CBR18 BINGO: Left (left side of my bookshelf)
This wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The first chunk of the book had more politicking than I expected from reading the book blurb, as well as multiple POVs. While I don’t mind political fantasies, I was in the mood for a story about Vasya’s life in her village and the trouble brewing there.
We did eventually get to that, and then I was hooked. There were still multiple POVs, but I think mostly the perspectives were from Vasya and Father Konstantin. Vasya’s father brings home a stepmother, Anna, to help raise Vasya. Anna is a devout Christian who thinks she has gone mad because she sees demons everywhere. She looks to Father Konstantin for support after he is sent by Moscow to be the priest in Vasya’s village. The fear that Konstantin elicits from the villagers in an attempt to turn away from the old ways sets in motion the awakening of an evil in the nearby forest. Teenaged Vasya, as one of few people who can see the local spirits, tries to stop this without being branded a witch.
The character work was great. I liked Vasya and loved her relationship with her brothers, especially Alyosha. Anna and Konstantin were awful, but also nuanced. They aren’t doing evil for the sake of doing evil. They bear the weight of Christianity and all that entails, though Konstantin has the added trait of desiring and enjoying some degree of veneration from his flock while fighting some inappropriate feelings towards another character.
The setting was incredibly immersive. You can really get a sense of what it’s like to be in such a frigid, remote environment. I love it when a setting can nearly double as a character, and it doesn’t happen often.
While this can be read as a standalone, I’m looking forward to continuing the trilogy. 4.5 stars rounded up.
