Afbeelding auteur

GennaRose Nethercott

Auteur van Thistlefoot

5 Werken 869 Leden 21 Besprekingen

Werken van GennaRose Nethercott

Thistlefoot (2022) 785 exemplaren
The Lumberjack's Dove: A Poem (2018) 29 exemplaren
Lianna Fled the Cranberry Bog (2019) 2 exemplaren
Cardospina. La casa errante (2023) 1 exemplaar

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Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

As most short story collections, there were some I Loved and some I was meh on. The neverending staircase was such a strong start that I had really high hopes. There were some great gems throughout, with really striking imagery. All in all a great story collection!
 
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eboods | 1 andere bespreking | Feb 28, 2024 |
"What is a monster if not someone, some thing, caught between?”

GennaRose Nethercott has proven to be a master of dark fairytales. I loved Thistlefoot so I jumped on the chance to read her new collection of short stories.

These are all unique and horror filled twists on the fairytales we all know. The one that really stuck out to me and still lingers is Homebody but they were all good.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys dark fairytales.

Thank you Vintage Anchor for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)
 
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mlipman | 1 andere bespreking | Feb 7, 2024 |
As the cover of this genre-defying novel suggests, Thistlefoot is about a house with chicken feet and a garden on its roof. But it is much more than that: it is about preserving the memories of those history has erased, a fairy tale, modern folklore woven with old Russian-Jewish folklore, family. The modern day, American siblings at the center of this tale are descendants of Russian Jews who escaped the pogrom that wiped their shtetl from the map, carrying the genetic memory of the unspeakable things done to people they knew or that they did themselves in the face of so much evil. The novel is inspired by the Baba Yaga tale: a witch who lives in the woods of Eastern Europe in a house that stands on chicken legs – that tale is woven through the novel told from the house, Thistlefoot’s, perspective. But it is also revealed through the modern-day Yaga siblings, through the memory of suffering passed down in their genes, which animate extraordinary abilities, or curses.

Ms. Nethercott’s writing is beautiful and she crafted many memorable passages containing astute observations about life. I felt some characters were a little puzzling in the way they were manifested, but overall, this strange, tragic, wonderful book was compelling from the first page to the last.
… (meer)
 
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bschweiger | 17 andere besprekingen | Feb 4, 2024 |
I DNFd this book at the 68% mark and here's why:
Ok... well, please hold off on the lynching until I finish explaining. On the one hand the premise had tons of potential... potential for days and days, in fact it was so promising that I kept coming back to it again and again hoping it just needed some more of my time... NOPE... it just slogged on and I dreaded each time I chose to come back to it. I even bought it on Audible hoping a fresh voice would help this magical tale ensnare me but alas, it was not meant to be. C’est la vie,

Now, on the other hand, I'm not saying that the writing was terrible... it was... nice. It was decent EXCEPT it was also blatantly, unapologetically, savagely, overtly descriptive AND then there was Isaac... Isaac was tough to like and not in that misunderstood, morally gray, relateable underdog/antihero kind of way. He just rubbed me the wrong way and I wanted to skip over his parts... skimming urges are a surefire sign of a laggy, boring, faltering read. Dreading spending time doing my favorite activity is no bueno so it left me with little choice. You'd think that a book about Baba Yaga's decendants would be chock full of Baba Yaga or at least a comprehensive magic system that's explained. Whelp, nope, not here. With how descriptive everything else was, you'd think that EVERYTHING would be explained, and maybe it was explained in the last 32% of the book, but I think I gave it the good old college try.

This was a chaotic read. There were multiple POVs, and they jumped around without warning or preamble. I relied on picking up clues/names in order to discern who's voice I was listening to. AND for a book populated with characters possessing magic, they sure were flat. Now, I think that Bellatine did save the tale (as much as it could be rescued from itself). If the book had cut out the insane amount of descriptives and been only about Bellatine and this chicken leg facilitated mobile home, I think I would have been able to finish. I did like how the book highlighted the plight of the Jews and some of the antisemitic discrimination that they unbelievably/tragically still experience even until this very day.

On to the World... the world building (minus the descriptive overload) was decent. It's just hard to get fully immersed in a book that devotes chapters to mundane things... how much time do you expect us to devote to hearing about (chapter's worth of) Bellatine's hands... no action, no anything... just descriptions about hands albeit magical hands but hands nonetheless.

Overall:
I know I'm in the minority here, but decent writing, okay world building, and a noncapitalized upon (yet interesting) premise weren't enough to snatch and hold onto my attention thus the DNF and the low rating. I feel slightly guilty not finishing this book especially since I was so graciously given a copy of it to read for free but I even bought the audiobook so I can say, with a (mostly) clear conscience that I tried... I really did.

~ Sorry

*** I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ***
… (meer)
 
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BethYacoub | 17 andere besprekingen | Sep 12, 2023 |

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5
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869
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#29,449
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3.9
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21
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12
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