Lauren Wiesebron’s debut The House of Frost and Feathers is a beautifully atmospheric fantasy steeped in Slavic folklore, with a magnetic setting, compelling characters, and a plot that enchants as much as it confronts. If you love magic that feels lived-in, familiarly strange, and emotionally tense, this one delivers.

and once again, daphne kouma's narration never misses 🙂‍↕️

for the book, i like the concept of a walking house (it's giving howl's moving castle). i also like their magic system. but i sometimes irritated with the mc's, especially marisha. she's so whiny and stubborn (it's also goes on olena, minus the whiny part.) also in every chapter, marisha kept complaining while olena's teaching how to make the potion for the plague.

nonetheless, it's a whimsical and cozy book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this book.

This story, to me, seems inspired by the Baba Yaga folktale and Twelve Dancing Princes fairytale.

Marisha finds a job as an assistant in house on chicken legs. She is forced to confront her skepticism when she's confronted with magic, both of the house and of the people of the house. Marisha is running from her family and the sleeping sickness that's plaguing the land.

Olena is Bab Zima's apprentice and who Marisha is hired to assist. Olena is determined to end the sleeping sickness.

I quite enjoyed the characters and growth they show in their short comings. The found family at the end of the book is lovely.

I wish there had been a little less day to day scenes. We spend a significant time with Marisha figuring out the world inside the house and it's magic.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. The narration was well done. Please check content warnings before reading. There is some violence and kissing.

If you want a slow enjoyable fantasy, check out The House of Frost and Feathers.

House of Frost and Feathers was my first dive into a Baba Yaga-adjacent story, and it was certainly an interesting foray into Slavic folklore. The book brings a fresh take on familiar myths and introduces readers to a unique world steeped in magic, mystery, and mythological influences. The character development is one of the book's strong suits, particularly within the house where the main characters reside. However, it takes quite a while for the characters to truly come into their own, and I often found the pacing a bit slow. I would have liked to see more depth in the early stages, as it felt like the plot was dragging its feet before we got to any truly engaging character arcs.

Baba Zima stood out to me as the most captivating character in the story. Her strength, mystery, and connection to the folklore felt authentic, and I found myself drawn to her every time she was on the page. She was the best part of the story for me. The worst, however unfortunately, was the romance as it didn’t feel sincere. The romantic dynamic felt forced and lacked the emotional depth needed to truly pull me in. Because of this, it made the later parts of the book harder to enjoy, and I struggled to stay invested in the story. As someone who enjoys cozy fantasy, I was hoping for something a bit more heartwarming and immersive, but this didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

The audiobook narrator’s youthful tone also threw me off at times, particularly since most of the characters were supposed to be young adults. The voice made it difficult to connect with the characters in a way that felt age-appropriate, though the accent work was a bright spot and added an extra layer of authenticity to the experience. All in all, House of Frost and Feathers has some unique elements, but it didn’t fully resonate with me. It’s a cozy fantasy with a lot of promise, but it didn’t become a favorite. It’s worth a try for fans of Slavic folklore and those who enjoy slow-burn, character-driven fantasy, but for me, it fell short in some key areas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the audio ARC!

I’m really enjoying this one! A beginner-friendly, Slavic-folklore–inspired tale that isn’t a strict Baba Yaga retelling, but still brims with fairytale charm. It’s easy to sink into, entertaining, and full of delights: a magical house, dark cottagecore vibes, and a cast of strong women leading the way.

What I especially appreciate is how approachable the story feels. Even if you’re not deeply familiar with Slavic folklore, the world is written in such a way that you can step right in and enjoy the atmosphere without feeling lost. The writing style has that timeless, folkloric quality while still being easy to follow, making it a perfect pick for readers who are just dipping their toes into myth-inspired fantasy. There’s also a wonderful sense of place—the house itself feels like a character, and the imagery throughout has a lush, slightly eerie, magical quality that sets the mood perfectly.

The audiobook narrator, Daphne Kouma, brings the story to life beautifully—her performance adds just the right air of mystery and mysticism.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Lauren Wiesebron for the ALC!

This book wasn't listed as a cozy fantasy but thats exactly the vibes I was getting and that isn't what I wanted based on the title and synopsis.

That being said I really enjoyed all the magic. It was really intriguing and It was really well written. The narrator did a bang up job of this audio and it was the main reason I kept going because the first 25% was boring. It didn't ramp up much but it was enough to have me push through to the end.

