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.

(full disclosure, I received an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review. And boy, are y’all gonna get an honest review, an honestly raving one!)
Isaac and Bellatine Yaga are estranged siblings, from a long line of master puppeteers. When we first meet them, Isaac is living by his wits on the streets of New Orleans, with the help of his questionable yet firmly held sense of morals and his odd near-shapeshifting gift. His sister is in hiding in a woodworking shop in rural Vermont; her hands can bring the inanimate to life, in more than a metaphorical sense, and her power terrifies her.
Brother and sister reunite over a bizarre inheritance from a long-gone ancestress, a weird and quirky little house…which happens to have chicken legs. Isaac and Bella make an uneasy pact, to take their parents’ puppet show on the road one last time and use the house they call Thistlefoot as a drawing card. What they don’t know is that someone, or something, is searching for it and them: something that will stop at nothing, use and destroy anyone in its way, to destroy the heritage of Baba Yaga.
I won’t go into much more detail lest I spoil all the amazing twists and turns of the tale or of the richly textured world in which it unfolds. It’s a verse hauntingly true to life, with side mentions that range from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, to Emmett Till and Columbine High School, and at the same time tinged with magic that floats in the air between every line. The language is lyrical, yet brutally frank when it needs to be.
The bickering siblings and the friends and foes around them are drawn with great care. They feel like real people, with all the contradictions that that implies, but true to their own reflections. The chase builds throughout the book to an explosive climax, and the discovery by both Bella and Isaac that they don’t have to run from their enemy or themselves.
Thistlefoot is unique unto itself, and an addictive joy to read. The flow of it does put me in mind of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, so if you like that, I think you will love this. Highly recommend!

Thistlefoot takes the Russian legend of Baba Yaga, and turns that story into one of Jewish origins. Issac and Bellatine Yaga are siblings who inherit the legendary house of Baba Yaga, the house on chicken legs, from their great great grandmother, who kept the house in storage in the Ukraine for seventy years and bequeathed it to the youngest Yagas. The siblings grew up in a household that gave puppet shows, and the pair decides to take the house on a tour and recreate the puppet shows they gave in their childhood. Both Isaac and Bellatine have their issues, and as the book progresses, we learn their backstories, and also that of the house and the puppets. They are also pursued by the Longshadow Man, a mysterious figure who followed the house from Ukraine, and who seems bent on the destruction of Yaga’s house, for reasons unknown.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for an e-arc of this novel.*

Siblings of a dysfunctional theatrical family, Bellatine and Isaac Yagga receive a strange inheritance from their great grandmother, Baba Yaga. The huge packing crate, that has traveled all the way from Kyiv, contains a house! The odd little cottage with barbed wire on the balcony has chicken legs supporting it, instead of a foundation. The chicken legs are alive and can propel the house forward or backward! Bellatine, a skilled carpenter, falls in love with the place, as a treasured heirloom to lovingly restore. Isaac, the son of puppeteers, sees it as a traveling theater and a potential money maker. Somewhere in the dark, twisted world of memory and revenge, someone powerful sees the little house as a threat to be eliminated forever.

I came looking for a fairytale and found a harsh and violent lesson in Russian history, as well. This novel holds so much more than it may first appear to, tucked between the covers of a caricature of the cottage named Thistlefoot.. The writing is sharp and fresh, the narrative haunting and evocative. Quotable lines abound, peppering the pages with ageless wisdom. The pace never flags; each chapter flies by. The characters are finely drawn, and you care for them very much. The saga of the Yaga family is not one soon forgotten. The memory of this book will remain forever, constantly distracting the reader's mind, just as it should.

One sentence in and I knew I was in for a delightfully weird and enchanting time. I'm so happy the rest of the book lived up to that expectation. Nethercott's vivid and rich prose drew me into her wonderfully creepy and unique world. This is a true modern fairy tale, with the darkness, trauma and hope that define the oldest human stories. It is a love letter to the power of stories and an ode to why we tell them. "Kill the story, and you kill the culture." Nethercott doesn't shy away from showing the darkness of humanity and effects of trauma that lasts for generations, but she doesn't leave the reader without hope. She beautifully argues that remembering and living can happen together, in fact remembering by telling your people's story is a necessary part of living. I rarely read a book that is both delightful and moving. Thistlefoot did both.

Any fan of Neil Gaiman will love Thistlefoot. Final note. This book has my favorite pet sidekick name ever.

This was nothing short of extraordinary. The writing was breathtaking, I can't even tell you how many passages I highlighted. It's a story that contains darkness and piercing sorrow, but ultimately I found it really hopeful. I was amazed by the author's storytelling style. The twists and turns in this unfurl in a way that feels both inevitable and constantly surprising.

I found this to be nearly perfect. There were a few occasions when sudden POV switches during chapters confused me, and I did wish for a bit more from the ending. In one way the ending felt exactly right, but I cared so much for all the characters that I did wish I'd gotten more of a look at how things ended up for all of them. But mostly I was just sad to say goodbye to them.

This is absolutely in my top ten books so far this year. Even if you tend to shy away from darker books, as I usually do, I highly recommend checking this out, though definitely do check content warnings. It's just such a weird and wonderful and beautiful book. I'd especially recommend it to fans of Naomi Novik and Emily Lloyd Jones. But really I kind of want to tell everyone I know to read it, it's that ridiculously good. And yes, it's queer!

