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TL;DR: A unique urban fantasy that I think I read at the wrong time.
Source: NetGalley! Thank you so much to the publisher!

Plot: I liked this! Kosara bargains away her shadow in a moment of desperation. And in attempting to retrieve it gets caught up in a plot that ties her past into the city’s futures.
Characters: The characters were very fun. I actually quite liked everyone in this.
Setting: The pitch on this one of ‘The Witcher meets Naomi Novik’ is very spot on. It feels very Slavic in origin, and unique in it’s setting.
Magic: I wish we had a bit more magic, but I suspect subsequent books will see more of that.

Thoughts:

Foul Days follows Kosara who in an attempt to outrun the monster that emotional abused her as a child, bargains away her witch’s shadow for safety. This causes her to loose her powers, and once safe she realizes the foolishness of this action. She sets out in what she hopes will be a simple attempt to retrieve the shadow. It’s not simple, not at all.

This book hit weird for me. I genuinely forgot I was reading it at times, I wasn’t incredibly excited to return to it when I put it down. Yet when I did pick it up I plowed through it, I wanted to know what was coming next and I found it creative, funny and fun. I genuinely think that was a me problem, I’ve been extra moody in my reading lately so I don’t blame the book for that. This one had a bit of everything and it was drawn together in a really fun way. Murder, a sweet and goofy ‘partner’, monsters, and humor.

I’d recommend this for anyone who enjoys urban fantasy that leans more fantastical. I don’t know if The Witcher is a good comp, but Naomi Novik in a urban setting seems spot on. It’s also the beginning of a series that I definitely would pick up again.

4 out of 5 missing shadows

A fast moving tale of two separated cities and monsters that haunt them.

The story follows a witch. And witch's powers lie in her shadow. Well, this witch looses hers in a gamble. On the worst day of the year, the Foul Day. It is a day (or 12) between the old year and the new, when all the ghosts, ghouls and monsters come knocking. And everything goes up in the air for our witch, Kosara. She has to team up with a cop, from the other side of the wall, to figure out how the gambler, a murder, and the King of Monsters are all connected.

It was a story full of adventure and action. Never stopping, never moving. But also full of hear, and heartbreak, and a loss of family, finding a new one, and of course growth as a person and as a witch.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and now need to see how the story ends in the second book.

This was a great start to a new duology! I love the folklore-inspired world Genoveva Dimova created and I can't wait to see where Kosara and Asen end up next.

When this book was pitched as "The Witcher meets Naomi Novak," I absolutely stopped in my tracks. WHAT?! SIGN ME THE EFF UP!!

This book was SO MUCH FUN! The monsters, the magic, the lowborn romance?! It absolutely pulled through for me in the best of ways and I am so happy that this is not the only book in the series and that we can expect more in the future. 10/10 would recommend!!

Brimming with magic, monsters, and Slavic folklore, FOUL DAYS is a delightfully dark debut that sucked me in from the very beginning. I adored this world that the author created and I loved the monsters and the mythology that the story is centered around. ⁣
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The story starts almost immediately when Kosara and a group of friends take shelter in a pub to wait out the monsters that plague the city during New Year’s. The monsters appear year round, but they are strongest this time of year. Kosara can defeat most monsters, with the exception of the Zmey. The worst of all of them, as he appears human but is anything but. Kosara comes up with a plan that will take her over the wall that divides her city from the monster-less one in hopes of avoiding the Zmey, and that’s when the story really takes off. ⁣
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Phenomenal world-building, incredible characters, and a fast-paced and exciting storyline combined to make this a book I couldn’t put down. I adored everything about this debut, but the highlight for me was Kosara trying to break away from the relationship she once shared with the Zmey. ⁣Much of the story focuses on how badly that relationship has affected all aspects of Kosara’s life, and the feeling of impossibility and hopelessness that she harbored really oozed off the pages. Their relationship was definitely an abusive and toxic one, and I appreciated how that brought a heavy dose of reality to this otherwise fantastical tale. ⁣
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All told, I adored this book and will be patiently waiting for the sequel. I’m giving this one all the stars and putting it on my favorites for the year shelf.