I hated the romance in this one. It was a bit cringe and I hate that word but it was 100% cringe. It also felt unfinished. Is this going to be a series? If so I am not sure it was enough to bring me back but it really didn't wrap up enough so who knows.

it's a solid 3.5 stars. I love cozy fantasy but I didn't go in expecting it so I think it set me teeth on edge a bit

In the current climate of cookie-cutter fantasy books, House of Frost and Feathers is unique and a breath of fresh air. I loved getting folklore from a lesser used culture and I always love anything Baba Yaga adjacent. The plot is slow and character driven. It did get a little confusing at times how certain things could be important enough to mention, but everything does come together in the end.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something subtly witchy and unique.

I really enjoyed this! I understand the criticisms of it being a bit long, but I thought the slow pace made me more attached to the main characters and their growth and developing relationships. The writing was lovely and I found it soothing to listen to.

I really enjoyed this Russia-inspired cozy fantasy! The story and magic system were very unique; I’ve never read anything like it before. My only critiques are that the book felt slightly longer than necessary and that although the narrator or the audiobook was amazing with all the voices and accents, the main characters all sounded like children. The narrator, whether intentional or not, has a very childlike voice so while the main characters were in their 20s, they sounded as though they could have been 15-16. Besides these 2 points, I really liked the book!

I enjoyed this audio ARC from Lauren Wiesebron (via HarperAudio)- but i think i am getting tired of every book having a list of authors SIMILAR to this one, because i feel like the book always suffers by comparision, which is a shame, particularly as this book was lively on its own.

Marisha has been essentially orphaned - her parents were struck down by the strange sleeping sickness that plagues the land once every 10 years- and they are deep sleepers, never waking once struck. Her brother has left her in the care of an indifferent aunt, who's home she flees to avoid an unwanted marriage. Therefore, she is nearly out of options when she approaches the strange orange house on chicken legs, where Baba Zima resides. Despite her father's warnings to never deal with koldunyas, or sorcerers, Marisha takes a job as an assistant to Baba Zima's misnathropic assistant Olena, who is desperately searching for a cure to the sleeping sickness. In this house full of mystery and magic, Marisha finds herself in danger as she helps to unravel the origin of her family's fall and the sleeping sickness itself.

I thought the narrator for this audio book sounded a little young for the characters she was supposed to be portraying, but her voice work was fantastic, and she brought real emotion to the characters. And i liked the story very much-although i do think there could have been a little editing to move the timing along. The book is character heavy in a way that sometimes made the plot seem plodding, and i think editing could have helped. Overall, good world building, good story, great use of folklore in the story, good all around. Thanks netgalley and harper!

I enjoyed the beginning of this, but I ended up DNFing about 37% in. The set up for this book was enjoyable, but it got so repetitive and dull after about 20% that I was dreading listening to it. I finally realized that I just didn't care to put another 10 hours in. If this book had been shorter, I think I would have powered through, but the plot was not moving along enough to keep me interested.

Thank you to HarperAudio Adult and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

I cannot for the life of me figure out how this is "a bit of Juniper & Thorn", but if anything that should be a selling point to those on the queasier side. This has slight Howl's Moving Castle vibes just because the setting is primarily a moving house of a sorceress who provides remedies and spells to supplicants.

House of Frost and Feathers is on the cozier side of fantasy, where magic can give houses a near infinite number of rooms and chicken legs for it to ski on. Marisha is desperate for work in order to escape her aunt's reach, so she ends up as an assistant to Baba Zima's apprentice Olena. And so ensues Marisha and Olena's work together in finding a cure for the sleeping plague that strikes every 10 years.


What worked:
For starters, the narrator of the audiobook (Daphne Kouma) was lovely. The slight shifts in voices between characters was well maintained throughout the story and fit well with the setting. Sometimes when narrators do different voices it gets distracting, but not here!

This story was enjoyable, though not overly exciting or dramatic. It is full of Slavic folklore and a magical otherworld where you wear your heart on your sleeve.

What didn't work:
The "romantic" subplot of Marish and Kiril was... concerning at best? The only redeeming part there was that Marisha doesn't try to force it into existence at the end. Also why did these have to be heteronormative romantic subplots when Marisha and Olena would've been wayyyy better together. They also parallel Baba Zima when she was an apprentice fairly well, which that ALSO was a sapphic romance just begging to happen.

We are left with many "what next?" things at the end which left me wondering if this is intended to be a standalone since the bad guys are still running free. There are just enough things that could still be done to justify another book... But not nearly enough for me to feel like a whole novel would make sense.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing an audiobook eARC of House of Frost and Feathers. This review is entirely of my own opinions.

