Unfortunately this one was not for me. I found the pacing to be a bit too slow, and I think some of the folklore elements went over my head. I just couldn’t connect to the characters and the story. I do feel there were some cool magic elements, and this could really be a hit for someone else.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of House of Frost and Feathers by Lauren Wiesebron.

For readers who enjoy Naomi Novik, Katherine Arden, or Genoveva Dimova, House of Frost and Feathers is a positive new addition to the Slavic folklore fantasy genre.

This story is told from dual POVs - Marisha, a 21 year old woman approaching destitution after her brother lost her family's fortune and both her parents succumbed to the sleeping plague that affects their homeland every ten years, and Olena, apprentice to the powerful Baba Zima who is working to find a cure for the sleeping sickness to prove her abilities. The young women are thrust together by Baba Zima, who is frustrated at Olena's unwillingness to take on a needed assistant, even if Marisha doubts the actual powers of the koldunya.

From here the story is both heavily character driven, and drawn out over about four months. I am taking off one star from the novel because there are 512 pages in this book, but the action is only in small bursts around 40-50% and 80-100%. The inbetween parts do stretch, and I think aspects of the novel could be cut to tighten the overall storyline or to spread the action out over a larger majority of the novel. It's not that it's boring, it just feels unnecessary, especially when the mystery of the plague and the nightmares are so fascinating.

I think I was also a bit frustrated with how character driven the plot became, because it seemed that if the characters only spoke to each other that the story would have preceeded at a faster pace. That being said, I understand why they did not, even when it seemed silly, because all the people in the house are fairly damaged and communication is not their strong suit. We do see marvelous growth from each of them from beginning to end, but it can be frustrating when you know they're creating their own danger tenfold because of their pride. Thinking on this more critically, it may just be that Wiesebron has done her job well in this regard, because you want the characters to be better.

For anyone looking for an edge of romance to this novel, it is generally not present here. The story is left open for further adventures, which I would really enjoy reading, especially if that as why there was so much worldbuilding/slower pacing in this novel. Were there to be a sequel, there may be more of a romantic element than this novel contains.

Overall I really enjoyed House of Frost and Feathers. I think it is a strong debut, and Wiesebron has brought a lot of new folklore elements to a sparse genre that continues to captivate so many readers.

This book has been compared to Bear and the Nightingale as well as Juniper and Thorn. I have read both and honestly don’t really see any similarities. The book does contain Russian folklore but I wouldn’t say that makes it comparable to the Bear and the Nightingale. There were some aspects of this book I enjoyed. I liked the quirky house and Guinea-pig fowl. But nothing hooked me into the story. It was very slow. I never got attached to any of the characters. I was really hoping to like this, but it didn’t work for me. The story is very character driven, which I’m usually a fan of but this is an exception. Much of the content felt very “slice of life” with descriptions of mundane tasks and chores. This definitely could’ve been cut down a bit. I just wanted more from it. I kept waiting for something to hook me and it never did.

4 stars
I loved this. The synopsis did not really give much. This book was just a pleasure all the way around. So easy to get lost in for a day.

Eastern European atmosphere and folklore influences permeate this tale of witches and witch-apprentices. The story starts with several seemingly separate threads of a sleeping sickness, rivalries among witches, magical artifacts, and a traveling house on chicken feet. Each of these thread and the central characters in the story are slowly, but meticulously, fleshed out and suddenly connections become clearer. Then, somewhere near the last third of this book, it goes from a cozy tale to an action-filled story where threads meet, and the setup pays off. This is all wrapped up in well-written prose, with rich character development, and an absorbing setting. The story comes to an ending, though I believe there is room left to revisit this world for another tale. I enjoyed this cozy read and hope to see more from this author in the future.
I received access to this eARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Harper Voyager) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

This is such a strange story, but I really enjoyed it in the end. I think the blurb doesn’t do a good job laying out what to expect here either.

This is a slow-paced, character driven fantasy story. The bulk of it is spent in the house, with Marisha learning to become an apprentice, and Olena searching for a cure for the sleeping plague. There’s a lot of day-to-day life in the chicken leg house as they work and travel to different towns. We get a hint of something mysterious around the 30% mark, but we really don’t pick it back up until around 65% in.

Olena and Marisha both have a lot to learn about each other and working together. Baba Zina fosters an atmosphere of secrets and competition. There are a lot of layers and secrets and intricate connections that are revealed by the end. The character development is well done and I appreciate the growth we see.

The last 20% has a lot of action and magic and emotional impact. I think a lot of people will enjoy the ending. There’s a bit of an open end to allow for possible more adventures in the future, but this also works really well as a standalone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own

This was a really cool read! Loved feeling like I was there with the characters. The story is well written and progresses very well.

Okay but I devoured this??? It was a great winter read, really reminded me a lot of Naomi Novik's work in the best way. Lots of intertwining relationships and unique bad guys who weren't bad guys and a plot that was both complicated and clearly explained. Just.. well done. I will absolutely be keeping an eye on this author!!