Review by Booklist Review
This superb secondary world fantasy by Polydoros (The City Beautiful, 2021) finds teenage Toma living in the wilderness with her adoptive parents and younger sister, Galina, all three of whom are upyri, the living dead. One day Toma (who is not a upyri) and Galina discover a small wrecked airship; its pilot is dying, and his young passenger is seriously wounded. Toma manages to heal the passenger and is astounded to discover that he is Mikhail, the deposed tsar. Two enemy soldiers who have been pursuing him kidnap Galina to take her to Koschei, a male witch who is the power-mad leader of the revolution. Toma, accompanied by the tsar, sets off to rescue her sister. Along the way, the two are joined by a second young man, Vanya, and the three continue their quest to save Galina, defeat Koschei, and return Mikhail to the throne. Loosely based on Slavic and Baltic folklore and Russian history, the story is replete with monsters and magic, not to mention the book's Russian--influenced lexicon (vodyanoy, mavka, etc.), which is defined in an essential glossary. Polydoros is a master of world building and conjuring suspense in a page-turning plot. His characters are highly empathetic and memorable, as is this emotionally charged story. An open ending suggests a sequel. One can only hope.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Polydoros (The City Beautiful) constructs a rich, Slavic-folklore-influenced world in this spirited adventure with emotional heft. Toma lives in the hinterlands of the Kosa Empire with her adoptive family of living dead beings called upyri. Despite not having met another living person in many years, she one day rescues airship crash survivor Mikhail and heals his wounds using magical embroidery techniques her birth mother taught her. A shaken Mikhail confesses he is the empire's tsar, ousted by evil witch Koschei, who stole his magical powers and is spearheading a revolution against nobility. When the men hunting him instead take Toma's younger sister, Galina, to appease Koschei's fascination with the upyri, Toma and Mikhail follow the kidnappers to a small town. There, they meet prickly Vanya, part of a persecuted religious minority who can make plants grow rapidly, even from dead wood, and together the trio work to rescue Galina and return Mikhail to the throne--whether or not he wants to be there. Toma's rapidly expanding worldview and joyful exploration of society beyond the hinterlands, after spending years in relative isolation with only her undead family for company, is captivating. Polydoros capably delivers an enchanting fantasy adventure, brimming with civil war allegiances, encounters with monsters, innovative magic systems, and fantastical new technology. Ages 13--up. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Sept.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A rescue mission embroils a young woman in political conflict. Dwelling in the wilderness with her adoptive family, who are upyri, or living dead, Toma has not seen another living human in years until an airship crash brings civilization violently to her door. Nursing the sole survivor back to health, Toma discovers he is the recently deposed Tsar Mikhail Vladimirovich of House Morev. Fraktsiya rebels attempt to capture Mikhail, but when this fails, they take Toma's sister, Galina, to placate their leader, Koschei. Toma leaves with Mikhail on a race against time to find and rescue Galina before she is used in an experiment or killed. On their journey, they meet Vanya, who is a member of the Strannik religious minority. He offers them a stark glimpse into the dark side of Mikhail's empire, a country where Strannik are scapegoated for societal ills and executed on trumped up charges of witchcraft. Vanya joins Toma in her quest while attempting to convince Mikhail to enact real societal change once he regains his throne. In this fascinating world filled with supernatural creatures and an entrancing magic system, Toma serves as an excellent main character, her years of isolation with only the dead for company giving her a sense of wonder at the places and cultures that have long become mundane for the others. Most characters in this Russian-inspired fantasy world read White; queer identities are mentioned in passing. A dark and thrilling tale. (author's note, glossary) (Fantasy. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
