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booksarebetter's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 ⭐ rounded up. The first chapter was absolutely enthralling!!! Then it just kept switching character povs. I slowly dropped interest about halfway but still finished reading it. The writing was good but the plot petered out on me. It was good but I wanted more.
geperry's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kateofmind's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
klparmley's review against another edition
4.0
This is "Neverwhere in Russia" and, truly, in a good way. E. Sedia may never have read Neil Gaiman's book about London Below and Above. This isn't a ripoff. It is, however, how that idea would look if it was written in Russia with Russian characters.
embereye's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this story, but it's hard for me to decide whether I'd want to recommend it to anyone else. Whoever edited this book did not pay attention to the fact that the writer is not originally a native English speaker. Or there were issues with the copy-editing as there were errors in the writing that were obviously simple word choice mistakes or tense mistakes. Otherwise the story itself was lovely and interesting. The ending left me wanting more and slightly unsatisfied but I might feel differently in a few days.
lerat42's review against another edition
3.0
It is quite possible that were I a student of Russian history and mythology I would have enjoyed this book more than I did. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy it, but I did have the distinct feeling that I wasn’t getting it all. But that aside, Sedia’s descriptions of Moscow and it’s unusual underworld, coupled with the book’s relatively short length, make this story an easy one to enjoy and ponder. Who knows, it might even make you want to learn an area of history we Westerners know little about.
roseparis's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
Tracy said that this book's length is its only fault, and I can see why. Sedia could have expanded it; with her rich visual imagery, and all the strange and interesting characters that populate the Russian underworld, she could have told a longer story. Despite that, a really great read.
eacolgan's review against another edition
2.0
this book wasn't bad. it was similar to neverwhere except set in moscow (neil gaiman does the byline on the cover and says as much) and i liked it for the same reasons i like neverwhere. it felt like a lot of the other russian lit i've read-- a little stark, a little spare, but darkly interesting. i also enjoy the changing points of view, giving us a bit of backstory on everyone. i know as the reader i was meant to sympathize with galina, but honestly the populace of the underground were my favorites. david the never-aging, koschey of legend, elena the decemberist's wife; these were the ones i wanted to know more about, the ones on whom i wished the story had focused. but all in all it was a fun read.
april_march's review against another edition
5.0
The Secret History of Moscow does for Moscow what huge fans of Neil Gaiman think Neverwhere does for London.