Ivan and Marya - Book Review

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Ivan and Marya by Anna Kashina (e-book)

What is it about:
Every Solstice, every year, a young girl dies to prolong the life of a madman.
While the girl's soul is fed to Kaschey the undead by his daughter, the gloriously beautiful Marya, the girl's body drowns in the clutches of Vodyanoy at the bottom of the Sacrifice Pool.

Every Solstice a hero tries to stop them...and dies.
But this is Ivan's year. Though his brothers plot his death, and the villagers whose daughters are dying warn him not to interfere, Ivan the Fool is determined to stop the sacrifice.

With the help of the immortals, gotten by sympathy, force, or guile, Ivan believes his love will save the beautiful Marya from herself.

What did I think of it:
This novel is a re-telling of an old Russian fairytale and as such a very enjoyable read. Kashina manages to capture all the elements that make fairytales such fun to read and adds a voice of her own to it as well. I loved how she wrote a large part of the story through the eyes of Marya, giving Marya a depth that wouldn't have been possible if Kashina had stuck too close to the original fairytale format. Having read tons of fairytales (Russian fairtales included) a lot of the story elements were no surprise to me, but as I said before using an age old idea isn't a bad thing when you succeed in giving it something new and fresh. My one point of critique is that I'd have loved to see more of Ivan and Marya together. The scenes with them together were just too short in my opinion, but all in all I think Kashina did a great job in reviving an old tale and turning it into something that modern readers can enjoy.

Why should you read it:
If you like fairytales you will love this story

* This e-book was send to me for review by the author