Eli reviewed Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
None
4 stars
A different kind of story about the Baba Yaga, this time going by Yaga only (although I wasn't sure why it kept on being pronounced more like 'Yega'). She tries to help out her dear friend, the Tsar's wife, who was being poisoned, and gets involved in a whole rigmarole of events in the city, which she sought to escape before. She sees others from her past, and meets other eternal beings, and eventually falls in love with a mortal man as well, with whom she has a family. In the process of trying to save the villages, she meets her sister who she did not know existed, and plans to send her away, as she has been whispering into the Tsar's ear to get him to cause chaos and do as she wishes. Yaga does learn more about her, and of the predicament they're in, both as the opposites …
A different kind of story about the Baba Yaga, this time going by Yaga only (although I wasn't sure why it kept on being pronounced more like 'Yega'). She tries to help out her dear friend, the Tsar's wife, who was being poisoned, and gets involved in a whole rigmarole of events in the city, which she sought to escape before. She sees others from her past, and meets other eternal beings, and eventually falls in love with a mortal man as well, with whom she has a family. In the process of trying to save the villages, she meets her sister who she did not know existed, and plans to send her away, as she has been whispering into the Tsar's ear to get him to cause chaos and do as she wishes. Yaga does learn more about her, and of the predicament they're in, both as the opposites to balance the scales, so can she really get rid of the whole of one side. Many events happen as per other folkloric tales, but told in a different light. Nice to hear some familiar stories and characters.