitched as "The Witcher meets Naomi Novak," I absolutely stopped in my tracks. WHAT?! SIGN ME THE EFF UP!!

This book was SO MUCH FUN! The monsters, the magic, the lowborn romance?! It absolutely pulled through for me in the best of ways and I am so happy that this is not the only book in the series and that we can expect more in the future. 10/10 would recommend!!

Brimming with magic, monsters, and Slavic folklore, FOUL DAYS is a delightfully dark debut that sucked me in from the very beginning. I adored this world that the author created and I loved the monsters and the mythology that the story is centered around. ⁣
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The story starts almost immediately when Kosara and a group of friends take shelter in a pub to wait out the monsters that plague the city during New Year’s. The monsters appear year round, but they are strongest this time of year. Kosara can defeat most monsters, with the exception of the Zmey. The worst of all of them, as he appears human but is anything but. Kosara comes up with a plan that will take her over the wall that divides her city from the monster-less one in hopes of avoiding the Zmey, and that’s when the story really takes off. ⁣
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Phenomenal world-building, incredible characters, and a fast-paced and exciting storyline combined to make this a book I couldn’t put down. I adored everything about this debut, but the highlight for me was Kosara trying to break away from the relationship she once shared with the Zmey. ⁣Much of the story focuses on how badly that relationship has affected all aspects of Kosara’s life, and the feeling of impossibility and hopelessness that she harbored really oozed off the pages. Their relationship was definitely an abusive and toxic one, and I appreciated how that brought a heavy dose of reality to this otherwise fantastical tale. ⁣
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All told, I adored this book and will be patiently waiting for the sequel. I’m giving this one all the stars and putting it on my favorites for the year shelf.