I loved this, I really enjoyed learning about the folklore, mythology and demons.

Also Jaga - who doesn’t want a sassy cat spirit demon 😈

This book is so detailed and beautiful, although it’s left me feeling slightly broken

Thank you so much to Penguin UK and Netgalley for the eARC. I thoroughly enjoyed this dark, atmospheric and beautifully written fairytale rooted in Polish folklore.

We head straight into the action and the story follows Liska, a small village girl who holds dangerous magic in her attempt to bargain it away with the wood-demon of the forest – the Leszy. Magic is rare and Liska has been taught to fear her magic, and there are strong religious themes throughout.

I really enjoyed the slow unfolding of Liska’s history organically throughout, rather than beginning with her backstory. The memory flashbacks were perfectly spaced out. I was immediately intrigued by the Leszy, I love a tortured MMC and I wanted to like him but I was tentative about trusting him and was constantly trying to figure out whether I should. It felt like I was going through this unsurety along with Liska.

Full to the brim of enchantment and magic as well as found family, rich and loveable characters, self-acceptance, slow-burn romance, twists and turns and lots of mystery. I really didn’t know what was going to happen even until the very end!

I would highly recommend, and have preordered the beautiful Waterstones edition of this wonderful novel.

Release date: 29 Feb 2024

Where the Dark Stands Still is a beautiful, unique story with fairytale vibes which follows an outcast girl as she learns to accept herself and her magic.

One of my favourite things about this book was the romance which was such a brilliant slow burn. I really enjoyed the fact that you got to see snippets of the Leszy’s POV and thought that it really added a special element to the story.

I do think the book did have some pacing issues and that the last third of the book had a lot more action than the first two. However, I enjoyed the story and ending so immensely that it didn’t even bother me.

Overall, I think this was a great novel and I would absolutely recommend to others.

What a wonderful story filled to the brim with magic and folklore. It captures that place between superstition and faith, and weaves them together in a tapestry of magic. The plot is intricate and well thought out, with characters that will stay with you long after reading. Altogether utterly enchanting!

Book Review 📚
Where The Dark Stands Still by A.B Poranek - 4.5/5 ⭐

What an absolute beautiful piece of work this is by Poranek! After reading the blurb I knew it was something I needed to read, but I never imagined it would grip me so tightly and not let me go.

The amount of detail in this book is unbelievably brilliant. From characters to details, there isn't anything you miss. It was so well thought out with so much intrigue and it was flawless.

This could of easily been another 200-300 pages for me and I wouldn't of got bored. Even when there's not much happening there is still so much happening! Poranek manages to keep me enthralled and immersed in such a beautifully written piece.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Poranek crafts a tale inspired by Slavic folklore and classic tales like Beauty and the Beast, but don’t be surprised when the path leads you astray. This is a quite slow-paced book, but the rhythm picks up towards the end, and it is worth the trek. A brilliantly atmospheric, gothic fairytale. Perfect for fans of the bear and the nightingale, a study in drowning or Emily Wilde.Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, and yet I find myself at a loss on what to say about it other than that I liked it.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of the settings, I thought they were magical and beautiful. I I’m particular loved the description of the house, and how it was an additional character within the book.

I enjoyed learning about the different mythologies and folklore of the demons. I liked how the wood worked.

I liked Liska and her struggle to come to terms with who and what she is. I thought she had a brilliant character journey and I really liked where her character ended up. I loved her determination and her caring heart.

The Lezsy was a complicated one for me. He was sometimes very terrible, and I was baffled as to how I was meant to find him as Liska’s love interest after his cruelty. But I think as the book went on it did well to explain him, not excuse him, and to a certain extent he got his penance (I wish we had more of an apology for the things he did).

Jaga was an excellent character and I loved her.

The plot did often meander quite a lot. There’d be tons of beautiful descriptions but it didn’t actually fl anywhere for ages. But when things did happen, they happened fast. The last quarter of the book seemed to have came out of nowhere and smacked me in the face.

Overall, really enjoyed this. I think the pacing could have used some more work.

