Set in Kazakhstan, I was excited to read about a part of the world I know almost nothing about, however, to my disappointment there wasn’t much time spent giving a sense of the place and the culture. This is a translated novel, and I think it might have helped my understanding and enjoyment, if, in addition to translating the language, there had been more thought given to the fact that readers outside of Kazakhstan may need a little more information about the region, for instance, pretty early on Batu’s grandmother talks about each of her parents being taken away and there was no explanation as to why, it seemed like it was presumed that readers would know the history there, which the original Kazakh readers likely did, but those of us who are unfamiliar with the country were left with no context for it.

A glossary at the back of the book does provide some information, occasionally those definitions were paragraph length though, so by the time you flip to the back of the book and take in that dry paragraph, and then locate the place where you left off again, it’s kind of pulled you out of the story and I found myself wishing that whenever there was a wordier definition, maybe that information could have just been incorporated into the prose in a non-clunky sort of way.

It wasn’t just the glossary that sometimes felt disruptive to the flow, the overall structure did as well, there was less an arc to this and more just a pattern, often a brief bit of action followed by everything kind of stopping so someone could share a story or folktale, and again, like with those lengthier definitions, I wondered if maybe the stories/folktales couldn’t have been more woven in so it might have felt less like I was being told and more like I was being shown.

I did like that this friend group wasn’t perfect, they had a tendency to squabble with one another which has a ring of authenticity to it, but I thought there could have been a whole lot more emotion than there was, whether that was in reaction to the fantasy elements that were so new to these kids who for the most part took it all oddly in stride or when lives were in danger, people go missing, etc., and there just didn’t seem to be as much concern or feeling or whatever as you’d expect in such heightened circumstances.

Lastly, like many first books in a series, this does not wrap up in a particularly satisfying way, there was a meandering quality throughout the novel and it just never did find its way back to really taking care of the mission introduced in the set up.

I received this book through a giveaway. ( )

I was drawn to this book because I had not read any stories that incorporate Kazakh mythology before and in that regard the book delivered. Batu's and his friends' adventures bring in many mythological figures as well as exploring some of the history of Kazakhstan under Russian control. A glossary in the back provides context for some of the vocabulary that might be unfamiliar, though pronunciations aren't given and were a struggle for me.

What I didn't like about it was the pacing and plot development. It didn't seem very cohesive to me or well paced. The characters' choices and motivations also seemed confused at times, like they've forgotten what they were thinking or planning from one scene to the next without explanation. ( )