Ok so this was a hard one to try to review. Because I had to restart the book a few times. I thought it was me, maybe I was reading when I was tired or wanted to do other things but at the end of the day, this book failed to pull me in.

Now as a retelling of the Baba Yaga myth that also uses the very real and very heinous history of what was going on in WW1 and the pogroms, that’s interesting and heartbreaking. The house itself is a character and I really liked that.

What I didn’t like was well, basically everything else. For one, the characters are flat. None of them pulled me in and I didn’t really like any of them. I sort of didn’t care? We’ve got a plot that sort of meanders in some places. We’ve got magic and puppets and shape shifting and it skews horror which I wasn’t upset by but it’s just a lot.

And I think the biggest contributor to the “it’s a lot” feeling was the writing itself. Sentences were long, paragraphs were long and after a point, they didn’t need to be. We don’t need to be told and shown the same thing happening multiple times from different angles that don’t add to it any way other than for the author to write more long winded overly descriptive sentences.

I was getting tired reading the book and bored because of it. Is the author bad at description? No but they needed to be able to reign it in or maybe an editor could have helped them with that. It was just so much.

I really wanted to like this and just didn’t. For all it’s potential, there were a lot of faults, at least for me. I’m giving it three (3) stars because two (2) is too low but I with two and a half (2.%) were really an option.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

I really liked Thistlefoot. Baba Yaga a folklore, in this story her ancestors inherit her home Thistlefoot. I loved the story, complex and mysterious. Brother and sister, Isaac and Bellatine are great characters. So much personality, I feel like I truly got to know them. They both have unique powers. I enjoyed the way the story told us different meanings of Thistlefoots origins. I loved Hubcap the cat and the puppets, the Fool most of all. A very exciting ending. Looking forward to reading more of this Authors work.
#Thistlefoot #NetGalley

I give Thistlefoot 4 stars for its mysterious read.
I would recommend this book to Fantasy fans.

A unique blend of whimsy and dread that really stands on its own two legs (forgive the pun). Gaiman’s Neverwhere is perhaps the closest comparison that comes to mind, as Nethercott brings a brilliant darkness to our world in the story she crafts. The balance between the two tones was remarkably done - for every time things took an eerie turn and left my brow furrowed in anticipation, the next page had me immediately cracking a smile for instance as a house apologized for their appearance and interruption as it told a chapter of its own. Yet for every shift to a different storyline focus, I never found myself wanting because each aspect of the book was so captivating in its own right.

While even secondary characters were well developed, the Yaga siblings stand out with incredible depth as we explore how they became who they are and what shaped them not only from their own experiences, but also from those who came before them.

As the house itself states “a folktale can never be forgotten because it wiggles and rearranges until it sits neatly on the heart”. Nethercott has certainly rearranged the classic tale of Baba Yaga to one that will not be leaving my heart anytime soon.

I had a hard time deciding if I should rate this one on personal experience or the author's merit, but decided to go with personal since this is more about me remembering what I thought of the books than anything else.
So despite the fact that it's an expertly written reimagining of the Baba Yaga myth played out in the modern day with a very dark and real history of the horrible pogroms that took place in Russia after WWI and the Russian Revolution, it failed to pull me in.
Both the lead characters are so standoffish that it jumps off the page and makes it difficult to care about their story. Issac eventually grew on me, but too little too late. The rest of the characters are little flashes of interest that get neither the page time nor the development that would have benefited the story.
Overall, I really appreciate what Nethercott was trying to do and the fact that she shines a light on a very much ignored horror in history, but the story was just not for me.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Anchor Books for the chance to discover this story!

I love Baba Yaga stories, so I was really excited for this one. Sadly, it was not what I was hoping for.
My biggest complaint is that the House with Chicken legs in modern day just didn't work for me. I love it in a fantastical setting. This also went more towards horror than fantasy, and horror is not my favorite.
I didn't like the characters at all, so that made me just not care what happened with them.

