Oh, (good) urban fantasy, how I’ve missed you! For months (if not more) I’ve been craving a return to urban fantasy or mythic fiction but somehow not really clicking on anything new to read. I’ve put aside some older classics I’d been meaning to re-read but hadn’t really gotten to them yet. I picked up this novella just on a whim, figured if it didn’t hit the spot then at least it wasn’t too long, but oh boy did it hit the spot. Now I wish it was longer! I didn’t read a lot of reviews, but it seems that a fair amount of people who didn’t like it either thought there was too much info for such a short book, or not enough (or not the right kind), but to me it felt like it had the right balance of giving me info without info dumping too much. And I really loved the worldbuilding. Not everything is explained, but I don’t mind that at all. Vague magic systems rooted in folklore and stories are my jam. Urban fantasy rooted in folklore, the balance of old and new etc is 100% where I live, and this book had plenty. I suspect that not all of it was really accurate, but since I am not deeply family with slavic folklore or with Polish as a language, it didn’t bother me (but might if you are). I hate that the summary for the book basically gives away a spoiler (even though it’s not difficult to guess while reading, it still feels shitty). Loved the world and the characters. Do I have some nitpicking to do here and there? Sure. I can never recommend anything without caveats it’s so annoying, but I told myself I’d be more generous with my 5 stars in 2025, and this book had me excited, was fun, reconnected me to a genre I love, and has story elements that really hit the spot for me, so 5 stars all around, can’t wait for the sequel.