I thought this book was just the right level of fun and mysterious while balancing rather dark topics like domestic abuse. My only complaint is that I wanted more of all of the characters. More back story, more dialogue, more everything because they were all interesting in their own way. Thankfully this is going to be a series so I might just get the extra character development I’m looking for! The Slavic folklore included many creatures I’ve heard of before, but spun in a wonderfully unique way, and other monsters I wasn’t familiar with. You can tell the author has a great appreciation for the legends and myths she is recreating.

The Foul days are the series of days in which monsters flock to the walled city of Chernograd and everyone is on high alert. Kosara is
A witch who gives her shadow away to save her life at the start of these days and by the end finds herself teaming up with a detective to take down the Tsar of monsters. I really enjoyed the characters in this story and the mix of folklore. It’s packed full of interesting witches, monster hunters, monsters and a bit of a murder mystery. I can’t wait for the second book!

I kept waiting for this book to hook me, but it never did. This is mostly due to weak characterization. This book gets so wrapped up in the worldbuilding (admittedly, cool) and the slow mystery of our protagonist's dark backstory (admittedly, interesting) that it forgets to give our protagonist emotions. Even when our protagonist has lost everything dear to her, the typical reaction is one line of, "She sighed," and then the story moves briskly along. We never stop for reactions, or anticipation, or planning, or emotions of any kind.

Oh, and don't even get me started on this romance. No chemistry. No emotions. Just the very occasional, "Wow, he's hot isn't he? But, I'm not here to make friends so I'm not going to think about it." The book is just expecting you to fill in the romance yourself based on the bare minimum tropes it hints at.

The audiobook is well performed. The narrator includes a Bulgarian accent for some of the characters, making the setting and people in the book come alive.

A video review including this book will be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, @ChloeFrizzle.

Thanks to Netgalley, Tor Books, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Foul Days is the first book in the dark fantasy duology The Witch's Compendium of Monsters, written by Genoveva Dimova and published by TOR. Drawing heavily from Slavic folklore, we have a dark twisted adventure, with an excellent atmosphere, following Kosara, a witch from the walled city of Chernograd, and her fight for survival against the Zmey, the Tsar of Monsters.

Persecuted by the Zmey, and after being betrayed by a friend, Kosara's only resource to flee is trading her shadow (the source of her powers) in exchange from illegal passage across the Wall to Belograd, a safe place for monsters. However, despite Belograd is a safe place, she starts experiencing a fast-acting version of the deadly illness that affects shadowless witches; her only cure is tracking down the smuggler that took her across the Wall.
When she finds the death of the smuggler, with all the hints pointing towards Chernograd, she will have to team up with the Belogradian detective (Asen) that is investigating the assassination; both will have to collaborate if they want to recover Kosara's shadow and survive.

I found Kosara to be a great character, sarcastic at points, but still somebody that wants to use his powers to protect Chernograd's people, her people; with time running down, she will have to swallow her pride and collaborate with Asen, especially as the Zmey seems to be the one holding her shadow. Despite being young, she has seen too much, and that is reflected in the ways she behaves; confidence needs to be gained.
In comparison, Asen may lack that knowledge, but he's guided by a strong sense of duty; even if that means breaking the rules. His relationship with Kosara doesn't start in the best way, but slowly, confidence gets gained as both are struggling with guilt, and share the objective of protecting the people of their respective cities. The slow burn relationship between both (I'm not sure I would call it romantic) is simply sweet.
The rest of the characters are less defined, outside of exceptions such as the own Zmey; it is interesting how the Zmey, apart from being the Tsar of Monsters, is practically the archetype of the toxic love, that partner that covers you in love to, subsequently, show its true face and become the most possessive and abusive individual.

The worldbuilding is simply excellent, drawing from that Slavic folklore, and including many of the creatures; most of them appear in encounters that have an episodic feeling like in The Witcher. I would like to point that the dichotomy between Chernograd/Belograd can also remember to East Berlin/West Berlin, separated by a wall that not only keeps the monsters inside, but the people; Chernograd rooted in tradition and with many inhabitants that drink or smoke to deal with their difficult situation.
The pacing is fast, without a single dull moment, but allowing some times to recover the breath between high-tension moments; and Dimova's writing enhances the reading experience, giving us many memorable passages.

