As a fairytale this book is far off the mark. I found some of the rituals that it told were a bit farfetched and wondered if people really could be that duped. As a love story its on the right track. ( )

Plot:
Marya is the Mistress of the Solstice, the high priestess of their cult. Her most important task is to perform the annual sacrifice of a virgin to Marya's father, the immortal tsar Kashchey. This sacrifice is necessary to keep their kingdom save and prosperous. But then Ivan shows up, Ivan the Fool, youngest prince of a neighboring kingdom. Ivan is on a quest to kill Kashchey and get rid off the sacrifices once and for all. He is not the first to try. But when Marya and Ivan meet, they are both knocked off course.

I really enjoyed reading Mistress of the Solstice. It's well-written and imaginative and really profits off the setting that draws on Russian folklore.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2018/09/25/mistress-of-the-solstice-anna-kashina/ ( )

Marya is the high priestess of her land and as such it's her responsibility to make the yearly virgin sacrifice to their god, a sacrifice that will ensure her land and its people live in love. It also ensures her father, the Tzar, maintain his power. She believes this is a good and right thing. She's proud of her country and of her father. And if she's distant from everything, cold and hard, it's only that she was taught to be so by her father.

Ivan is the youngest son of the Tzar of a different kingdom. More so than Marya, Ivan believes in--and experiences--love. Love for his country, love for his family, and love for Marya, even though it's his quest to stop her and her father thus removing the only things she holds dear.

Both Marya and Ivan abide by the rituals that surround them. So when Ivan asks for her hand in marriage Marya gives him an impossible quest. Only by fulfilling it can he set them all--himself, Marya, and the kingdom--free.

This book was lush. It read like the fairy tales that walked through it. I was swept up in this story, and devoured it in one, long read.

(Provided by publisher) ( )

"Mistress of the Solstice" is a book that is full of lovely moments, but in the end its a book thats hard to love.

Ivan is the youngest son of the King (Tsar) of the kingdom next kingdom over but one. Though he's clearly smart. strong and resourceful, he's called by one and all, "Ivan the Fool" He's on a quest.

Marya is the daughter of the Tsar of the local Kingdom and the Mistress of the Solstice. Once a year her job is to round up a virgin girl for her father the maybe-hes-a-vampire to ravish and kill. Though we learn a lot about Marya's lust life we also learn she has been taught "not to fall in love". OK.

Of course she meets Ivan and she falls in love with him right out of the box. Didn't see THAT coming But he's there to stop the slaughter of the virgins, mainly. (Not sure why he's there really).

The author has done her research and the archetypes of the Russian folk tales are wonderfully brought to life. We meet Wolf and Raven and Cat, and enjoy an extended cameo by Baba Yaga, the mother-witch in her marvelous house on chicken legs.

But none of the characters really engage, and the quest seems perfunctory, and the story badly organized. (We don't find out how Ivan and his Wolf sidekick meet up until near the end of the book, and by then we have other things on our minds.)

The ending is such a hodgepodge, with many new ideas thrown at us bang bang bang, just to wind up the plot.

Telling the story with one chapter about Ivan followed by one chapter about Mayra and back and forth only served to distance me from the characters and the story.

Would read the next one the author wrote. But this one didn't work for me

A LT Early Reviewers book ( )

Mistress Of the Solstice
Anna Kashina
Ebook
★☆

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in
exchange for an honest review

I am very upset that I did not enjoy this novel.
I'm very fascinated with Russia amd even more
fascinated by Russian folklore.

I cant really tell you what this book is about. I
felt at times it drug on and I honestly got bored.
Bored enough to where I was just reading words on the page
to get the book over with, but not really taking it in.
I hate to knock any authors writing because I know
when they write a book they poor themselves in these novels.
I think this novel upset me so bad because I had high expectations.

This story drug on to me. I know Ivan is this special boy chosen by the Wolf to defeat Marya's father whom sacrifices a virgin every year for his youth. I think I have that correct. Her (Marya) father is known as the immortal king. I got from this that Ivan had many difficult tasks he had to face. A cat who could play with his mind, capture a raven, etc. just a lot of different things. Along the way he falls for The kings daughter and just really wants to free her from her fathers clutches.
On top of everything Marya has this magic mirror that tells her whatever she wants to know.

I personally didn't feel the authors writing style, which in the end really messed with the flow of the book for me.
I didn't feel any connections the characters.
Marya actually got on my nerves with how many times she
had to remind us how heartless, detached, and soulless she
is. On top of it she was proud of it.
Then when she was able to be a person and feel it felt forced
and faked. ( )