Thank you netgalley for providing the free ARC in return for an honest review.

So much magic here! Special siblings Isaac and Bellatine Yaga inherit a strange house from an ancestor they never met nor know much about, Baba Yaga. This small house has chicken legs and can move around. Immediately, Bellatine feels a connection and wants to make it her home. Isaac insists she buy out his part of the house using the money they make by taking the retired family puppet show, The Drowning Fool, on the road. Soon they learn a spooky man who causes death and destruction in his wake wants the house, and the siblings must come to terms that their gifts are not just strange powers they were born with, but also inherited from the pain of their Russian ancestry. Such a unique story that builds upon Russian folklore and pogrom history.

“My name is Baba Yaga. You will not forget me.”

Reading this book made me realize this might be the first book I've read that is based on myths from my culture. Baba Yaga is a fascinating character that we've all heard stories about, but I rarely see any new stories involving her. I'm glad that's changed.

This is a great fantasy that follows two siblings that are descended from Baba Yaga. Nothing about them really makes sense, but it makes sense in the weird whimsical world they're in. It's really well written and often reminded me of Neil Gaiman's writing. This does have it's dark moments and I'd consider it horror as much as fantasy.

Thank you netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A multi-layered folk tale set in alternate modern times, the characters in this story stem from Baba Yaga traditions and eerie creatures with strange powers.

Siblings Isaac and Bellatine inherit a strange house from one of their ancestors 70 years after her death. They themselves have abilities that have both plagued and helped them in their lives. If you are a fan of the paranormal and you enjoy lots of small folk tales interspersed with an overarching storyline, you will love this well-written book.

For me, I think I just didn't enjoy getting into it as much, and it was so different from the way it was marketed, so I dropped it to 3 stars.

Yaga siblings Bellatine and Isaac inherit a house that moves around on giant chicken legs from their ancestor, Baba Yaga. As they go on tour with the house, Thistlefoot, they put on a traveling puppet show and reconnect after being estranged as teenagers. They learn more about their family’s traumatic history and their unique and mysterious powers as they are pursued by the sinister Longshadow Man.

The synopsis of the plot doesn’t do this book justice. It deals with heavy topics like ancestral trauma and death but in a fairy tale style that makes it easier to digest while still packing a punch. Only after I finished this lyrical book did I read that the author is a poet, but it immediately made total sense. I am the kind of reader that struggles to create images in my head while I read books (pretty helpful when they turn books into movies), but the imagery in this one ignited my brain. I haven’t had a reading experience like this one since I read Night Circus. Perfection.

Thistlefoot is a captivating fairy tale with beautiful characters. This is a long, slow burn of a story that is intriguing.

**Full review to be posted closer to publication!**

This was such a unique and unexpected read that was endlessly whimsical and creative. I really never knew what direction this story was going to go at any time and could sense the imagination dripping from each page. The story started out really strong, then had a bit of an odd point in the beginning where I wasn't quite sure what to expect or how it was going to continue, but it eventually picked back up and I found myself having a hard time putting it down. I loved the House as a character and daresay it might have been my favorite, but I also really loved meeting all the other characters that pop up in this story. Nethercott truly has a gift with writing a complex, compelling, and beautiful story. I cannot wait to check out more work from GennaRose Nethercott in the future!

This is a story about the Yaga siblings - Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist, who were estranged, but then receive a call that they have inherited something and need to meet to retrieve it. They were both hoping for money, or land, or something they could take with them and be on their merry way, but instead, they discover they inherited a strange little house on chicken legs. Thistlefoot, as the house is called, has arrived from the Yagas’ ancestral home outside Kyiv. Unfortunately, something else has also arrived along with the house and it starts following after them, trying to catch them so that it can destroy the house. The thing is called Longshadow Man and he is leaving destruction in his wake, all in his pursuit of Thistlefoot. 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.
This book was delightful. It was part folk tale, part fantasy, and just a tiny dash of horror. The Longshadow Man was creepy, and some of the things he did made me shudder with a mixture of delight and horror. There are creepy puppets a golem, and we all have heard of Baba Yaga, even if we aren't completely familiar with her story. This book will transport you so you feel like you are in watching it all unfold, and it is impossible to put it down. I definitely recommend this one!

Oh man - everyone needs to read this. This is a folktale done right. This story is told so beautifully, with so many perfect voices, I don't think I've read anything that does it this well. Thistlefoot is so much more than a tale of siblings fighting an enemy with a house that walks on legs. This is a folktale in the purest form: it tells how stories keep history alive. That the purest way to honor the past is to tell it's story, to share the horrors in a way that will be remembered and shared. That erasing the past happens best when there is no one to tell it's story. You will feel this story settle into your bones before it's over and you'll never look at a another story the same way. The power they hold and the truths they tell - it'll matter so much more.

**Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the eARC**

DNF @ 32%

This is a solid 4 star read but I cannot for the life of me get through this. I spend an average of two days on a book this length, but have spent five days to read 30%. The writing is poetic with a ton of beautiful quotes. If you like slow progressing literature and folklore inspired books, this would be a perfect read.

I might try reading this again some day, but for now I need to put it down unfortunately. If it was more fast paced, this would have been one of my new favourite books.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for sending this arc.