Foul Days is an excellent novel, a great example of modern dark fantasy that uses folklore not only to build the world, but to also include a thoughtful social commentary. Dimova's debut is a candidate to be my book of the year, and I can't wait to read Monstrous Nights, the second book in this Witch's Compendium of Monsters.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I felt a little hesitant to start a longer book with fantasy themes often oppressive of some peoples. The pacing was good and with the character and world development at a reasonable amount of detail, I didn't have trouble.

Kosara was a great character. She was very relatable having her fears and desires. She was caught up enough in her own guilt and worry that she didn't pay close enough attention to others' manipulations. She lives in Chernograd which is on one side of a wall. Chernograd has witches, monster hunters, smugglers, thieves and some poverty. During the Foul Days at the start of the New Year, the monsters from Slavic mythology come out at night and so everyone must stay inside.

Belograd is on the other side of the wall, full of color and wealth. The wall keeps the monsters out so they have no fights, deaths or worries about monsters. There are smugglers and thieves though, and they are the ones who know how to get back and forth across the wall. People from Chernograd who manage to get to Belograd have to be quarantined (caged) during the full moon to make sure they don't turn into monsters. There are many kinds of monsters though.

Kosara because of her fear of a monster loses her witch shadow. The story focuses on her retrieving her shadow, her confidence. She finds out who her true friends and allies are. She makes a new frenemy, Asen, who is with the police in Belograd. They each have their own secrets and it is intriguing to watch them unfold and find common goals.

I love that this will be a series, The Witch's Compendium of Monsters, with Monstrous Nights in October 2024. I want to watch Kosara and Asen as they right wrongs and give more people a chance at a safe and comfortable life. There are more bad guys to put out of commission. And who doesn't want to learn more about monsters?

In Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova, the author has created a detailed and complex novel that is emotional and full of action. The story moves quickly, but still allows time for the reader to get acquainted with Chernograd, Kosara and Bakharov as well as find out exactly why Zmey is a monster.
I love the way Kosara is written, her deep love for her city but also how she struggles with trust and learning to be strong, not trusting even herself. I love the fun references to other witches, like the house with legs or the mention of gingerbread. Witches are treated with respect in this novel, shown to be women of power, just like Kosara if she can learn to embrace her powers. I also like the way the author explores the differences between Chernograd and Belograd, the discrepancies but also the similarities. Best of all, I love the intrigue and romantic elements that leave me wanting more by the end of the novel.
If you love stories about strong women, witches and novels that are detailed and complex, this is the novel for you. It was exciting, full of intrigue and romance, Kosara is easy to fall in love with, with all her flaws but also strengths. The ending only whetted my appetite for more from this fantastically skilled author.

I simply LOVE this! I came for the Slavic folklore and moody vibes but stayed GLUED to this story for the dark humor, mysterious characters and delicious slow burn romance.

Foul Days is such a fantasy lovers treat and I am thrilled to hear that the second/final book comes out later this year! I cannot wait <3

Genoveva Dimova tells of a witch in the walled city of Chernograd. During the twelve Foul Days(paper from Tor) after the winter solstice, the monsters come out. Especially Zmey, the king of the monsters who has special issues with Kosara. When he attacks the bar she was gambling in, she sells her shadow to escape into the outer city of Belograd. Unfortunately the loss of her shadow not only means the loss of her magic but also means she is turning into shadow. Then the person who took her shadow is found dead.Helped by detective Asen trying to stop smugglers, she has to return to Chernograd and face Zmey who needs the twelve witch's shadows to take down the wall. This is a fun adventure in a unique world that deserves sequels

The city of Chernograd reminded me a little bit of the Fold from Shadow & Bone – had a city been able to survive within it. It is dark, cold, and very familiar with death – the permanent kind and the ones that come back. The stark differences between the two cities were interesting to read – especially once Kosara and Asen experience the world the other lives in. There were a handful of twists in this book that totally blindsided me and I’m curious to see where the ones that were unresolved lead to in the second book. I was familiar with most of the monsters (if not by the name specifically) but there were a few that I did have to look up. The Practical Guide to Monsters was a solid addition to the book but I think it would be better to have it at the front. I know it’s not always feasible but I always wish that glossaries with monsters/fantastical animals had illustrations to go alongside them.

