When Among Crows

WTF was that? No clue what it was about, but the third star is for the fact that I finished it. It kept me going,

Tender. At least the first two-thirds; after that, there's some tension, uncertainty about motivations and story direction and outcome, and you'll have to read for yourself. I'll just say this: the book ends satisfactorily and was quite enjoyable to read.

The mythology is complicated but fun overall. Nice worldbuilding. And the supernatural stuff is really just setting -- backdrop for the real story, which is about oppressed minorities and the self-righteous nazi bullies who terrorize and kill them; about living in hiding, about the suffering of loss; about the suffering of remorse.

Summary: Urban fantasy about what the role of guilt and repair is for those who have been raised to harm.

When Among Crows is the first of Veronica Roth's books that I have read since the Divergent series. I read the Divergent series soon after they were released in the 2011-13 era. I think I read all of the series at least twice and I saw the movies. But since then, while Roth has written a number of additional books, I just haven't bothers to pick them up.

I saw When Among Crows was on sale for kindle and I picked it up because it was short and because it was a modern urban fantasy based in Chicago (similar to Desden Files) and it was loosely based on Slavic folktales. I also picked up The Witch and the Tsar at the same time and it will be my next fiction book. Both books use the folktale character of Baba Yaga and I picked them up together to see how different authors handle the retelling of similar stories.

Similar to other urban fantasy, there are more creatures than just humans living in our world, but not everyone can see them. Dymitr opens the books. He is human and on a quest, but the object of that quest is not fully revealed until very close to the end of the book. Along the way, Dymitr seeks out help from various creatures that feed on human fear or pain or sadness.

This is not a young adult book like Percy Jackson or The Carver and the Queen Emma C. Fox or KB Hoyle's fairytale series, this is more like Dresden Files' level of violence and dark fantasy themes, but with less humor than Dresden Files. There isn't any sex, but there are a few kisses between a gay couple and that doesn't go any further.

This is a bit between a long novella and a short novel at 175 pages. I read it in three brief reading sessions. I was facinated by the main theme of the book, revenge, guilt and atonement. It takes a while to get into who is guilty for what, but all the characters have killed or harmed others. Some have killed or harmed out of self defense. Some have killed or harmed because they were taught to fear others or that others were trying to harm them and so you needed to kill or be killed.

It isn't fully revealed until later and it would be a spoiler to discuss, but relationship across boundries is the cause of coming to see a different perspective. And once you see a different perspective, your guilt and the role you have in repair of harm does matter.

Urban fantasy does not tend to take a light view of magic. Magic can be well used or badly used, but regardless, there is always a cost. This book continues that general genre trend.

I lived in Chicago for years. This book uses the polish immigrant story to explore how old world fairytale creatures came to the new world. But the city was not as much of a character to the book as I would have hoped. The next book in the series comes out later this year and by advance page count (which can be wrong) the next book is closer to 300 pages, or nearly twice as long. I look forward to picking it up when it is released.

This was originally posted on my blog at https://bookwi.se/when-among-crows/

Sooooo goooood!!!

The vibes, the unexpected but delightful queerness, the beautiful story telling....so glad I gave Veronica Roth another go after divergent. A truly excellent read, I only wish there was more of this world to read in!!!!

The only complaint I have is that this is way too short & I need 300 pages more!

3.25⭐️

Reads like a fairytale. Seems like it could be a start to an interesting series, but didn't really grip me as a stand-alone. Somehow never really engaged with the characters the way I would have wanted to. That say, it was a nice introduction to a mythology I was previously unfamiliar with. Would definitely give a sequel a read.

Felt like the story should start where the book ended. It wasn’t until than I started to care about the characters or see their personalities. Pretty cover though...

Good good good!
I jumped at the audiobook when I saw it had 3 narrators! For the 3 characters! There were so many Slavic folklore elements in it. It was easy to guess what Dymitr wanted from a certain someone, but the way it played out was so cool. The bonus

I feel like this book needed more Slavic mythology or just more to it in general. I really hope there's a sequel so that my questions can be answered.

It was still a very beautifully written book. The way the creatures and their otherness were described makes it very easy to picture each species. And the rituals that are practiced for different spells are also well written into excruciating detail. Made me wince a few times reading them.

I was curious why the book is only 176 pages, but I am thankful now because I didn't struggle for long.
I don't think there is a single thing about this book that I liked, except the inspiration of the Slavic folklore.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advance audio copy for review.  All opinions expressed are strictly my own.Dymitr is a Knight of the Holy Order, sworn to hunt the monsters that prey on humans.  He comes to Chicago and meets Ala, a zmora, cursed to a life of fear, pain, asnd an early death.  He offers her a cure in exchange for her help finding Baba Jaga.  Niko is a rare male strzygon who gets pulled into their quest along the way.  

Set in Chicago and drawing heavily from Polish folklore, this novella tells a story og grief and loss, guilt and redemption.  I loved all three main characters and the story itself.  The folklore that weaves through the story was unfamiliar to me, but I was given enough info to understand what was happening.  The narrators were excellent in bringing the story to life.  This tale will live with me for a very long time, and I suspect i will reread it more than once or twice.