Beauty and the Beast has never been my favourite story, but when I saw that this BATB retelling was set in medieval Russia and incorporated aspects of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf, it went straight onto my TBR list!
love Becky @
Beauty and the Beast has never been my favourite story, but when I saw that this BATB retelling was set in medieval Russia and incorporated aspects of Ivan Tsarevitch, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf, it went straight onto my TBR list!
love Becky @
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cover art from ‘A Thousand Pieces of You’ by Claudia Gray |
Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love everything and anything Russian. Like, probably a bit too much. Every time I find a new Russian-based novel that I haven’t read or heard of, I just have to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I decided that, because of all this, it was high time that I put together a list of my top ten favourites when it comes to Russian fiction. So, here we go!
(p.s. this is going to be a loooong post, so don’t say that I didn’t warn you)
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‘Dariya and I used to play French Revolution when we were little. We’d take turns being Marie Antoinette. Our Grandmamma caught us once and had us whipped for revolutionary sentiments. We were six years old at the time and had no idea even what revolutionary sentiments were.’
10. The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Setting: Russia, 1888
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
on Goodreads
The Gathering Storm series follows Katerina, a member of the Russian aristocracy with a dark secret: she can raise the dead. The story mostly shows Katerina attempting to juggle her life as a Dutchess, including attending dances and her classes at the Smolny institute, alongside her trying to discover why the dead are rising, and pushing away the advances of Prince Danilo of Montenegro. This was an entertaining read (and definitely the first Russian book I’ve read with zombies and vampires in it) but I found that it went a bit too over the top towards the end.
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‘Krasivaya. It means beautiful, but with strength.’
Between Shades of Gray is an historical fiction novel focusing on Stalin’s labour camps. The main character, Lina, and her family are taken from their home in Lithuania and sent across the USSR, eventually ending up at a labour camp in Siberia. I found this book to be interesting in an historical sense, however, I don’t think it was quite immersive enough. With such a sad, interesting premise, and such heartbreaking events happening throughout, I feel as though this book would have benefited from allowing the reader to have more of a connection with the main character. Despite this, I would recommend it, as it gives an insight into the suffering of the people of the Baltic states during Stalin’s Soviet Union, something which I knew little about before reading this book.
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‘”Every form of art is another way of seeing the world. Another perspective, another window. And science – that’s the most spectacular window of all. You can see the entire universe from there. So it’s like we gave each other the whole world, tied up in ribbon.”
“You want me to learn the entire universe?” His grin is natural, somewhat abashed; we are no longer guard and grand duchess, just a guy and a girl, standing very close. “For you I will.”‘
‘There was no mistaking a Russian winter. It was a unique thing, a creature born and bred for Russian soil, one that sometimes brutalised the natives but often served as our secret weapon. Napoleon’s army was defeated not only by the Russian people, but by Russia herself.’
‘Then the eyes of the little doll began to shine like two candles. It ate a little of the bread and drank a little of the soup and said: “Don’t be afraid, Wassilissa the Beautiful. Be comforted. Say thy prayers, and go to sleep. The morning is wiser than the evening.”‘
– from Wassilissa the Beautiful
‘The bear had already become what it had been waiting to be, and the men who set it on its journey changed too. Lev became Trotsky, Vladimir took the name Lenin, and they stepped into a bright and furious modern world; blood red, and snow white.’
Blood Red, Snow White is split into three parts: the first part being a fantasy-esque recap of the beginning of the Bolshevik’s revolution in February 1917, and the build up to it. The second and third parts move on to tell the story of Arthur Ransome – the second part taking place over one evening with flashbacks to how he ended up in Russia, and the third spanning over most of the rest of his life. Ransome was a journalist who, during WWI, travelled to Russia (partly due to leaving his wife and partly to document the war) and whilst there fell in love with a Russian woman who just happened to be Trotsky’s secretary and, some say, became either a Bolshevik sympathiser or a British spy – or perhaps both.
I really enjoyed reading Ransome’s story; I literally finished this book in a couple of hours. If you’re looking for high fantasy, this book probably won’t be what you’re after. If you’re looking for the history of the Russian revolutions of 1917 from the perspective of a man who was connected to Lenin and Trotsky (with some fictional details added in) then this is definitely the book for you. At the end of the book, there are also lots of historical documents, such as telegrams discussing whether or not Ransome had become a Bolshevik, and therefore a threat to Britain. Overall, this is an absolutely fascinating book that gave me a real insight into Russia during the revolution.
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‘I am your loyalty. I am your Kommissar.’
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What do you think of my choices? Have you got any recommendations for other Russian-based books? Let us know in the comments!
Love,
In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, a stranger with piercing blue eyes presents a new father with a gift – a precious jewel on a delicate chain, intended for his young daughter. Uncertain of its meaning, Pytor hides the gift away and Vasya grows up a wild, willful girl, to the chagrin of her family. But when mysterious forces threaten the happiness of their village, Vasya discovers that, armed only with the necklace, she may be the only one who can keep the darkness at bay.
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love,
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Bookmark from Behind the Pages |
I’ve always been a huge fan of Russian-inspired fiction, so when I received Vassa in the Night in September’s Fairyloot box, I was over the moon! I had previously read the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful, and I would recommend reading it if you’re planning on looking into this novel – if anything, it’ll help you understand what’s going on when the magic gets too much!
Overall, Vassa in the Night is quite a quirky, nonsensical book – but this is often the case with folklore, and definitely isn’t a negative. It reminded me a lot of one of my favourite books, Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, but is written in a much more whimsical style to this. The book is very much written like a fairytale, what with the “things coming in threes” aspect, the overarching quest to save Brooklyn, the hero (Vassa) and the villain (Babs). There were also interludes which took place whilst Vassa was asleep, a little touch which I really liked – and these definitely complemented the plot.
Vassa as a main character was interesting, but I didn’t fully connect with her. I liked her attitude and sarcasm, but would’ve liked to have got to know her a little bit better. I do feel as though Erg got in the way of this at points, as she could be a very irritating character at times. I sometimes struggle with magic realism as a genre, but it managed to (mostly) make complete sense in this book – it worked well, in any case. It stuck to both the original story and to Russian folklore in general really well, and I appreciated this as the Russian aspects were basically what made me want to read it in the first place.
The only negatives I had with this book was that it could be a bit slow at times – considering that the majority of it is set in one location, this is bound to happen. I also did get a bit confused at some points, such as some sort of crazy fight scene towards the end (which confused me so much that I genuinely am not quite sure what happened). There was also a bit of a love interest at one point, which I just didn’t understand – it came from nowhere and had absolutely no build up or purpose.
I’m not entirely sure who to recommend this book to, just because it’s written in such a niche style, but if you’re interested in Russian mythology or magic realism, I would definitely recommend taking a look at it!