Based on other ratings, I'm in the minority with my opinion, so if it sounds good to you, give it a shot.

If Thistlefoot had me with "two estranged siblings embark on a national tour of their puppet show in Baba Yaga's chicken foot house" and sold me with "oh, and they are super Jewish too!". Nethercott eschews stereotypical depictions of Baba Yaga's journey: de-centering her from the narrative and making her more of an archetype; a ghost the haunts the story in allegorical asides and detritus from the life she passed on to her many times removed great-grandchildren. I loved the way the tone flip-flops, shifting from something dark but whimsical to a profound exploration of generational trauma. Baba Yaga is a perfect vehicle to deliver this type of complex, layered narrative, being herself a shell for so many different folkloric traditions throughout history.

Actually 4 1/2 stars.

Isaac Yaga has the ability to become anyone he meets or thinks of. He even calls himself the Chameleon King. He leaves New Orleans and ends up near his sister, Bellatine. He encounters a strange man in a bar, who is searching for something left by their ancestor, Baba Yaga.

Bellatine has an ability too—she can make the dead or nonliving things come to life. So when she learns what Baba Yaga left them, a house with chicken legs that can run away to other places. Her brother offers her a way to buy out his half of Thistlefoot; although leery, Bellatine does it.

This different take on the Russian witch, Baba Yaga, that adds Jewish legends. The witches are Baba’s great-grandchildren, and the house is sentient. All blended into a dark fantasy makes for a wild remade fairytale about how you shouldn’t count your chickens. It will surprise you, all the way to the end.

The marriage of horror and mythology in this book was really clever and intriguing, as it added layers to the plot and hidden meanings to the metaphors. The characters breathed off the page, and the haunting prose and descriptive scenes made everything feel as if it was truly occurring and gave the book a charged atmosphere. I really enjoyed how the story sucked you in and always had you guessing about what the characters were going to do next — it forced you to be an active participant in the plot, just like one of Isaac’s audience members.

I generally love retellings or reimaginings of fairy tales and learning about the stories of other cultures, but this one was tough. I had trouble getting invested in the characters. The pacing was mixed, sometimes too fast sometimes way too slow, and the narration was confusing at times. The villain was not much of a villain, or rather just not the type of villain I would expect from a fairy tale reimagining. On a positive note the imagery was great and the skeleton structure of the book was solid.
I can see how this will appeal to many other readers and fans of the genre, but this one wasn't for me, sadly.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. Enjoyable story, with very descriptive language. It was a very slow moving start, and it took me some time to get into the story but once I did I enjoyed learning more about the heirs of Baba Yaga. Not knowing more than the very basics about the lore behind Baba Yaga, this was just a story for me but I really enjoyed it.

I genuinely enjoyed this story! It was slow-moving for me initially, but near the end it all came together and really picked up. The portrayal of Baba Yaga was so interesting and had a lot of depth I didn’t expect. The characters were layered and the magic system lent beautifully to their personal flaws. I didn’t expect this story to hit me as deeply as it did in the end, but I know I’ll be processing the work for a long time to come. Couldn’t recommend it more but be cautious with trigger warnings.

A fairytale retelling that feels familiar. A brother and sister - who have a very interesting ancestry - inherit the house on chicken legs and apparently a man that follows.

This book has beautiful prose, sometimes not for its own good either. While it could be a stunning and gorgeous read at times, it was also occasionally very, very slow and hard to get through. If you want a book packed full of surprises, you aren't really going to find that here, either. What you will find, though, is a book of interesting characters, wonderful writing, emotional journeys, and multiple POV's (even one from the cottage itself). While it isn't exactly a gentle read - you should look up the TW - it was a great one.

THISTLEFOOT, by GennaRose Nethercott from Anchor, is a modern day fairy tale steeped in Jewish lore, all based around the legend of Baga Yaga and her chicken-legged home.

