For fans of unique magical systems and a city in chaos, Foul Days is for you. It’s a story which can sweep you away in action or in the themes of power and exploitation. Friendship, betrayal and magic. Keep reading this book review of Foul Days for my full thoughts.
Summary
As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice taming rusalkas, fighting kikimoras, and brewing lycanthrope repellent. There’s only one monster Kosara can’t defeat: her ex the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times, and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed to him by someone close to her, Kosara’s only hope is to trade her shadow―the source of her powers―for illegal passage across the Wall to Belograd, where monsters can’t follow.
Life in Belograd should be sweet, but Kosara soon develops a fast-acting version of the deadly wasting sickness that stalks shadowless witches―and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To trace her shadow, she’ll have to team up with the suspiciously honorable detective investigating the death of the smuggler who brought her across the Wall.
Even worse than working with the cops is that all the clues point in a single direction: one of the Zmey’s monsters has found a crack in the Wall, and Kosara’s magic is now in the Zmey’s hands.
The clock is ticking, the hunt is on, and Kosara’s priorities should be clear―but is she the hunter or the hunted? And in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the man―the Monster―she’s never been able to escape alone?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The first in a duology, Foul Days is about the people in our lives who bring shadows to our days and nights. Who seek to cloud our days in the big and small ways. Foul Days begins with a bang and doesn’t let up. While it’s certainly easy to fall into this magical world. Dimova’s debut is about shadow magic and full of magical creatures. I ended up enjoying the themes the most. The ideas of power, exploitation, and labor.
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The treatment of the witches on the other side while also profiting off of their magic. The ways they are feared, hated, and dehumanized. While there was just a bit too much action in a few parts for me to process the intriguing world, by the end I caught up. In Foul Days I enjoyed the ways identity and magic are tied together. And the sequel is coming soon! Find Foul Days on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.