When Among Crows (Curse Bearer series, book 1) by Veronica Roth

 

What a pleasant surprise!
I don’t remember who recommended this book to me - whether it was a YouTube channel or maybe TikTok, but I’m glad I added it to my wishlist! It had been waiting since August, and completely by chance (my daughter drew it for me from my TBR jar) I ended up starting November with it.

Right from the start, I’ll say I gave it five stars and I’m still experiencing a book hangover after finishing it yesterday, but, true to my Polish nature, let me begin with some complaints!
💔Complaint 1:
The book is rooted in Polish folklore. We have strzygi, zmory, upiory, leszy, and more, as well as my favorite legend about the fern flower. Very cool, but I missed consistency in the naming. Sometimes the author uses a singular form, and other times a plural form even when referring to a single entity.
The same goes for Kościej. On page 22 he appears as „Koschei the Deathless” and later, in the sneak peek, as regular “Kościej”.
Polish nouns decline across 7 grammar cases in singular and plural, so I think that for English-speaking readers, it would make more sense to use singular forms consistently, so: 1 zmora, 2 zmoras.
💔Complaint 2:
Character names! Dymitr is supposedly from Poland, yet his name is Russian. It’s absolutely NOT a Polish name. That aside, I absolutely loved his character!
Ala / Aleksja. Again, a form from beyond Poland’s eastern border. In Poland, the standard equivalent of the name is Aleksandra, and the diminutive is Ola. Ala is instead a diminutive for Alicja (Alice).
💔Complaint 3:
Some Polish words are used incorrectly, making certain sentences lose their meaning.
Example: “Call me your grandmother again and I’ll cut off your head, zemsta”.
“Zemsta” means “revenge”. In the context the author wanted, a better choice would be “mściciel” (avenger) or “karzący” (punisher).

❤️❤️❤️
Alright, now for the positives!
❤️I loved all the characters. Dymitr, with his secrets, he had many Polish traits. I appreciated that despite his inner darkness the author avoided sorrowful drama.
❤️Nikodem Kostka - I wanted to know more about him. He jumped in to save Dymitr too quickly. I would’ve liked to see more interaction between them before the fighting and fleeing began. Still, their relationship truly tugged at my heart.
❤️I’m not usually a fan of romance, and LGBTQ romances can sometimes feel too on-the-nose, but here it was genuinely sweet and well-layered.
❤️I really enjoyed how interesting and unique the monsters were, and how creatively they found ways to feed. Everything was well-thought-out and formed a coherent, believable world.
❤️The writing style was concise and that's the point. Every sentence had its place and purpose. There were no drawn-out guesses and internal monologues.
Still, I wished the book were about 100 pages longer :D

I recommend it 100%!