It’s slow, but I’m getting back to all the books! Something about not having a massive physical TBR waiting for me has made me forget that I still have a whole digital library to explore until the holds start coming in.
The story mostly follows Baba Yaga’s house, Thistlefoot, as it is delivered across the ocean to her surviving relatives in the US. Bellatine and Issac are estranged siblings who have both taken very different paths in life, with Issac becoming a professional wanderer and Bellatine becoming a wood smith, both trying to escape their pasts in different ways. They are brought together by the house that has been left to them, as well as the strange man that is after it who spreads distrust and fear wherever he goes.
I love a story that revolves around a sibling relationship, and this one very much does that. Their distance from one another over the years is counterbalanced a lot by their familiarity that doesn’t quite leave in adulthood, and the ways in which they grow as people throughout the story because of one another.
There’s also just a lot of elements that exist in the story that never feel overwhelming while you’re reading, only when you’re trying to put together a summary. Between Bellatine’s trying to come to terms with her magic and Issac’s need to escape himself with his own, there’s a whole other narrative with the man following them, the history of Thistlefoot that is sprinkled throughout, and a travelling band that is determined to stop a rash of people going mad and murdering people around them. Oh, and a living statue and a tragic backstory. It’s well paced and all of the elements are really well woven together.
Overall, I really loved it. It was a lot of fun and I really liked the characters, each of which felt like complete people with their own problems and goals. I would highly recommend giving it a chance if you ever see it.