A Lazy Reader's Review of "Where The Dark Stands Still" by A.B. Poranek

Synopsis

    Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters. After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

    Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon discovers the sinister roots of their bargain. And if she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host's spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.

    Those who enter the wood do not always return . . .

Review

    Hmm, where to begin? 

    I'll start with what I did like. The writing. Oh my god, the writing. Poranek can create such a tense and spooky atmosphere. This, coupled with the vivid imagery is a recipe for excellence. There were several instances where I would highlight entire paragraphs because the imagery was just so electric. I also thought that the world building was very well thought out and descriptive. Even though, at times, it was a little overkill with all of the exposition. I love the heavy Polish/Slavic inspiration that aided in the world building and lore. This is probably the first book I've read with that kind of vibe, and I really did like it. Although, I must admit, I would have to pause reading in order to look up certain words.

    Now, I'll talk about what didn't quite work for me.

    The characters. I honestly just couldn't get myself to feel anything for the two main characters. And that's really tragic. There were times that I was just pushing through the story in order to finish it. This also meant that I couldn't get behind the romance. To me, it just wasn't believable. I know this book is supposed to be a kind of Beauty and the Beast retelling and I could pin point the similarities between the two stories but, for some reason, this book just really missed the mark when it came to romance which was really disappointing. 

    I also thought that the dialogue was just super cringe at times and it made me unreasonably annoyed with the characters. It just seemed super stiff and almost forced. Ugh. Dialogue can really make or break a book for me.

    I'll say this, despite the many problems that I had with this book, I did still think it was a decent read and I can see why someone would really love this book. I would recommend this to someone that is wanting to read some romantasy, but I know that there are better options out there.

Oct. 28, 2014 – Oct. 31, 2024

★★★☆☆