Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing for sending me a digital ARC to review!
This book exceeded my expectations in so many ways but most notably with the blend of genres as the story progresses. Initially, we follow our protagonist, Sasha, as she worries about her relationship with her piano teacher, Ackermann, in what feels like a typical literary novel exploring grief. We do not learn much about Ackermann except for what Sasha, whose opinion is most certainly biased, believes of him, making her somewhat of an unreliable narrator. When Ackermann is found shot dead, we see Sasha wrestle with whether she has the right to obsess over him and the emergence of an almost thriller/mystery-like plot as she begins to question everyone around her about the circumstances surrounding his death.
Sasha as a character is sometimes wildly unreasonable but also strangely relatable for her grief as she mourns a man she loved all by herself. Watching her seek comfort in slightly strange and perhaps morally questionable ways endeared her to me and made the story all the more propulsive to read.
Polek also weaves interesting commentary on faith and religion as we see Sasha both rely on her faith and disregard it for things like her love for Ackermann whenever it suits her. This facet of her character was very interesting but did sometimes take me out of the story as it felt slightly tacked on, as if the story is trying too hard to be didactic. Despite this, I really enjoyed this book, especially in the third part as the story reaches its most absurd refrains.
Almost a perfect 4 star read.

I really liked this! Such a fascinating story and very strong writing. The story details are fresh and specific and you would not expect them to work together but they do. You get the impression you are reading from a very clever and masterful writer. I loved Polek's previous novel, Bitter Water Opera. I think about Part 1 of that book all the time. It's so taut and brisk. I'm sure I'd love Imaginary Museums and I can't wait to read it next. Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher - I'm super grateful for the early review copy.

"She'd learned through her practice that some degree of restraint was necessary to communicate legible emotion." Polek is one of the few legitimate heirs (would be dumb to say heiresses...) of Ingeborg Bachmann and Fleur Jaeggy. This is a spectacular novel, unshowy about its erudition, attentive to the physical and psychic reality of the world. I loved Bitter Water Opera too but there is a marked development in Polek's mode of questioning, here, that makes Ackermann feel like a fruitful evolution.

This book mixes literary fiction with mystery in a way that is unique. The main character, Sasha, is grieving her piano teacher Ackermann, and because she's an unreliable narrator, we only see him through her biased eyes, especially once he's found shot dead. The story also explores faith and how Sasha uses or ignores it depending on what fits her feelings at the time. Overall, this is a compelling and well written novel with a main character who feels both frustrating and real, and it gets even more interesting as things take a stranger turn near the end.

Mysterious and suspenseful, this is a beautifully written novel. Sasha is an immediately relatable protagonist as she is grieving her piano teacher, Ackermann. I like how Sasha is unreliable and biased, and we only see Ackermann through her viewpoint. The author does a wonderful job of combining literary prose with a mysterious plot. I will look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

I was attracted by the gorgeous, moody, snowy setting of this book. It was absolutely a unique read with allegorical atmosphere.
However for me, it fell slightly short on character depth. I would love to know more about Ackermann, Helen to realize it fully.
If anyone loves atmospheric literary fiction, bit of mystery, this book is a wonderful choice.

Bonkers metaphysical Carpathian David Lynchian almost-murder-mystery! Really brisk, brief, intriguing, allusive and possibly allegorical; the descent into the salt mine and the surreal was very cool. Sometimes I wanted to know more about certain characters or situations but I think the gnosticism is part of the novel's design. Brings to mind Fleur Jaeggy, Joy Williams, Leonora Carrington—an interesting blend of the ecological, existential, and earnestly religious; very much doing its own thing, going its own way—if you like the specific, serious, unique novels of Missouri Williams and Esther Yi, I think you will like this.