Where the dark stands still is a beautifully woven tale that will please those who are fans of the bear and the nightingale series.

Steeped in Polish folklore, where the dark stands still tells the story of Liska, her magic in a place where magic is no longer welcome. Liska sets off to rid herself of her magic and instead finds more about herself and falls in love. Its a wonderful book which does not read like a first novel at all.

I loved this and will be looking to buy it when it's released. Thank you

First of all, a massive thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for supplying me with an eARC! I came across this book on TikTok and was desperate to read it and it did not disappoint.

Where the Dark Stands Still is an utterly gorgeous gothic story steeped in folklore and if you’re looking for an immersive and atmospheric gothic fantasy that is hard to put down then look no further. Poranek’s prose is so rich and descriptive you feel instantly transported and I struggled to put this book down. A very impressive debut. I can't wait to see what A.B Prank comes up with next!

What a beautiful story, a massive thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for supplying me with an eARC.

This was an utterly gorgeous gothic story steeped in folklore. Poranek’s prose is so rich and descriptive you feel transported to the dark atmospheric setting. Each of the characters are so well developed and their flaws and quirks are so compelling and delightful to read. The ending was so bittersweet and poignant, it was the perfect ending to this book.

Rating 5 stars (6 stars in my mind)

A special thanks to Penguin Random House UK and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of this book to review.

Where the Dark Stands Still is a stunningly crafted, gothic romantic fantasy debut novel by A.B. Poranek, creating a world to step into themed on Slavic Folklore.

I can categorically say, this was one of my favourite reads from the whole year.

I adored everything about this book - the characters, the plot and the pacing. The ending had me in a literal chokehold of emotions. Ended up having to read this in small bursts so I didn’t finish it too quickly.

Am I selfish to say I want another story with these characters in? That I could have spent another 100 or so pages in this world with these character?

Very excited to see Poranek’s future novels if this debut is anything to go by.

Already pre-ordered a stunning Exclusive Edition of the physical book as it is something every library needs to have and everyone needs to experience.

This book absolutely caught me by surprise. Based on the premise I was expecting to enjoy it—what I did not expect was for it to grab me by the throat so that all I could do for a few days was flail incoherently at everyone I know about how much I was loving it. It’s honestly hard to believe this is a debut; it’s rich, complex, lush and polished in a way that’s rare to see for first books, especially in YA (though we’ll come back to that). Every aspect landed just right for me: the dark, atmospheric setting, steeped in folklore and complemented by Poranek’s gorgeous prose; the deeply sympathetic protagonist who grows into her own in such a satisfying way; the absolutely delightful secondary characters; and the LESZY. And the ROMANCE. It’s rare for me to fall head over heels for a pairing like I did for this one—the dynamic between them is immaculate, they have such real chemistry, and I was very quickly very very invested. I loved it all. And although the dynamic between the leads isn’t quite Howl/Sophie, the Howl’s Moving Castle comp is so spot on that I was immediately compelled to go reread it. In actual fact, this title is what I was hoping for from Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, and I am so thrilled to finally get the dark Polish Beauty and the Beast retelling of my dreams.

My one, not even criticism, more comment, is that I’m not sure YA is the best space for this book—imo it would fit better into the same adult/crossover fantasy space the aforementioned Uprooted (and Spinning Silver) occupy. While there’s a coming of age narrative at the heart of the story, overall I would peg most aspects from the pacing to the prose as slightly more adult than YA, and on the whole see this more as a book for adults than a book for teens (though I don’t think teenage readers WOULDN’T enjoy it). It was most glaringly apparent to me in the romance, where every so often the narrative would try to make the reader see the Leszy as a seven hundred year old ‘boy’, which he simply wasn’t. His characterisation was very much that of an adult man (in a good way, I hasten to add), but of course in YA pairings have to be between teens, or teen-like immortals.

In any case, I loved this book a lot, and will be thinking about it for a long time, as well as eagerly anticipating both its release and whatever Ania Poranek comes out with next. It’s a sparkling, gorgeous debut I highly recommend to anyone looking for a dark fairytale that takes you deep into the monster-infested woods.