I really loved Kosara’s character – she is slightly tarnished, extremely stubborn, and nearly humble to a fault. I am hoping that there is more of a backstory to the Zmey, Lamia, and Vila. I did enjoy Asen’s character and hope to see more development for him in the second book. Since the book is solely from Kosara’s point of view, it made Asen feel even more closed off. This was a story with a witch twist I hadn’t encountered before – witches get their powers from their shadow. Without it, they turn into a shadow themselves from a shadow sickness that slowly consumes them. But – the catch is this: a witch’s shadow must be freely given.

"There’s a difference between being technically right and morally right, and you’d choose technically right every single time. Even if it means letting people die because of it."

I am curious to see what happens after the ending of this book with the wall & the monsters. A perfectly timed spooky season release (slated for October 22nd of this year) for book two in the duology – Monstrous Nights and I can’t wait to read it. A big thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for choosing me as a host and Tor Books for the opportunity to read this wonderfully dark, witchy Slavic folklore book. Highly recommend checking this one out if you like dark folklore, witches, monsters & brushes of horror. If you enjoyed books like the Winternight trilogy, Shadow & Bone, or Where the Dark Stands Still then I believe you’d enjoy this one. Rounded from 4.5 stars.

The Foul Days has begun. For 12 days, the monsters are stronger, and they plague the city. This time of the year is dreadful for Kosara when her ex is the tsar of monsters. Feeling as though she has no choice left, Kosara gives up her shadows to cross the wall on the other side to the city where no monster roam. Without her shadows, Kosara can barely call herself a witch, and soon begins suffering from shadow sickness. Left without her magic and in a new place without monsters, Kosara has to navigate her new surroundings and to survive to try and find a way back to the other side of the wall along with getting her shadows back.

Kosara is flawed, but that doesn’t make her a bad character. She is suffering from grief and trauma, but that only makes her stronger when the time comes for her character to grow. Her relationship with others shows that, and in the end, they’re all just trying to survive. The author did a great job at weaving the monsters and folklore into this story! I absolutely loved the monster pamphlet that was in the book that gave background on the monsters and what to do during the foul days! This is a plot driven book with what I’ll say is a potential slow burn!

Thank you to TBRBeyondTours, the publisher, and the author for a copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

Genre: Slavic inspired fantasy

Kosara is a witch from Chernograd with a gambling problem... a problem so bad that she gambles away her shadow. This takes her across the Wall into Belograd, a city that doesn't suffer a plague of monsters or a slipping of time and world at the beginning of a new year. She's chasing her shadow, and redemption for her wrongs. If only she could make better decisions!

I loved this Eastern European based fantasy. The blurb pitches it as Naomi Novik crossed with The Witcher, and vibe-wise that's an apt comparison; but I’d add When Among Crows for the Slavic folklore as well. Set in a nebulous era where there are gramophones but transportation is still predominantly carriages, balloons, and by foot, and where magic and monsters lurk in the corners of every building, Dimova captures the dark fear of changing days. The Foul Days are the first twelve days of the New Year, a dangerous time, where the witches warn people not to go out at night (they even release a pamphlet with instructions!) because the monsters lurk closer to the realm of humans.

Kosara has made some bad decisions in her life; most of them have been rash or related to the naivete of youth (her relationship with the Zmey, for example, or the sheer amount of time she spends at night in graveyards during the Foul Days…). One of the fascinating parts of her character is how often she seems to make the same mistakes again, and mutters to herself, “not again, next time will be better.” And yet, she’s far from a static character, as she works with Asen, the very handsome copper from Belograd, she starts to learn how to rely on others for help and trust in the nature of her own power.

