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Book: “Foul Days” by Genoveva Dimova
Publishing Info: Tor, June 2024
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: 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?
Review: This one caught my eyes easily with its arresting cover. It’s not quite like anything I’d seen before, which immediately drew me in. Then, when reading the book description, I had two thoughts: 1.) this story sounds all over the place and 2.) it could be really awesome if it all comes together right! And, to spoil my entire review now, it was definitely the latter!
Let’s start with the world-building and fantasy elements. Right from the start, the atmosphere of this world was pervasive as well as intriguing. We feel the fear and dread of Kosara’s city, a place plagued by monsters for a brief window of time every year. It is cold, grey, but her home, and one that she loves and will do anything to protect. As the book description mentions, she then travels to the city beyond the wall, a place vibrant and full of life, having safely locked away its troubles (and seemingly all thoughts of trouble) behind a tidy wall. The contrast is stark and we feel Kosara’s bewilderment at the difference. I enjoyed the complicated nature of her feelings about these people and this place, comparing and contrasting it with her own home, with its very different culture and priorities. At the same time, the hardships of her home are not romanticized.
I also really enjoyed the various monsters we encounter throughout this book. At first, it felt like we weren’t really getting much page time or action with these monsters, instead hearing more about Kosara’s experiences in the past dealing with these beings. But as the pacing ramps up, about a third of the way into the story, we start to get some truly action-packed scenes, full of horror and excitement. Truly, it’s been a while since I’ve read a fantasy story that so effectively pulled me into these sort of scenes; I often found myself on the edge of my seat, wondering how Kosara and Asen were going to escape.
As for Kosara herself, man, she has to be one of my new favorite leading ladies of the year! On her own right, she’s a strong, independent character who is used to going it alone. Her past is rife with trials and mistakes, all of which have lead her to distrust those around her, sometimes to the detriment of her own situation and any burgeoning relationships she’s trying to form. In this way, her relationship with Asen is particularly interesting. Even as she slowly begins to trust and like him more, the habits of a hard life are difficult to fully shed, and we see her continuously struggle against her own worst tendencies and to have to later deal with the repercussions of these choices. I also really enjoyed the slow-burn romance between them. It’s very, very much a backburner part of the story, however, so readers shouldn’t go into it expecting much on this front. For me, however, this is almost the exact level of romance I look for in my preferred fantasy reads: it’s there, it has sweet moments, it has a lot of potential, but it’s not the main point of the story.
What’s more, much of the character arch of this story is tied up in Kosara’s relationship with the antagonist of the story, her ex, the monster, the Zmey. This was simply fantastic. For one thing, it’s a nice rebuttal (perhaps too strong of word, maybe “counterbalance” would be better) to the many fantasy romances out there where the male love interest can often come across (or actually be!) quite abusive (usually emotionally or verbally). Here, we see the after effects on a woman who escaped an abusive relationship. What’s more, we see the ongoing challenges of being exposed to this sort of person, the way their power over their victim can remain, despite escape, despite “knowing better.” Kosara can recognize the dangers and abusive tactics of the Zmey, but she can also understand why women keep coming to him, and why she, herself, still feels drawn to him, despite all of this. It was all supremely well done, and not a subject I see covered this well very often. This is the dark side of the “but I can change him” story that we often see go the other way.
As you can tell, I loved this book! I started out this review thinking to give it a “9” on my rating scale, but now after writing about it, I realize I haven’t come up with a single criticism, and indeed, spent a good chunk of time talking about how rarely good it is at covering some its themes. If that’s not a “10” rated book, I don’t know what it! I highly recommend this to all fantasy readers, especially those who enjoy Naomi Novik, Margaret Rogerson, or Emily Lloyd-Jones!
Rating 10: Fantastic in every sense of the word, with a world brimming with magic and peopled with characters you can’t but fall in love with!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Foul Days” can be found on these Goodreads lists: The Most Beautiful Covers of 2024 and Eastern European Fantasy.
The Library Ladies 