#Where the Dark Stands Still

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2024 📖 no. 047

Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

“She is not the end of anything, but the beginning of everything. He has been dead a long time, and she is his resurrection."

#books #2024 reads #where the dark stands still #a.b. poranek #booklr #lit edit

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb: A girl with dangerous magic makes a risky bargain with a demon to be free of her monstrous power in this young adult fantasy perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens and House of Salt and Sorrows.

Liska knows that magic is monstrous, and its practitioners are monsters. She has done everything possible to suppress her own magic, to disastrous consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska flees her small village and delves into the dangerous, demon-inhabited spirit-wood to steal a mythical fern flower. If she plucks it, she can use its one wish to banish her powers. Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to unknown horrors, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood—called The Leszy—a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.

Whisked away to The Leszy’s crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery: she is not the first person to strike this bargain, and all her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts—figurative and literal—of his past. Because something wakes in the woods, something deadly and without mercy. It frightens even The Leszy…and cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.

Review:

Howl's Moving Castle mixed in with Polish mythology and so much more. This was a gorgeous story filled with magic, romance, dangerous monsters, and deals with demons and old gods. Liska is a girl cursed with uncontrollable magic, every time she lets it out someone ends up hurt... or dead. In an attempt to finally get rid of it she decides to wander into the woods to make a deal with a demon. But deals with demons always comes with a cost... so when she meets the Guardian of the Woods, Leszy, he asks for one year of her servitude in exchange for her magic. For one year she will live in his manor and work under him and to her surprise he even begins to train her as his apprentice. One year should go by right? For a village girl shunned by everyone in town for being a "witch" Liska strangely begins to feel like she has found a home for herself with this strange demon and his sentient house and talking cat. Liska and Leszy are polar opposites, she is sunshine while he is darkness, she is a curious and open while he has so many guarded secrets. Yet Liska finds herself drawn to his secrets and his past, trying to figure out why he wants her magic and what happened to the previous apprentice who lived her as well as why a mysterious ghost dog keeps haunting her at night. Liska discovers more than she could ever imagine about the demon boy she lives with and that beneath his gruff exterior lies a boy who is cursed. Liska discovers that Leszya got his power from a deal with a powerful demon himself and that he gave his heart up... yet if she wants to save the boy she has begun to fall for she'll have to break his curse and save his heart before it's too late. This was an absolutely fantastic and stunning read, I adored this book so much, It's such a perfect read for fans of Howl's Moving Castle and Uprooted, it's got a great world and the relationships between the characters was absolutely perfect. My only thing is I wish there was a bonus chapter or a bit of an extended epilogue so I could see more of Liska and Leszy together again after everything. I just wanted one more happy scene for them after everything they went through so badly because I love them so much. I seriously loved this book and can't wait to recommend it!

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #where the dark stands still

[maddiesbookshelves]

London book haul ✨

I had a list of books I wanted to buy and only 3 of those were on it, haha. It was Before the Coffee Gets Cold, The Jasmine Throne and I Wish You All the Best. I had spotted quite a few other books that sounded really good, but Where the Dark Stands Still, The Briar Book of the Dead and How to Solve Your Own Murder just stood out above the others

I've read I Wish You All the Best in the past (several times actually) and have a post about it, but I really wanted to own a physical copy because I love it so much. And I've also read The Briar Book of the Dead since I came back and loved it! I'm currently on How to Solve Your Own Murder, which is pretty intriguing so far

#before the coffee gets cold #toshikazu kawaguchi #the jasmine throne #tasha suri #the briar book of the dead #a.g slatter #i wish you all the best #mason deaver #how to solve your own murder #kristen perrin #where the dark stands still #a.b poranek #book haul #books #booklr community #booklr #book recommendations #book photography

[chief-cook-and-librarian]

Got sucked in by the pretty cover for Where the Dark Stands Still, was not expecting to have my heart shattered

Anyway I love this weird magical found family in their magic manor

#where the dark stands still #i see the HMC vibes #with naomi novik and katherine arden thrown in #but definitely darker than i was expecting

[mintelsa]

this is not star wars but i’m in agony dude

#weeping behind my computer #kinda expected the ending but STILL #where the dark stands still #liska and leszy #liska radost #the leszy #wtdss #bookblr #books #adult fantasy #romantasy

[pandastern]

This book.

This BOOK

I am shattered beyond repair.

#where the dark stands still

[dont-read-this-im-dead]

Me: I love to read while walking. It keeps my mind and feet busy at the same time.

Friend: Which means you're more prone to having an accident or being abducted.

Me: It'll be a good lesson for me to learn, then.

#where the dark stands still #a b poranek #read until the sidewalk ends #books #books and reading #books & libraries #reading #bookworm #bookish #reading is sexy #reading is fundamental

[shxpeshifterr]

How pretty is this 😍

#booklover #booklr #books #booksbooksbooks #books and reading #book lover #current read #where the dark stands still #a b poranek #a.b. poranek

[mercerislandbooks]

Book Notes: Where the Dark Stands Still

The adult and young adult fantasy genre has seen so many iterations of fairytale retellings. And many of us are happy to discover our favorite fairytales in inventive new frameworks and settings again and again. I finally noticed the ones I always gravitate towards have a strong Beauty and the Beast theme. From Robin McKinley’s two Beauty and the Beast retellings (Beauty and Rose Daughter, both excellent) to Uprooted by Naomi Novik, to A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer, there’s something about a girl and a sentient house and a curse just begging to be broken that I find immensely satisfying. 