❄️HOUSE OF FROST AND FEATHERS🪶 by Lauren Wiesebron is an enchanting modern folktale with roots in Russian and other eastern European lore. Thank you to the author, @netgalley, and the publishers, @avonbooks and @harperaudio for the e and audio ARCs.

❄️❄️❄️

Marisha is desperate for work. On the eve of the impending sleeping plague, she lands a gig as the assistant to the apprentice (Orlena) of Baba Zema. Baba Zema is a well known sorceress (called Caldunas) whose mistress dissapeared almost 27 years ago. Baba Zema informs Marisha that her post will include keeping secrets and telling lies, but with nowhere else to go, she continues to assist Orlena in her quest to find a cure for the sleeping plague. Orlena is a budding, scholarly calduna but is absolutely horrid at social skills. As the stakes grow and the web of lies starts to weave around her, she has to decide where her loyalties should lay and who she will need to lie to next.

I was smitten with the world building, the chicken leg house as mobile home extraordinare, the character development of Marisha and Orlena specifically, and the re-imagining of the plague doctor as a sinister death dealer. There were so many enchanted feathers and I loved the use of the cauldron poker as the magical power symbol of these witchy beings as opposed to a wand or broom, etc.

Here are some themes to expect:
❄️Coming of age
🪶Found family
❄️Dark magic, ambition and power
🪶Magical feathers abound!
❄️Sleeping plague
🪶Rivaling sorcerers
❄️Powerful nightmares and dreamwalkers
🪶Disability rep

If you like eastern European folklore, the darker side of magic, houses that can run a marathon, and puzzles to solve, pick this one up and give it a try!

Thank you to HarperAudio, Harper Voyager, the author, and NetGalley for the Audiobook ARC and e-ARC.

Rating: 5 Cozy, Long Naps

This is a cozy as hell Howl’s Moving Castle-like fantasy.

The narrator, Daphne Kouma, was excellent. She also does the audiobook for The Raven Scholar, which I loved.

The story follows Marisha and Olena who are apprentices to a sorceress who commands a house that roves from town to town providing healing services to the communities. Additionally the apprentices are working to find a cure for a sleeping plague that affects some of their family members. I’m not sure the sleep plague sounds bad?? Maybe I need a nap.

I recommend this audiobook and the book!

Received an audiobook arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In a Slavic inspired mythology, a sleeping curse plagues the area. When Marisha's parents fell to the curse, Marisha is left to fend for herself. she gets a job as an apprentice to sorceress Baba Zima and is trained under Olena.

I felt the beginning was very slow paced in terms of explaining the sleeping curse and the beginning of Marisha's journey to learning magic. Overall the fantasy and world building was great once you got all the details and plot finally picks up. I felt the main plot was good overall and the ending felt complete but open to a possible sequel.

it is mainly fantasy with a small romance plotline with two couples. 1 did feel underdeveloped but he was under the sleeping spell so I wouldn't mind a sequel to focus on building that relationship. I clocked Olena and Vladim's feelings right away. Both romances are very slow that if you cut out Marisha's romance, it wouldn't ruin the book. I felt there were more moments for Olena and Vladim but I wanted moreeeee.

I saw people wished it was a sapphic romance between Olena and Marisha but I got more of a mentor/mentee and sisters vibes between them.

if you love romance, you won't like this book at all.

This book was for sure a pleasant surprise of a book.
Seeped in lore and the sense of safeguarding the place you call home.
Narrated by the phenomenal Daphne Kouma this story takes flight.
A Haunting, unique and engaging story that follows Marisa, a young woman who is desperate to save her family from a sleeping curse while also apprenticing with the notorious koldunya, Baba Zima.
As she goes on this journey of helping finding a cure to the sleeping plague she begins to see hidden connections between the sleeping plague and her family.
This book was very my lyrical and reminds me of a telling of old tale from village of the past.
For sure a unique tale and debut novel that had me enraptured.

I loved it! Honestly I'm having a hard time forming coherent thoughts to share. It's an impressive debut, published as adult but easily accessible to teens. The fantasy elements are built on Slavic fairytales, with a dash of the 12 Dancing Princesses, and the wintry setting was strongly rendered. There's a large cast to keep track of, but it's easy to do so because each one is distinctive, and the audiobook narrator, Daphne Kouma, handles it effortlessly.

I am confused, is this a standalone? In which case I don't feel like it fully resolved and I walked away with questions.
Was this book 1 in a series, in which case what is the second book going to be? I don't feel like a connection was created with any other characters enough to create interest in a second book.
Putting all of that aside, I had a good time with it, i liked the subtle nods to Baba Yaga lore and this idea of a yearly convention where they all try to outdo each other was really entertaining.