The estranged Yaga twins, Isaac and Bellatrine, are brought back together when they are bequeathed a family heirloom from a long deceased ancestor. This heirloom is the chicken-legged, sentient house which Bellatrine names Thistlefoot. Coming from a family troupe of puppeteers, Isaac decides they should take Thistlefoot on tour across the United States and perform their family’s signature show, The Drowned Fool, to raise money to escape his debts. What neither sibling knows, though, is they are being pursued by the Longshadow Man, who is leaving a path of death behind him on his quest to capture Thistlefoot for himself.

I’m not familiar with the legend of Baba Yaga beyond the most basic understanding, but I feel that Nethercott has done her research and reworked the legend nicely as a story of Jewish survival. While sometimes loaded down with an excess of purple prose, the story is still wildly engaging. Nethercott has that rare ability to write a story with characters who seem to exist somewhere out of time; while the story seems to be taking place in the now, the characters have this timeless quality about them and could be existing in the then and now simultaneously, especially Isaac. He could be living as a vaudeville performer in the 1920s just as easily as a puppeteer performer in the 2020s.

I wasn’t as sure that I was going to like this at first (unfortunately, the purple prose really can drag the story down at times), but ultimately this turned out to be a great read for me. A huge thank you to @netgalley and @vintageanchorbooks for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. THISTLEFOOT will be available September 13, 2022.

#books #bookstagram #book #booklover #reading #bookworm #bookstagrammer #bookinfluencer #read #booknerd #bookaddict #bookreview #booksofinstagram #instabook #readingtime #bookblog #blogger #bookrecommendation #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #instabooks #thistlefoot #netgalley #frommybookshelfblog #frommybookshelf #bookish #bookreview

Thistlefoot was simultaneously what I want out Russian fairy-tale-inspired books, and also not what you expected. I think that this is a book that will hit really powerfully for some and be super annoying to others. I think that it's best to go in with as little context as possible and to suspend your disbelief. But also be prepared for a book that is worthwhile to read and well crafted, but also not entirely enjoyable. This is not a disney fairytale, this is a Grimms' original, cut off your foot to fit in the slipper, type of fairytale. It deals with hard things, but I think in the end it does its topics justice.

Most of this book is positives for me. I think the narrative structure of Thistlefoot is brilliant. I can't say too much because of spoilers, but the way different stories are broken up and told opposite and in front and in back of each other is well done. If you have any familiarity with slavic fairytales it will feel familiar but also clever. I also loved the prose and the narrative tone of the book. Nethercott is also a poet, and that definitely comes across in her writing. It's very suited to a liminal fairy tale. I really liked the discussion of the power of story, remembrance, and generational memory. I wrote my college thesis on Russian generational memory surrounding WWII, so it's a topic that I've spent a good amount of time with, and I thought that Thistlefoot was a really good vehicle to explore that topic.

The few negatives for me that I noticed, but didn't necessarily impact my enjoyment of the book. Occasionally the prose got a little unwieldy in my opinion and the book could have been shorter. I thought the minor romance that develops came out of nowhere and did nothing; I'm not sure that it even served as a plot device. I think there's good development for Isaac and Bellantine, but don't expect the side characters to be really well fleshed out. I thought they were sufficient for this story, but this might bother character driven readers. The settings felt often very vague despite seeming vivid to the characters. It was very hard to remind myself that this was taking place in modern day. Finally, I think the ending was probably the right choice thematically, but it was not necessarily satisfying, particularly for our characters.

Overall, I am really glad I read Thistlefoot. I'm looking forward to what Nethercott comes up with next, because I really appreciated what she created here. If you are a fan of slavic folklore/fairy tales, I think that this is definitely worth picking up. The blub likens it to Spinning Silver, and I don't disagree, but I think it is more similar to Deathless by Catherynne Valente. If you enjoyed Deathless, Spinning Silver, or the Winternight Trilogy (which I had serious problems with), give Thistlefoot a try!