Enter the newest addition to my list, A. B. Poranek’s debut YA Fantasy, Where the Dark Stands Still. When Liska enters the Driada, a forest rumored to be infested with demons, it’s in search of the fabled fern flower. For Liska, the wish the flower grants is her only hope to rid herself of the magic she’s had all her life, magic considered demonic by her pious village. If she wants any chance to live a normal life, the magic must go. So Liska braves the tricksy forest and its dangerous inhabitants. But in discovering the fern flower, she also encounters its forbidding guardian, the powerful Leszy. His bargain for the flower is one year of service to him in his House Under the Rowan Tree, shrouded in decades of neglect. Liska reasons she can endure a year of servitude to be free of her magic, and makes the bargain. Of course, there’s more to the house, the Leszy, and the forest than Liska can know. A year of forced proximity brings to light many secrets, not the least of which is the true origins of the Driada itself. 

As Where the Dark Stands Still draws significantly from Polish folklore, I found myself quickly out of my depth, both in pronunciation and in familiarity. I’d heard of rusalka and hearth spirits from other Slavic inspired fantasies, but the Leszy, the strzygon and many others were unknown to me. It was enjoyable to have a new-to-me framework paired with elements of Beauty and the Beast. And beyond that, Poranek’s writing was filled with delightful moments of wry humor and wisdom, not to mention a simmering romantic thread. It was a pleasure to watch Liska comes into deeper knowledge of herself and her inner strength. For those of you looking for a reading experience with no cliff hangers or loose ends, Where the Dark Stands Still is that rare thing in YA Fantasy these days: a standalone novel. It is the perfect read for fantasy lovers to curl up with during these rainy evenings!

— Lori

#island books #lori robinson #book notes #A. B. Poranek #Where the dark stands still #ya fantasy #dark fantasy

[maddenikaris]

I didn’t scream about it here bc I devoured it in like two days BUT please read where the dark stands still by a.b. poranek. It’s incredible you guys. Finally, some good food

#sam liveblogs life #Sam liveblogs reading #where the dark stands still #ELIASZ YOU HOLD MY HEART. #my second 5/5 star read for the year mentally I am still reading it

[lisiprom]

That books looks interesting. Polish folklore, hot demon bf, gorgeous cover art. I dont know this author but i really hope the book is good.

#booklr #books #fantasy #wish it was written in polish though #the possibilities of using gwara would be endless #leszy is hot #where the dark stands still #hope its good

[lifeofafemalebibliophile]

Book Review: "Where the Dark Stands Still" by A.B. Poranek

“Where the Dark Stands Still” by A.B. Poranek (2024) Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, YA, Romance Page Length: 368 pages (hardcover edition) Synopsis: Liska knows that magic is monstrous, and its practitioners are monsters. She has done everything possible to suppress her own magic, to disastrous consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska flees her small village and delves into the dangerous,…

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#A.B. Poranek #book blog #book review #books #Fiction #romance #Where the Dark Stands Still #YA

[maepolzine]

My Thoughts on Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

Sharing my thoughts on Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek.

The other day while I was shopping at Target, I came across Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek. I hadn’t been planning on getting a new book, as I have plenty of other things that I need to read, but the cover was gorgeous and drew me in immediately. I didn’t even read the description or anything, I just got it on an impulse and started reading it that night when I got home. So, I had no…

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#ab poranek #book #book review #dark fantasy #fantasy #gothic fantasy #Review #where the dark stands still #YA #ya dark fantasy #ya fantasy #young adult

[paperbacktomes]

My Top 5 Reasons to Read Where the Dark Stands Still by A B Poranek | Blogtour

Hey there, I'm posting my top 5 reasons to read Where the Dark Stands Still by A B Poranek on my blog today. Hope it helps you add the book to your TBR. Happy weekend! #TBRBeyondTours #BookBlog #YAFantasy #StandaloneFantasy

Happy Saturday! March has already rolled in, and time keeps flying fast. My pace this year has been all over the place. Reading has become my only consistent hobby now. I guess it will take time to find my pace agian but I wish to do things differently this year. Do let me know how things have been for you so far. Okay, so have you heard about Where the Dark Stand Stills by A. B. Poranek? If…

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#A B Poranek #standalone #Standalone Fantasy #TBR and Beyond Tours #Where the Dark Stands Still

[beckysbook5]

Waiting on Wednesday!

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on! Hello, hello! I hope you’ve all had a great week so far. I’m back in…

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#Waiting on Wednesday #Where the Dark Stands still

[lildoodlenoodle]

Peter was so silly for this

#might b one of my favorite panels 😭 #Urich’s face #the way Peter’s standing. the view of his face we have #Peter opening the light on the dark room where photographs are still being processed #how sassy Peter is #spider noir #spiderman noir #peter benjamin parker