A charming and atmospheric blend of folktale and modern fairytale populated by an intriguing cast, led by the titular Thistlefoot, a magical house who is the story’s best character.

This story feels very Eastern European by tradition and tone, and reminds me a bit of Katherine Arden’s work, which should be taken as a high compliment.

I loved the writing and the tone used here, and the shifting perspectives between the house, Baba Yaga, and the modern characters. I liked Isaac and Bellatine as well as most of the secondary characters, though the Shona character was problematic and obnoxious.

The bones of the plot were excellent and the execution was mostly good, though it drags a bit when the folkband gets involved and the “lesson” at the end wasn’t an ideal way to conclude the story.

Overall, this is a fun and immersive read and will surely be enjoyable for any reader who loves fairy tale reinterpretations.

After trying many times to read this novel without success, I’m calling it. This is not a reflection of the book, for the writing was beautiful and I tried really hard to get into it. My suspicion is that without knowing much about the original source material I found myself lost a lot of the time and it took me out of the story. I want to read more about the folklore and try again in the future at which time I’ll purchase a copy to read from. I will not be leaving a review on Goodreads or other platforms at this time. Thank you so much for the chance to read an ARC of this book.

This is a really fun Baba Yaga style story. It is not a retelling. Basically, the descendants of Baba Yaga receive the house with the chicken feet as part of an inheritance and shenanigans ensue. The Yaga siblings each have magical gifts that they are struggling to accept and use in a positive way. And the antagonist really wants their house, or to destroy it.

I enjoyed this. I love when an author takes a folklore story and sort of runs wild with it. I think that the author did a great job with this.

Author interview and review here: https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/writer-gennarose-nethercott-on-how-creative-work-helps-make-sense-of-the-everyday/

A tale of the chicken leg house. It's a unique telling of the descendants of Baba Yaga. The story of her (Baba) is told from the house and that is beautiful. The book is long, Nethercott put in as much detail as they possibly could. The ending just seems rushed to say the least. It is not at all a bad book just not what I was fully expecting.

Kudos for Thistlefoot - a fun and dark fairytale that marries the adjectives weird and whimsical.

Follow along as the Yaga siblings receive a rather strange inheritance, a sentient house on chicken legs. As the siblings embark with Thistlefoot on a cross-country tour of their family's traveling theater show, the sinister figure known as the Longshadow Man follows in relentless pursuit, seeding destruction in his wake. Ultimately, time, magic, and legacy must collide - erupting in a powerful conflagration to determine who gets to remember the past and craft a new future.

The world building and characters drive this story home. Uniquely, we get to hear from the house giving us a witty look at the Yaga history.

Thistlefoot is a must-read!

A fun riff off of Baba Yaga stories, a brother/sister duo inherit The House and shenanigans ensue, naturally.

I liked the plot of this book, but the maximalist prose style distracted me too much from the story itself, and I found it slow going. Another reader who enjoys prose with lush figurative language in every line would likely love this book, but even as a poet, it was too much for me.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for opportunity to read the ARC.

Ever since I saw the cover photo for this book it immediately went to my TBR list. What can I say I do judge books by their covers. I loved the prose. The ending was incredible and this is one book i would recommend to everyone.

"A spectacle, a miracle, an abomination! Call it what you will, the Thistlefoot Traveling Theater is here to dazzle and dismay! You don't know it yet, but your life is changing tonight. Do you believe in magic? No? Let us prove you wrong!"

Two of Baba Yaga's descendants have inherited her amazing house with chicken legs, and all the wonders that lie within. Since this may be the original mobile home, the Yagas have decided they're getting their act together, and taking it on the road. Unfortunately they're being followed by a mysterious man who's bent on destroying the house.

This book was utterly magical. And, having the legendary witch deal with the very real horrors of World War ll lent a poignant and sobering touch to the enchanting tale.

"It is impossible to take a step without walking through a ghost. Every memory creates one. Every version of ourselves leaves a shadow self behind. Every regret and every promise and every touch of skin against skin."

"THISTLEFOOT" by GennaRose Nethercott

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Anchor

Nethercott brings the most outstanding Russian tale, filled with Jewish folklore, to ever grace the pages.

Her book is brimming with such a fantastic tale that it is hard to describe.

This story tells of estranged siblings Isaac and Bellatine Yaga.

Isaac is the wandering sort, always running from something, looking for his next way to con someone to make money.
Isaac has now become an actor of sorts, but still, he is a con artist when it comes to making money.

Bellatine is more of a homebody; she wants to hide her gift, as she has been taught to do.
Bellatine does not want anyone to know that she can make animated objects come to life. So, she delves into carpentry, where she can keep her hands busy.

When one-day, Bellatine receives a call from a lawyer telling her that she and Isaac have come into an inheritance, and it will be at the pier in a large shipping container.