The audiobook, narrated by Zura Johnson, is excellent with well-done accents, but I highly recommend a tandem approach to familiarize yourself with the characters and the monsters. There is an appendix in the book with all of the Slavic monsters, but I also appreciated reading this on my kindle to highlight and look up each spirit while I was reading. And then I bought a shelf trophy copy for myself, because I couldn’t help it.

This was such a fun and monstrous listen! I really liked the witch, Kosara, and enjoyed the plot and all the unique monsters in this book. Many of them were new to me, so it was fun listening and discovering more about these creatures. The narrator, Zura Johnson, is a gem, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook. It’s such a fun, monstrous experience—pun intended, perhaps a bad one. There was a slight tease of a possible follow-up story. I hope that’s the case because I’m not ready to leave this world behind yet.

This is the new epic fantasy series I have been waiting for! I loved every second of this book and was pulled in right from the get go. The world building was fantastic without being over bearing or cumbersome. I liked the imagery and the stark contrast of the two parts of the city. The magic system felt fresh and original. I loved that the book was broken down into the 12 days after the new years. I am a sucker for anything that is rooted in folklore and lately Slavic tales have really been some of my favorites. I enjoyed the characters and thought that they all had important roles in the story as a whole. I was happy to see that it worked cohesively and that there really weren't any characters that were unnecessarily prolonged. I think that the development for our two MCs was done well and that there was a tangible growth from Kosara. The story it's self for me really put out some old school Terry Brooks Word and the Void vibes, and I was so down for that. This is a story that grips you from the beginning and doesn't really let you come up for air until that last page is turned. This will definitely be in my top ten for the year and is a serious contender for fave of 2024, the only thing that could trump is it the second installment!

I've been reading a lot of fantasy novels rooted in Slavic folklore and I am LOVING the gothic vibes. This is a fast-paced, richly imagined story that delves into themes of abandonment, grief, poverty, and toxic relationships. And it is amazing.

Long ago, when monsters emerged, mages erected a wall between the richer and poorer aspects of a city. Kosara, a fire witch, is an expert in dealing with various supernatural creatures in her city of Chernograd. Her skills are formidable, but she is always wary of the Tsar of Monsters, who feeds on the love of young women. He is well aware of her power and is furious that she managed to escape his clutches in the past. Fearful and desperate, she sacrifices her shadow—the source of her powers—for illegal passage to Belograd, the city free of monsters on the other side of the wall.

Kosara soon realizes that she is showing signs of the deadly wasting sickness that afflicts shadowless witches, and her only hope for survival lies in reclaiming her lost magic. Her quest forces her to team up with a detective - and she's not a huge fan of coppers. The dynamics between Kosara and the detective are fraught with tension and suspicion and their bond grows into such a beautiful one over the course of the story. Kosara is a deeply flawed yet relatable character. Her struggles with abandonment, trust, guilt, and grief resonated so strongly with me, making her journey all the more engaging.

There is excellent world-building, seamlessly integrating Slavic folklore into the fabric of the story. The depiction of mythical creatures like rusalkas and kikimoras adds a unique flavor. The exploration of poverty and wealth in a fantastical setting is a welcome one - though it could have been stronger. I suspect this will return in the next book. The biggest highlight of the story was the relationship between Kosara and the toxic Tasr of Monsters compared to her relationship with the detective. Her former toxic relationship is the driving force of the plot and echoes similar predatory relationships in our own world. It's chilling how the effects echo in her own head and drive so many of her actions.

The plot is richly layered, with each twist and turn revealing more about the characters and the world they inhabit. The book’s exploration of complex themes is handled with nuance and respect.
This is a phenomenal story that combines incredible world-building, rich folklore, and finely drawn characters with a big dose of humor and heart. I cannot wait to see what is coming next.

Thank you to the TBR and Beyond Booktours, the author, and the publisher for the copy. This review is based on a complimentary pre-released copy and it is voluntary.

Top 5 reasons to read

Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova

1. Incredible Bulgarian Folklore
2. Vivid world building
3. Fast paced and keeps you engaged
4. Modern Fantasy full of twists and turns
5. Relatable, witty characters


#FoulDays #TBRBeyondTours #GenovevaDimova