Ratings3
Average rating4.2
The Witcher meets Naomi Novik in this fast-paced fantasy rooted in Slavic folklore, from an assured new voice in genre As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice taming rusalkas, fighting kikimoras, and brewing lycanthrope repellent. There’s only one monster Kosara can’t defeat: her ex the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times, and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed to him by someone close to her, Kosara’s only hope is to trade her shadow—the source of her powers—for illegal passage across the Wall to Belograd, where monsters can’t follow. Life in Belograd should be sweet, but Kosara soon develops a fast-acting version of the deadly wasting sickness that stalks shadowless witches—and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To trace her shadow, she’ll have to team up with the suspiciously honorable detective investigating the death of the smuggler who brought her across the Wall. Even worse than working with the cops is that all the clues point in a single direction: one of the Zmey’s monsters has found a crack in the Wall, and Kosara’s magic is now in the Zmey’s hands. The clock is ticking, the hunt is on, and Kosara’s priorities should be clear—but is she the hunter or the hunted? And in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the man—the Monster—she’s never been able to escape alone?
Reviews with the most likes.
I was able to download the ARC for this book after having it on my want to read list since I saw it on the author's Instagram promotions almost a year ago and it definitely lived up to my expectations!
Slavic monsters, a slavic witch, and one hell of an adventure! The characters were fun and I found myself trying to sort through all the clues to piece the mystery together just to be surprised that only some were correct and completely wrong about others that I though were super obvious! If you know your slavic monsters, then this book is definitely for you. If you love The Witcher and going monster hunting, this book is for you. If you love a good heist, then this book is for you! After all, what's a bigger heist than trying to steal from the Tsar of Monsters himself? I thought this was going to be just a monster hunting extravaganza but it was so much more and I loved every second of it!
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Witch's Compendium of Monsters is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2024 with contributions by Genoveva Dimova.