I enjoyed this one! The Second Bell details the witch hunt mentality of not one, but two communities, who either drive out these so-called perpetrators or force them to suppress that which makes them who they are. I'm unsure if it's adult or YA but it's a very easy reads. The writing is great and you just fly through it.
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A beautifully written book that takes a hard look at the most claustrophobic horror setting out there: the small towns that hunt down those who are different, with no regard for whether those differences are truly evil or for the real human life behind it.

The Second Bell details the witch hunt mentality of not one, but two communities, who either drive out these so-called perpetrators or force them to suppress that which makes them who they are.

I really felt for Salka, especially in her yearning to get back to the wild where she could be truly herself.

I was also a fan of the setting in the winter mountains, which Houston detailed beautifully.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Bitchy Characters
The book’s about a town of women who are treated like pariahs by others. Shouldn’t they rise above that amongst themselves? All female characters behave so badly with each other. Do women need men to form true communities? What is the message behind this?

Problematic Villain
Like a cartoonish cliche, the villain in this story has a one-track mind and he would do anything to achieve his objective. No one, not even his mother, who’s supposed to be a sort of wise woman and is regularly watching his outbursts and dark temper, can suss out his intentions. What’s more, our heroine develops feelings for him even when he has been horrible to her from the get go. Again, what’s the message?

Unexplained Plot Points
Women who can tap into a certain power are treated like witches and kicked out into the wilderness. It’s plain to readers that power is an important plot point. Yet we’re shown next to nothing about it. Does it come with limits? What does it even do? Is using it actually bad or just another way of controlling women’s freedom? I couldn’t find the answer to any of these questions!

Unrealistic Ending
Initially, the whole town was against women with powers. So much so, the townspeople made mothers abandon babies born with that ability. Even when they’re scared, a flood will wipe them out, those people refuse to accept the witchy women. All of a sudden, though, they not only try to save the protagonist by lending their energies to revive her but are completely okay living with those women? I mean, what changed?

Amazing premise but lackluster execution and clearly misogynistic vibes ruined this book for me!

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't want to review a book that I didn't finish.

I didnt like this book couldnt end into it's only read 20% of the book.
I received this book from net gallery in exchange for a honest review.

There is much to like about The Second Bell - an intriguing magic system, a divided society, an intriguing plot and a lot of ideas about what constitutes a monster, and how and why we let hatred lead us. Gabriela Houston also has a lovely way with description of nature, and the way the magic system works.

For me, though, there was something missing that stopped me rating this book higher. Part of it, I think, is the characterisation. It didn't really feel to me like we got to understand any of the characters very well - even Salka seemed more like a cardboard cutout in many parts, and her reasoning for why she liked or disliked people was really specious.

Added to that, people's motivations always seemed to feature one overriding desire and nothing else. There is Jealous Friend, Protective Mother, Spoiled Brat - they never seem to go beyond this. Also, I found Bran's character arc quite ableist - his driving motivation, and the reason he kills people, is because he has a physical deformity. His comeuppance, in the end, leaves him with what seems like a form of dementia - and his accomplice is shown to be his carer, like it's her penance. I just found that aspect quite disappointing.

Additionally, we're supposed to believe that Salka and Mirriat love each other and would do anything for each other, but their relationship came off as combative and angry to me.

I think Houston could probably create some really great work in the future - she has imagination and skill - but I think for me this book lacked in a little too many areas for me to give it more than three stars.

The Second Bell is a stunning, atmospheric debut. Based on Slavic folklore, it follows Salka, a striga born with two hearts, an affliction suffered by others that proves to be much than just the curse many people believe it to be. The setting is amazingly well-rendered and populated by complex, conflicted characters, the prose is to die for, and the ending? SO MANY FEELS. Do yourself a favor and read this book.

I have recently become a fan if folklore and so was excited to pick up this one. I have read little to no Polish literature so that was also highly exciting for me. The Slavic mythology is fascinating and I was yearning to dive deeper.
It did fall a bit flat for me...not enough background was given, and the narrative did focus on world building as usually happens in fantasy books. The characters are engaging and certainly well written. I got confused about many things though and just wish there could have been better structuring of everything in general.

Wonderful novel about growing up, acceptance and human nature. Beautifully written captivating characters. Recommended to the lovers of genre.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

dnf @ 40%. expected more. i was so bored and comprehended nothing.

I was very intrigued to read a Polish folklore inspired book. I am a huge fan of Slavic folklore and I travel to Poland a couple times per year. And I love to see more SFF written by authors outside the US or UK.

And this started with Strigas... like yes please. Thank you.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book. The Striga element didn't feel magical, but could have been anything, that is deemed taboo in a society. We see barely any folklore or history or magic.

The worldbuildig was very shallow. The village of Striga families didn't feel organic. How long have they been there. There should be more politics than one chief and everyone goes with that. There should be more substance to food, culture, anything.

The promised deep relationship between mother and daughter was barely more than petty teenage squabble and the theme was handled quite rough.

In general this book had some greater themes in it, but they all felt very obvious and simplistic.

The plot structure was strange too. The parts of the novel didn't feel organically grown, but slashed together.

Sorry, but its a no for me. Will have to find other Slavic folklore.

Thanks to NetGalley for approving me of this ARC.

This felt to me like I was dropped into an already going story. I was thinking maybe it was a book two or maybe there was a small prequel out but I couldn't find anything. I wanted to love it but it just felt clunky and off. I loved the setting I wish we had mountains where I lived as I loved hiking. The change of POV bothered me a lot. Sometimes it works and well sometimes it doesn't and this time for me it just didn't. Overall, I did lightly enjoy it but don't think I would come back to it.