Bellatine contacts Isaac with no honest thoughts of him showing, but to her surprise, he does.

The pair opens the container and find a house with spindly, chicken-feathered legs inside the box.

Once they have inherited the house, Isaac produces the idea.

Take their professional puppeteering family business on the road.

But Bellatine is not so easy to convince because of her gift.

So finally, she tells him that she will not touch a puppet; she wants to only work on the rigging aspect of the performance, which he agrees to because all he sees are dollar signs.

So, the agreement is set.

Issac and Bellatine will take Thistlefoot (which Bellatine has named the house) on the road for one year exactly.

Bellatine is quite content within the walls of Thistlefoot, in here, she finds solitude and realizes that Thistlefoot only responds to Yiddish commands.

Hmm!

But Thistlefoot comes with a past of its own, for an ominous figure has also come from Russia.

The Longshadow man is a mysterious figure who is incredibly determined to bring down Baba Yaga's house, leaving destruction wherever it passes.

The story is given from different points of view, including the point of view of Thistlefoot.

It jumps from past to present with Baba Yaga and her children to the present with the two siblings and the journey they encounter.

Nethercott presents such an outstandingly imaginative world. Thistlefoot is so impressively descriptive; it is like you are there for the unboxing of the house.

Nethercott's word-building is stellar and astonishingly seamless.

You will absolutely fall in love with the characters introduced in the story.

Each one will capture your heart in one way or another.

The author takes you through an emotional rollercoaster filled with grief, generational pain, and antisemitism, along with Jewish folklore and Jewish/Russian History.

Overall, this is a "MUST" read!

This book is so beautifully written that you will want to reread this book over and over again.

6 stars to Nethercott and Thistlefoot!

Thought Provoking and Astonishingly Depicted

Job Perfectly Perfected!

NETHERCOTT IS ONE OF THE TOP 1O DEBUT AUTHORS FOR SURE!!!

KUDOS!!

Thank you, NetGalley/GennaRose Nethercott/Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Anchor for this amazing eARC for my honest review. My opinions are of my own volition.

Prior to this novel, I had only a cursory knowledge of the myth of Baba Yaga— enough to be interested in this story, but not enough to dispute a retelling. Reading Thistlefoot has kickstarted a folklore hyper-fixation that has been more difficult to shake than usual.

A twisting, take on a road novel but this time the vessel has got chicken legs, Thistlefoot makes this modern, whimsical world feel organic with prose which lends itself to that magic.

While I did not necessarily feel something for the characters, they are no means bad. Just not as interesting as the lore that follows them. At times, pacing is slow and passages can feel dense depending on how floral the language gets, but at the same time, it works. The draw of this book is the lore— I found myself sneaking passages here and there because I wanted to learn more about the world, but not exactly what our characters were up to. Pieces of the narrative, mainly backstory, remained shrouded for too long, which I feel is what did me in. It was a lot of mystery with little payoff in terms of when it comes.

In all, I am a sucker for a road story, a sucker for the trickster archetype, and absolutely into the darker side of magical realism. If you choose to read this, go at it full-force. It is not a world to be picked at lightly for you may feel disengaged if too much time lapses between reading.

It took me awhile to get into the story but it grew on me as I read.

Very interesting take on the Baba Yaga legends. Thistlefoot crosses back and forth between the present Yaga siblings who have inherited the chicken-legged house and Baba Yaga and her daughters. It crosses across a near to us but different world where houses sometimes, in times of great stress become somewhat alive. Crossing America in the present and Russia in the past.

There were elements I adored and things that I did not. Really would have liked to have found out what, exactly the un-looseable black kitten Hubcap actually was(?) besides magic. . .

The writing style and descriptions are very flowery and distinctive. About halfway thru I decided it was very like Ray Bradbury but still it’s own distinct self. Was greatly chuffed when I read the author’s afterward where she listed the late, great man as an inspiration.

I’m giving a strong 4 star rating and will be keeping an eye out for more books in future from Ms. Nethercott.

This book was a bit unexpected for me and quite an interesting read. It is set in modern times with a connection to their grandmother through an inherited house...a house that resembles a chicken that and walk around and take them wherever they would like to go. When a man arrives for Russia, looking for the house, a group bands together to save the house and stop the evil man. It was quite interesting and had a lot of depth and a lot of crazy things happened. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes stories that mingle reality and fantasy. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review #Thistlefoot.

Absolutely one of my favorite reads of 2022. Thistlefoot is stunning dark whimsy drenched in historical relevance and deep folkloric tradition. It’s a story about memory, of keeping the past alive when others try to erase or redefine it, and a story of acceptance of ourselves in the present day.

I loved both Isaac and Bellatine and felt the balance between their two stories was truly perfect, each having a complete individual arc of growth while also resolving what was between them. The voice of Thistlefoot themselves was a true delight! I was giddy with each chapter from their POV, the voicing was so unique and wonderful. I’ve always loved the use of setting as a character but Thistlefoot is the most extreme and best use of that concept I’ve ever read!

