Where do I even start with this book? It was beautifully written and so poetic. Sofia's journey of survival is beautifully written and at times a little horrifying. A beautiful coming of age story.

This was one of the more unique books I've read in a while. I love the suspension of disbelief you need to have to read it, however it has similar whimsy of the Gentleman in Moscow. I think the magical realism of a "forgotten" country in Europe is a quite poignant metaphor of current world events. The place seems foreign and strange to outsiders so it is not protected.

*Thanks to HarperAudio and NetGalley for the ELC, my opinion are my own.*

This was an advanced audiobook I had on my NetGalley shelf that I let slip through the cracks so I'm reviewing late, but I'm glad I gave it a listen anyway! Giving this one a proper review is proving difficult, because a book like this contains a good amount of layers, etc. that only the reader can grasp? Which sounds so pretentious in a way that I normally loathe, but I promise it's not so crazy as that. This is just a book that I feel people are better off knowing little about and will have a much better time learning as they go! It's also one I feel immediately like I need to reread, perhaps in a physical form, which is a good sign typically. Gah, what a weird lil time! Love!

Set in a non disclosed war time, with WWII vibes, this book allowed readers to experience first hand a girl’s survival during her country’s occupation. Author O’Neill brilliantly used magical realism and metaphors to place you exactly where this character’s mind and heart was during her journey. Her relationship with her mother is fascinating. Her relationship with her Goose is delightfully unique. The description of picturesque landscape and life given to inanimate objects is amazing. The characters she encounters throughout the story bring humor and heartache that will resonate with the reader for a very long time.

The narrator did a perfect job rendering this dark fairytale into an audiobook. Given that it is about folktales and the prose is reminiscent of folktales, the narrator's storyteller voice fit perfectly. The book itself is deeply dark and tragic, and I cannot recommend it enough

The audiobook production and narrator were good. I don’t have any complaints on that part.

I read 38% of this before dnfing it. I couldn’t continue. It really jostled me how often we were experiencing flashbacks. Like listening to it I found myself very confused. It was hard to follow.

Another thing that was annoying to me was it felt like each new chapter there was some big info dump about the world and history. It just wasn’t great to have this info thrown at you constantly, it was boring.

I was also kind of confused because I believe this is meant to be set in a different world than our own. There are talking geese and weird trees. Yet there are references made that are linked to our world. So that didn’t work for me.

I also disliked all of the characters. Plus I found it weird to follow a 14 year old protagonist who very much is childish and whiny. This did not read like an adult book aside from some of the more brutal elements happening around Sophia.

I decided to stop reading it because I just couldn’t make myself care about the plot or characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ALC!

This has all the elements of a dark fairytale: a forgotten city, myths, magic, and fables, a young girl striving for her mother’s love, a talking goose, and war threatening the execution of all children.

I found this to be a creative and imaginative coming-of-age story. But it’s also deep and thought-provoking, depicting trauma and heartbreak with interludes of whimsy and longing.

The audiobook's narration was well done and brought a unique dynamic to the narrative.

Thank you @harperperennial for the gifted book.

Thank you @harperaudio for the gifted audiobook via #Netgalley.