Thanks to Netgalley and Anchor Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. I also listened to the audiobook narrated by January LaVoy, who overall had a terrific narration.

I absolutely loved this story about Baba Yaga lore with all its magic and delight. It's a lot deeper than you expect, going in, and is an instant recommendation for me.

There’s much to love about this memorable story that blends history, folklore, and fantasy to examine personal and collective trauma. The power of stories is an important theme here, and folklorist and poet GennaRose Nethercott has done a fantastic job of incorporating Jewish and Eastern European folklore into this mostly contemporary tale. Also, kudos for that gorgeous cover that represents this story so well.

The language is very descriptive, which could be considered positive or negative. For me, the imagery brought the story and the characters to life. The contemporary parts of the story are told mostly from the alternating points of view of Isaac and Bellatine Yaga, estranged siblings and descendants of Baba Yaga who have inherited her sentient, chicken-footed house, which Bellatine names Thistlefoot. Thistlefoot also narrates parts of the story, including tall tales and gruesome bits of history. The alternating points of view can slow the story down at times, but they also amplify its emotional power.

I found all of the characters interesting, but the main characters were not very likable for most of the story. Because of past trauma, both personal and generational, Bellatine has become rigid and filled with self-loathing, while Isaac has become callous and irresponsible. Fortunately, they both learn and grow and are better people by the end of the story. And some of the siblings’ companions are more fun, especially Winnie, who may be one of my favorite characters ever. Bonus points for diverse characters and LQBTQ representation, including a Sapphic romance.

I thought the story was a bit longer than it needed to be, sometimes unevenly paced, and darker than I expected. Trigger warnings for frequent violence and death. Although this isn’t the sort of gentle, happy story I tend to favor, I found the ending very satisfying. In addition, I loved what the author had to say about stories, and this is a story that will stick with me, so I’m giving it 5 stars.

Note that the book contains swearing, substance use, and sometimes gruesome depictions of violence and death.

Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Anchor Books for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley, which I volunteered to review.

More horror than I expected...more death, more pain, more everything...more crying, for sure...what a wonderful novel.

I received an ARC of Thistlefoot from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this book so bad. I really did. The premise was intriguing, and I love a good retelling. And a Baba Yaga retelling? I haven't read one of those in who knows how long, so I was excited to dig into Thistlefoot.

Let me start by saying that I did not finish this book. I tried so hard. But there are some books you just have to put down no matter how badly you think you should complete them. Thistlefoot was one of those books for me. I made it 60% of the way through. But whenever I picked up my phone to start another reading session, I didn't want to. It was at that point that I decided I needed to stop. Maybe the book wasn't for me if I was forcing myself to get through it.

I think the biggest turn-off was how the story was written. There was a lot of stuff happening. But at the same time, there wasn't. Which I know doesn't really make sense, but it was all in the way that it was written. The reason that it seemed like there was so much stuff happening was that the author was so descriptive. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, but it becomes slightly tedious when you read a different description for the same thing five other times. And then another couple of times because we started a new paragraph. There were just so many words.

Don't get me wrong, the descriptions were very well done, and I would have had no issue with them ... if I was reading poetry. The 60% that I read felt like one insanely long poem. And I really just couldn't get past it. It felt like trying to run in a pool, and that dragging, motionless sensation was what I was getting while reading. I just wasn't going anywhere. Obviously, the story was moving along, but an entire chapter would be dedicated to describing how Bellatine's hands feel. I'd get through it and go, "So nothing actually happened?"

And on the topic of Bellatine's hands, the magic system in Thistlefoot was sort of confusing. Apparently, magic has always been a thing, which is fantastic, but nothing is actually described. Crazy, I know, with the amount of description everything else gets. I don't know how this magic system works, and I know even less about how Isaac and Bellatine's magic works. Granted, that may have been explained more if I had gotten further, but again, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I know I'm in the minority opinion about this book because everyone seems to love it. It is beautifully written, yes. And I liked the mysterious, magical feel surrounding the setting and the characters. But it just wasn't for me, unfortunately.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
“But a folktale - a folktale can never be forgotten because it wriggles and rearranges until it sits neatly on the heart…the folktale survives. Assimilates. And with it - so survives the memory.”