The prose throughout the novel is spectacular. It somehow manages to be gorgeous, haunting, and visceral all at the same time. The plot has a great rhythm to it and I enjoyed the individual scenes from secondary characters along the Longshadow Man’s path. Every character and setting, no matter how shortly used, felt full and alive.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Even though I had an ebook copy, I went and bought a hardcover because I needed to own it for myself. That’s the best endorsement I can give! I will truly treasure it and I’ve already let a friend borrow my copy because they (and you) need to read it. I think any reader would enjoy this book, it really has something for everyone.


Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

The Yaga siblings live separately, and haven’t seen each other since older brother Isaac left the family at sixteen, to wander the country by rail, and work as a pickpocket, con artist and busker. He’s aided in his criminal activities by an uncanny ability to mimic the appearances and mannerisms of others. Meanwhile, Bellatine works as a woodworker, lives a circumscribed, carefully planned out life. She has the ability to animate some kinds of materials, and the dead, and she’s less than enthused to meet up with her absent brother after getting word that they’ve been willed something.

That something is an old house on massive chicken legs, that Bellatine calls Thistlefoot. Once they figure out how to get the house moving, Isaac decides that the house will be Bellatine’s, after she and he accumulate profits for a year by putting on puppet shows. This isn’t as crazy an idea as it sounds, as the siblings’ parents are well known and respected puppeteers, and their kids learned the ropes from them.

So Bellatine and Isaac agree, but on the condition that she never has to touch a wooden puppet. They begin their tour, unaware that a malevolent stranger is on their tail, sowing discord, violence and death after him, while he tries to find the ambulatory house.

A trio of musicians also come into the story, having been tracking the scary stranger. Bellatine's accidentally animated stone statue is the last member of this
odd bunch running across the country, trying to keep Thistlefoot away from the stranger.


I loved this book! Packed with beautiful prose, fantastic imagery, and some horrific scenes of a violent history in Russia binding the siblings to the house. The story is filled with all manner of strangeness, from Isaac's ability to physically appear as others, the cat, Hubcap, who trails after Isaac no matter where he ends up, Bellatine's necromancy manifesting as searing heat in her hands, stories of other houses moving from disasters, and more.

I also felt that GennaRose Nethercott successfully wove Baba Yaga with the Jewish experience in Russia into an appealing mix of magic and horror.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for my review.

The prologue's haunting prose is all the indicator I needed that I would love this story. There are moments of whimsy that reminded me of Howl's Moving Castle and conjured works of art pulled from Jewish myths. In contrast there are dark moments that reminded me of the holocaust's atrocities, all combining to make a story about a house on chicken legs feel too important to put down. Unfortunately not all the book has the same weight, which will mean most are likely to love half while skimming through the other. For a large part of the book, Issac's pov felt out of balance telling his story next to a magical house's pov. I had such an itch to skip and only read the chapters in the house's POV. Of course there is too much wonder to have done such a disservice to this book. From generational trauma, to the legacy of puppetry, to Sapphic relationships and non binary scientists, to genocide. This book is a work of not just heart, but soul.

Creative and imaginative take on the Baba Yaga folk lord, complete with the walking house on chicken legs, that also has a story to tell. Great fun

I’ve had this one backlisted for awhile - mostly because it just fell to the wayside (I have a lot of those right now actually 😳😳), but any story that deals with Baba Yaga is going to go on my TBR pretty much immediately. I mean…a house on chicken legs?? Yes please.

This book, being titled Thistlefoot and all, is focused on the house rather than its occupants which I found to be incredibly entertaining! There’s of course the story from the new owners as they travel in their house, but the chapters narrated by the house were my absolute favorite! Those were the chapters that had me completely sucked in. I’m not saying the other chapters were bad, they weren’t. They were also fantastic and I found the backstories of the siblings as well as their current adventure to be well written and creative. I really enjoyed it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The sister woodworks and “embers”
The brother lies and “shapeshifts”
The house tells stories of long ago days
And the Longman seeks chaos and the house on chicken legs.

Many years after the siblings, Bellatine and Isaac, part to find their ways in the world, an ancestral heirloom comes into their possession. However, the brother and sister do not realize their inheritance is also being tracked by a “bogey-man” from the old country who instills fear in those who drink from his flask.

I will update this review with a link to the podcast episode once it is updated. Thank you for providing us with this arc!

A fascinating tale of folklore and magical realism, “Thistlefoot” weaves together mystery and eastern European tradition to bring a new villain to the shores of the United States. As an avid reader of all things myth and legend, this book hit a sweet spot for me and it was hard to put down. I wanted to see the brother redeem himself, the sister overcome her fears, and the ancestral house find a new home