My Selling Pitch:
A Slavic folktale retelling with good bones but muddy plotting and pacing issues that make it more frustrating than enjoyable to read.

The audiobook is well done.

Pre-reading:
The cover gives Baba Yaga, and Valente’s Deathless permanently altered my brain chemistry, so like I’m sat.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Sighs in painfully clumsy fmc because she’s not like other girls.

It’s an abrupt beginning, but I’m in.

That’s my hair color haha.

Is this sapphic? (No, but it should’ve been.)

It reminds me of A Dark and Drowning Tide.

Girl, this is screaming lesbian rivals to lovers.

This book makes me hungry.

To whatever end <3

This is a little slow, but I’m hoping it’s about to pick up. It’s A LOT like Deathless, but Deathless is a toothy masterpiece.

This book has the characters ruminate on their decisions before they make them AND after, and it’s getting repetitive. This book needs to move faster. Just trust your audience to read motive.

Also, I no longer think this is gonna be sapphic. I think it’s the witch x musician rivals to lovers and skeptic x dreamer. Which like cute, but the girlies have chemistry. I'd rather something messy between all of them. Get Kelly Andrew’s flair on this.

Requisite YA fantasy masquerade ball

I'm sure she's in his dreams right now. (Duh)

Oh shit, or is this the love interest? Damn, everyone's compelling. (Bird man is barely a character.)

We’re due for a villain appearance.

Camaraderie, I mean-🎶 (From my cold, dead hands.)

Could Nightingale be the dream bird man?

If you're gonna put a romance between them, it’s weird for him to compare her to his mom.

I'm so intrigued, but this is very, very slow.

Ma'am, your house has chicken feet. Just believe in magic already.

It took me a second to realize she was saying beard and not kitty boy.

This book’s pacing is crippling it.

It's so frustrating when a book summarizes what you just read. And then it’s even more frustrating that this book is so convoluted and so easy to check out from that I kind of like having the summaries because I’m like okay, THAT’S what was going on.

Well damn. The book’s being annoyingly obscure, but Zima better be okay.

I don’t know how you can look like a bird and a sunburst at the same time, but I also don’t give a shit. This mask nonsense makes no sense.

This book is so rough, but the bones are so good. It’s so frustrating.

God, what a mess. That’s not an ending.

Post-reading:
You know what’s a bad sign for a book? If you’re wishing it was one you’ve already read the whole time.

It’s not the same story as Valente’s Deathless, but it’s the same vibe, and you’re going to be stuck comparing them the whole time. And this book comes up really, really short.

The plot is so muddied, the book’s forced to constantly summarize a chapter’s contents for the reader. That’s bad, bad writing in my opinion. The pacing is all over the place. You’ll complain about the slog you’ve been on only for an action scene to wrap up quicker than it started.

And it’s frustrating because the bones of this story are so good. The character archetypes are compelling. A witchy scientist and a musician. A skeptic and a dreamer. Sapphic rivalry. Like it was all there, and I was desperate for the mess. We don’t get any of that. It needed to be sexier. It needed juicy drama.

The audience is kept frustratingly in the dark for most of the book, and you can guess at backstories, but dragging them out until the 90% mark only to leave them largely unresolved is cruel.

The book doesn’t end neatly either. I can’t tell if the author was leaving room for a sequel, or if she genuinely thought this non-ending sufficed.

Side characters are forgotten about. One romance tentatively works. The other makes no sense. It’s instalove with nothing to ground it, but the audience is expected to root for it.

It’s just lacking a compelling plot to anchor it and then you’re reading 400-odd pages for what? Witchy chores, a blip of forced romance, and a nod to folktales? That’s not enough. If you’re looking for a folktale retelling with bite I really recommend skipping this and picking up Deathless instead.

Who should read this:
Folktale fans

Ideal reading time:
Winter

Do I want to reread this:
Nope.

Would I buy this:
Nope.

Similar books:
* Deathless by Catheryne M. Valente-same book, better font. Russian folktale retelling, historical, messy romance
* A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft-fantasy, mystery, sapphic, rivals to lovers, academia
* The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers-fairytale retelling, magical realism, family drama, deal with a demon
* The Book of Love by Kelly Link-magical realism, family drama, ensemble cast, deal with a demon
* The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden-historical, magical realism, family drama, deal with a devil

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited for this book but unfortunately it didn't click for me. Despite the lore, and the significant pick-up in place in the latter half of the book, I could not get into it.

I did really appreciate the folklore connection and the narration performance but the pacing threw me off.