Giving a detailed summary of what this book is about would be, in my opinion, a disservice to it. Even reading the book jacket would be a disservice, because it can’t prepare you for what the story is, and it may even give a slightly skewed picture of what it’s about. I read the description, and it sounded right up my alley, but as I read, I realized that it wasn’t at all what I had been expecting. And that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

WHAT I LOVED:

The Language: This is a book for people who love words. Who love the sound of words in their ears and the feel of them on their tongue. There are passages of this book that beg to be read aloud. 90 percent of the language in this book is just a love letter to the craft. It’s also a book about the power of words. The power of stories, and of memory, and of how they intertwine. How they can help memories to survive, help people to survive. It’s about how narrative shapes both the world and our view of it. And it’s about how seeking to alter that narrative or erase that narrative can cause sometimes irreparable harm.

I highlighted so many passages of it to save for later. There were some paragraphs that I read over three or four times because I loved how they were put together. There’s a lyrical quality to it that I adored. Some would call it purple prose, and they wouldn’t be wrong, per se, but purple prose has a negative connotation at times, and I wouldn’t want that applied to this novel.

The Structure: We have the POV of Isaac and Bellatine. We also have the POV of the house. Those were my favorite parts, honestly. That was when it was at its most otherworldly. It’s very much a Matryoshka doll of a book. What it appears to be in the beginning is merely the top layer. As it progresses you peel away more and more of the surface to reveal a crystal clear nugget of truth at the center. The truth of the story, yes, but also the truth of storytelling in general, and why it’s so necessary to us as humans.

The Ending: Obviously, I can’t say much about this portion of it, without spoilers. The ending shattered me a bit. It made me think of narratives in my society and culture and personal history, and why they mean so much to me. Why it’s essential that they be passed on. It was bittersweet, as all story endings are. The ending solidified it as a folktale for me.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

The Pacing: The way this story moves is very meandering. There were a number of times I considered giving up on it because I couldn’t get a clear picture of where it was going, or even what it was supposed to be about. I was much more interested in the fairytale aspects than I was in the day to day lives and emotions of Isaac and Bellatine. The novel seemed to want to be timeless and modern at the same time, and thusly was a bit jarring. I could linger in certain parts and love it, but then we’d be firmly steeped in the modern day and it just didn’t work as well.

It’s a slow book, up until literally the last 40 or so pages. You know that you’re building to something but it takes such a long time to get anywhere. There are sequences where it’s unclear if someone is awake or dreaming, or if they’re in a place, or hallucinating. There isn’t any warning when this happens. No change in font or even in tone. And that wrong-footed me frequently.

The Characters: Isaac and Bellatine had great potential. But neither of them felt fully fleshed out to me. Because they felt just like moving pieces of a game to get to a certain part, I wasn’t really invested in either of them. They weren’t very likable, and they were terrible at communicating. I could see where that could be used to serve the story, but for me, I just wanted them to stop being so angsty and have adult conversations. They had so much to say and share, but they felt more like angsty YA characters than fully realized adults. There was also some jarring profanity that seriously felt out of place.

There were relationships in this book that felt forced. There were modern pronouns that felt shoehorned in, and quite frankly were confusing. One person is being referred to as “they,” and it eventually got frustrating and detracted from the story because it added literally nothing to it except that confusion. When you go from singular to plural, it’s just makes you feel like you missed something and then you’re checking to see who else is being referred to and it’s just the one person. It wasn’t necessary. The one romance was also unnecessary. It wasn’t earned and wasn’t believable. There was no genuine feeling there, just availability and curiosity and it wasn’t in keeping with how either character was written.

