Book Review: Finding Baba Yaga

 

Hello, everyone! It’s Marta and I’m back with a book review that I promised you a while ago on a great Russian-inspired novel in verse called Finding Baba Yaga.

★★★★☆

This book is definitely haunting, it has the perfect atmosphere for a retelling of Russian mythology. I will be frank with you, I didn’t know a lot about Baba Yaga prior to reading this book. I’ve always been interested in Russian mythology, but I’m a bit intimidated by it and Russian literature as a whole. But this book managed to make me very interested in Baba Yaga and I will probably read more books on this mythological figure because of Finding Baba Yaga.

I loved how the modern seemed to intertwine with the mythical, it was fascinating and it was very feminist. It was everything I ever wanted in a book, but there were definitely some low aspects that I couldn’t ignore. For example, the pace was a bit slow and there were times when I would get distracted very easily and just not be as interested in the plot as in the beginning. The poems were beautifully crafted, the writing seemed effortless. I liked how this read like a twisted fairy-tale and Baba Yaga was definitely an enigmatic figure.

She was dark, she was gritty, but you could also see a more emotional, caring side to her. One that really cared about the girls, that wanted to take care of them and shelter them from the world and its many dangers.

Natasha, the narrator, finds herself in Baba Yaga’s house after running away from home, from her over-religious parents, from her father who put so many restrictions on her. I really felt sympathetic towards her and I was glad that she seemed to have found her place with Baba Yaga.

I would definitely recommend it to everyone who’s interested in Russian myths, who wants to read something atmospheric, who likes modern retellings and fierce girls.

I want to thank Tor.com for sending me a review copy of Finding Baba Yaga, it hasn’t affected my opinion in any way.

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My review of Finding Baba Yaga should be on the blog next week, I really hope I will find the time to write it and publish it. My exams always mess up my blogging schedule and while I always say that I will schedule posts ahead and organize myself, it rarely happens. How do you manage to keep on blogging during exams? Do you take a hiatus? #findingbabayaga #yalit #yaliterature #instaread #bookblogger #bookdragon #book #bookish #booksbooksbooks #bookphotography #yabooks #bookstagrammer #bookstagram

A post shared by Marta @ The Cursed Books (@thecursedbooks13) on Jan 13, 2019 at 7:06am PST

“Baba Yaga prefers them bright, asking questions, 

challenging her, turning their backs. 

She likes the ones who stick out their tongues, 

laugh at death threats, use foul language, never beg.”

–  fiesty girls

Have you read Finding Baba Yaga? What did you think about it?

Have you read other Russian-inspired retellings? Tell me your favourites!