Massive thanks to PRH UK and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

A deeply romantic novel with atmospheric prose that spews me away to an enchanted forest. You’ll never want to leave this magical world. Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Lisa Radost, knows that magic is monstrous, and therefore it’s practitioners, monsters. After Lisa unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood. Who in turn offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Lisa makes an unsettling discovery. She is not he first person to strike a bargain and all of her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel the secrets of the demon warden of the woods and face the ghosts of the past.

But she must know: those who enter the wilds do not always return. An enchanting read that will sweep you into a magical world of monsters and monstrous bargains. A tale woven through with threads of romance, acceptance and love to create a masterpiece of tapestry, or a novel, in this case. A novel that invites you to stray from the safe paths into a dark fairytale forest when you may loose yourself or find yourself caught up in a bargain. Any fantasy readers dream really.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘺 𝘈. 𝘉. 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘬

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I was a bit skeptical of this one as I don't read much YA anymore and it sort of just lurched straight in with not much introduction to the world, but after I got past that I honestly did not care and devoured the rest of the book in a single sitting. I have seen other reviewers compare this to a mix of beauty and the beast and howls moving castle, and I can't think of a better comparison! Characters were well written and I only wish it had been longer. A very impressive debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children's UK for the e-arc!

4.5 stars rounded up!

Ostracised by her village and filled with shame as a result of her magic, Liska Radosts journeys into the dangerous nearby spirit-wood to find a legendary flower that will grant her the one wish she has: to rid herself of her magic forever. When she is caught by the Leszy, the demon warden of the spirit-wood, however, she must give up a year of her life in servitude to him, at the end of which he will grant her wish. But they both have secrets, and Liska must uncover the Leszy's and face her own if she wants to survive...

Full of gothic nods and discussions of magic, monstrosity, religion, and love, this story was exactly what I wanted it to be. Liska's journey to and life in the House Under the Rowan Tree is spellbinding, and the sweeping, atmospheric prose takes the reader into the story alongside her. The romance was slow and authentic, and the Leszy's character has been constructed perfectly, his many secrets unraveling throughout the story in a way that feels perfect for the development of not only the plot, but the relationships and character development of all involved. Poranek also uses side characters to offer different dynamics, touching on several different elements of folklore and mystery, and the sense of found family they provide, as well as their own reactions to the goings on within the book, make for an enchanting and believable reading experience.

Amazing book! Lovely characters that went through excellent character development, an exciting plot and a really atmospheric writing style… It’s hard to believe this is a debut! I can’t wait to read more of A. B. Poranek’s work!

Also I really hope there’s a sequel for this…

So at the the point of writing this review I haven't finished this book but think because I am a mood reader and seem to be a little stuck and sick I don't thinking getting there soon,I am 75% through and I would definitely call this book a type a book I would normally storn through, It has hints of beauty and the beast with kinda the wolf and the woodsman vibe too and I love both of those of those stories.
I like the characters development and the magic system ,the woods and its rules kinda are fascinating, I like the direction it was going in and the feel of an winter book was definitely there .

A beautiful and haunting debut novel inspired by polish folklore with all the vibes of Howls Moving Castle. With endearing characters, a badass FMC, a plot twist I didnt see coming and rich, vivid world building make this a must read for anyone who love fairytale and folklore inspired stories. Perfect for fans of Naomi Noviks Uprooted and Spinning Silver.

I absolutely adored this book (except for the ending) but that’s is a me issue aha! Beautifully written and I hope there is more to come. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book.

Wow 5 stars! This book will stay with me for a while! I was hesitant going into this story as I felt it made a lot of promises and let me tell you, it delivers on every single one! A.B Poranek paints a beautiful and rich world full of magical surprises. I found it very easy to immerse myself in The House Under The Rowan Tree and The Woods. The vibes are honestly immaculate with this book, Liska holds my heart and I cant wait to re-read!!!