CONCLUSION

There was a lot that I loved about this book, and a lot that didn’t work for me. When it was focused on the fairytale aspects, it shone. When it was attempting to root Isaac and Bellatine in the present by using tech and terminology, it was dull. Where the two timelines link up was very well done. In short, if it had just been a folktale retelling without adding in modern sensibilities that don’t belong (and they really don’t as it’s written), it would have been a 5 star read for me. As it stands it’s a solid 3.5.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Anchor Books for a free copy in exchange for my open and honest review.

What's it about (in a nutshell):
Thistlefoot is a story about Baba Yaga and her magical house named Thistlefoot. The story starts and ends with Baba Yaga's descendants, Bellatine and Isaac, who inherited her home (shipped to them in the US). Still, in between their story, the reader learns more about Baba Yaga and how the house came to be.
Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
I know a little about the lore of Baba Yaga and her house that moves on chicken legs but only a little. I look forward to delving deeper into this mythical character and her magic.
Actual Reading Experience:
I loved the fairy tale quality of this story. Not the happily ever after type of fairytale that Disney has made famous but the darker original Grimm's version. It's a pretty dense read, as Grimm's fairy tales are, and it is very dark and poignant, but it has that lessons learned aspect along with myth and magic. The poignant parts of Baba Yaga's story were unexpected. Still, it gave the tale depth and layers that create a resonance in the reader, and I, for one, will not soon forget it.
The writing is just beautiful. It immediately pulls you in, and even though the pace is relatively slow, it keeps the pages flipping because I wanted to know more about Baba Yaga and her heirs. The writing also reflects the emotions so well that the pain is not just read about; it is felt by the reader fully and completely.
The magic is fascinating. Much more dark, gritty, and natural than I expected. Baba Yaga is considered a witch of sorts. If anything, she practices old-world witchcraft, wholly grounded in nature and the natural order of things. There are also magical realism elements that are equally as powerful as the magic practiced.
Characters:
None of the characters are particularly likable or relatable. Still, they have a quality that keeps you wanting to know more about them. They are well-developed with layers upon layers of complexities that add to the tale's poignancy.
Bellatine Yaga is the younger of the siblings. She likes to work with her hands, particularly woodworking, and she has the magical ability to bring inanimate objects and the dead to life.
Isaac Yaga is the older sibling of the two. He has the magical ability to copy and become anyone. Still, he doesn't believe magic has anything to do with it and thinks he is just that good of an actor.
Thistlefoot is a home that is sentient and moves around on chicken legs. He belonged to Baba Yaga and was shipped to the United States into the care of Bellatine and Isaac Yaga seventy years after Baba's death, as she stipulated in her will.
Narration & Pacing:
The narration is in third person for the story in the present-day timeline. This story follows the siblings and their adventures with their new house, Thistlefoot. This is interspersed with chapters in first-person narration told by Thistlefoot. He recounts his and Baba Yaga's story before he came to be. The personal first-person narration works perfectly for Thistlefoot as it makes Baba Yaga's story much more impactful and personal.
The pacing is a mixed bag. Thistlefoot's first-person account of the past reads very quickly. Still, the third-person telling of the siblings' journey is denser and naturally reads a bit slower. I must admit that the denser areas in the book moved so slowly that I lost focus from time to time.
Setting:
The setting in the storylines that follows the two siblings is the current-day United States. They go all over the country in their moving house, so there is not one geographical setting. The house is more the setting of note, used so exquisitely and magically because it is as much of a character as it is a setting.
When the house explains Baba Yaga's story and the story of its creation, all of that takes place in a small Jewish village in Russia around 100 years ago. The cold of this village is a poignant reflection of the cold and ruthless events that unfold. I loved that the setting is a direct reflection of the events.
To Read or Not to Read:
If you want to experience an evocative and poignant modern fairy tale, Thistlefoot is a story you won't want to miss.