Welcome to Litsy!

Finished my first read for #AnyWayYouReadathon

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one.

Pros: lgbtq representation, beautiful cover, the family history and its ties to Russia.

Cons: dragged at times, just kind of ended, didn‘t connect with Ruby, more magical realism then the witchy book I was expecting.

Starting this today. I have no idea what this is about, but I trust @Eggbeater to know what I like. Excited to get started!!

Ruby has been told the stories since she was a child: The women in her family, with great magical abilities, were forced to flee their Russian home for America in order to escape the fearful man who wanted to destroy them. These stories seem no more real to Ruby than folktales, except for the smallest bit of power left in their blood: when each of them comes of age she will have a vision of who she will be when she dies- an inevitable destiny.

I appreciated that this book was trying to tell a new story. However, I thought the “power“ of the Chernyavskys was so self-centered that it was basically meaningless. I did appreciate the examination of how good and evil are subjective concepts. I had just finished Six of Crows and found myself thinking, “We are all someone's monster“ while reading. Loved the LGBT representation and the examination of gender roles.

I did some expensive retail therapy today at Target and HomeGoods, but kitty therapy is good too. ❤️

I‘ve had kind of a rough week but I‘m picking myself back up again. This is a very pretty cover! 🌺