Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek. This tour is being hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours.
Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek
Genre: Young Adult Gothic Fantasy
Publishing date: February 27th, 2024
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Rep: Polish, European
Synopsis:
Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters. After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.
Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon discovers the sinister roots of their bargain. And if she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.
Those who enter the wood do not always return…
Tour Schedule
https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2024/01/09/tour-schedule-where-the-dark-stands-still-by-a-b-poranek/
Review
Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek, is a lush old world fantasy based polish folklore.
Liska Radost has a secret, that she struggles to keep hidden from the other villagers of Stodoła. She can do magic, and has exceptional healing magical abilities. She wants nothing more that to be excepted, and considered a normal person. So she suppresses her magic and now it’s become explosive, and wild.
Her only chance of removing her gifts that she sees as curse, is to venture in the spirit wood known as the Driada. She goes there seeking out a fern flower that will grant her a wish. Hoping to remove all traces of her magic she takes a deadly chance as she enters the Dark Wood that is known for its creatures.
The Demon Warden of the woods, is a shape shifter, an antlered white stag immortal, named The Leszy. After making a bargain with the Demon, Liska is to serve him for one year, and at the end her wish will be granted. One year to live in his sentient old manor under the Rowan Tree. Where things are not as one wound expect for a Demon’s house, full of dark secrets.
Innovative world building and incisive character development,made for a compulsory book. Readers will find themselves in love with the the three dimensional characters, who’s growth was exceptional.
A.B. Poranek delivers quite a phenomenal, atmospheric, fantasy tale. An impressive magical system, with nightmarish creatures along with an old God, that is even more monstrous. The slow burn romance was depicted in such away that kept flipping the pages. Liska Radost was such a enjoyable character, her struggles and growth was extremely written well. So far she is my favorite character of 2024. The manor and its inhabitants, made me want find my own dark wood manor house and live out the last of my days there. The ending was everything and gave the tale so much depth and emotion.
This is one author that needs to be on your radar.
Nothing short of a Five Star’s rating on this book 📖
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Thanks to @simonteen @abporanek @tbrbeyondtours
Author
A. B. Poranek grew up in Ontario, Canada but spent her summers in the Polish countryside, raiding her grandfather’s library and helping care for his chickens. Her love of animals led her to pursue a degree in Veterinary Medicine, though she never stopped writing along the way. She now lives in Versailles, France, where she spends her free time doodling and wrangling her void demon (read: cat), Neptune.
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