Here Be Monsters

I recently finished reading Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova. This is book #1 in The Witch's Compendium of Monsters series.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

  Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This exclusive edition features an exclusive cover designed by @sheydgarden, with sprayed edges, a reversible dust jacket by @panjoolart, foil hardcover case design by @alba_r_art, and end pages by @litepla The book is also signed by author Genoveva Dimova on an author page designed by @divineliterary with an author's letter bound into the book, and bonus content for subscribers.

"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?"

I really liked the idea of the book, and it was very fast-paced and easy to read, but I feel like uneven characterization, logical inconsistencies and lack of detail held this back from being as good as it could have been. 

The story centers around Kosara, a witch from Belograd, a city enclosed by walls to keep the monsters inside. Many years ago Chernograd, the outer city, built those walls around the poorest slums and basically sacrificed the people inside to the monsters. But since the monsters only come out in force 4 days a year—the Foul Days—they have kind of a functional society (although how I still don’t fully understand). 

Kosara is playing a card game in the opening of the book, and when her monster ex shows up on the eve of the Foul Days, she gives away her shadow (the source of all her witchy power) to a stranger in order to escape. The giant leap in logic to give away ALL her power in the first 10 pages of the book was hard to understand. The rest of the book is about her trying to get the shadow, and her power, back. 

There were some odd logical inconsistencies, like when the characters are taken prisoner by the Zmey and he locks them in a cage, why would he allow them to keep their weapons (knife and gun)? Why did the Zmey allow Kosara to go home and get a good night’s sleep before the final showdown? He really didn’t think she would try anything, given how violent he was supposed to be? 

Also, the details were lacking. I don’t know what the main character looks like. Somewhere around the 300-page mark, they mention Kosara’s “puffy” hair but that was the first description I noticed that wasn’t just about her clothes. I also didn’t have a very clear idea of what most of the monsters looked like, especially the Zmey. 

I was also a little underwhelmed by the description of Kosara and the Zmey’s past—it didn’t give enough detail into what had actually happened between them, and she continued to blame herself for what was clearly an abusive situation. The details were given out in bits and pieces, and it didn’t feel like we got enough information about it. 

The romantic subplot was basically non-existent, and I’m not even sure what was happening there. There was no chemistry or build-up, and then all of a sudden there were awkward thoughts about kissing and then nothing. 

It’s a shame because I liked the concepts, I just feel like they needed to be fleshed out more. 

Check out Foul Days, and discover what happens when your days are spent battling monsters.

Happy Reading :)