Different, not really for me but I can recommend it tho. Each their own I guess but I won’t bash the work or anything from the author, just wasn’t for me :)

The premise is haunting and lovely at the same time - outcasts struggling together in their own found family, fighting internal prejudices and scheming. The level of "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" in this book is intense! I adored the matriarchy and the sheer number of tough women, but I found myself slightly dissatisfied by the neat and tidy ending. One or two minor plot points were simply written under the rug as chapters became shorter and shorter as the pace picked up near the end. All in all, an enjoyable read, and one I'll recommend to fans of the genre!

Thank you to netgalley.com for providing me with a free copy of The Second Bell in exchange for an honest review.

This novel centers on Miriat and her daughter Salka, born with two hearts and marking her as a striga. In Miriat’s village, all babies born striagas must be killed or banished to the striga village, out of fear that the striga will listen to their second heart and become a stigoi, an irredeemably evil creature. When Salka is born, Miriat makes a decision that few others have--she goes to the striga village with her daughter. When a lie leads to teenage Salka being temporarily banished from the striga village, surviving the winter requires her to draw powers from her second heart. Did Salka squander her mother’s sacrifice, or is there more to the second heart than evil?

There were many things I liked about this book. First, I appreciated getting a look into Slavic mythology. Based on my own subsequent reading, strigas/stiogis are vampiric, with some facets of witches and werewolves as well, while the strigas of Houston’s creation, are essentially human unless they choose to use their second heart. Nevertheless, it was interesting to read about a type of being that I previously had not heard of.

Second, I enjoyed the setting. Much of the novel takes place outdoors, in a village situated in a snowy, mountainous area. I wish the author had set more of the novel in the snowy woods in which Salka is banished in the earlier part of the novel. This banishment is what leads to the main storyline--Salka using her second heart--and it lasts for three months, but the reader sees very little of it. Overall, this leads to the early parts of the novel seeming rushed, as if they are background just to get us to the main action.

Third, I enjoyed the character of Miriat. She is overwhelming the most well-developed character, whose goals throughout the novel are clearest. Her love for and protection of her daughter was moving. Unfortunately, the other characters in the novel were not as well developed. Many of the characters were flat, and it was unclear why they acted in the way they did. So many people in the village seemed to be out to get Salka, but it was not clear why. Was it internalized oppression--did they come to believe bad things about striga because the rest of the world did? Was it jealousy--were they jealous that Miriat’s non-striga mother had chosen to stay with her child, rather than abandon her? Was it Houston’s way of showing that the strigas who chose not to use their second hearts were also capable of malice? It was never clear.

Overall, I think the book suffered from too much telling and not enough showing. Houston had a clearly developed storyline but seemed to struggle with fitting scenes around that storyline. This made it so I was interested in seeing what would happen, while also not being very invested in Salka’s character and being consistently angry with most of the other characters. The narrative from the climax to the end was the strongest part of the novel for me, and the writing was strong throughout. I would definitely pick up another novel by Houston--I think she has strong potential based on this book. Overall, I’d rate it a 3.5 bumped to 4.

The Second Bell is such an incredible premise for a fairytale like fantasy, with heavy folkloric influence and my only real criticism is that it I wanted more. Throughout the book it felt like I was being held at arms length from full understanding of the characters and what their true abilities and weaknesses were. The world built is incredible in terms of landscape, but the mythology seemed incomplete. Potentially this would be different to someone aware of the references and influences, but I felt lost the entire time and had no real understanding of it.
I also feel that there was a bit of a disconnect within the narrative of the book. There is a shifting of POVs that mean sometimes you get the thoughts of a side character, and other times nothing. It felt jarring, and often these changes were abrupt and stopped the flow of the text.
This book wasn’t for me, but I think the author has great potential.

I really enjoyed this story of outcasts trying to come to terms with their power and just surviving. I was caught up in Miriat and Salka’s mother/daughter relationship and how they interacted with the wider village. The twists and turns of the story are well handled and, although the end doesn’t come as a huge surprise, it’s satisfying, if a tiny bit rushed.

The tone throughout is very in keeping with the story’s folklore/fairytale origins. I’d love a sequel to find out more about the Stigoi powers and what happens to the village.

A 4 ⭐️ read for me - would highly recommend it!

The Second Bell was a tough read for me. I loved the premise of it. I haven’t read many books based on pre-Christian Slavic folklore, so I was more than curious about the mythology surrounding the striga.

Unfortunately, the writing style was a complete mess. The first chapter started off great - it was descriptive in a beautiful way, like an ancient story being told by the ancient leader of a tribe around a campfire. After that the story itself started, and things became a mess. Multiple POV’s within one chapter, sometimes changing every few paragraphs or even every few sentences. It made it hard to follow.

The characters themselves were mostly annoying too. They were petty and the choices they make made them all seem like toddlers fighting over their favorite toys. This, combined with the chaotic storytelling, made this book incredibly hard for me to follow. I reached a point where I was reading without really taking in what was happening, and I just didn’t reread what I had missed. I simply didn’t care.

I’m a bit sad because the premise was só good, but I really can’t recommend this book.

I unfortunately had to DNf this at around 25%. I really struggled in differentiating from and bonding with the characters, I found none of them to be likeable and couldn't get invested in their story line. I did love the folklore that the author drew on and her descriptive writing was beautiful, but I simply couldn't get past the lack of character development.