Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B Poranek. Gothic and atmospheric.

Synopsis

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters. After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon discovers the sinister roots of their bargain. And if she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.

Those who enter the wood do not always return…

Review

5 stars

« Belong
Yes, a single year at the whims of a wood demon is worth a lifetime of belonging. »

WTDSS is a story of yearning, of finally finding the place to belong.

Lisha has always had to play a role. To be unnoticeable. To quieten the wild and « wicked » part living inside of her, getting smaller and smaller in the process.

In the eve of being cast out of her village by her mother, she will flee to the dangerous woods, the Driada, on a desperate chase of a granting wish flower of legend.
What she will find in the dark enchanted forest is a demon boy, the Leszy, and a bargain. Serve him for one year and he’ll take her unwanted magic.
She will be free. She won’t have to hide her true nature. She will belong in her village.

That’s how Liska followed a demon into his manor. In the heart of the Driada, surrounded by trees and rivers hosting many spirits and demons.

What Liska didn’t expect was to find a sentient abode, hiding many secrets and warming up to her like a well fed cat would to a benevolent master.
Ready to learn some of the Leszy’s secrets, Lisha coaxes the manor to manifest a door and behind it…

« The hidden room is a library.(…) The whole room smells of mystery, of old paper and wild berries and lively summer skies. »

You have to love a book with a hidden library with a swing hanging from the ceiling! That’s my dream library here!
That part with a sentient manor, an hearth spirit and big libraries was reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast.

Even the beast, the Leszy, with his frightening skull and antlers, was not the villain Liska had come to expect.

« You care. » The realization slips out in a breath, a barely formed thought.
He laughs bitterly. « Yes, I care. Does that surprise you, fox? I, a cruel, monstrous demon, care about the human realm. »

Slowly, Liska will come to care for Leszy, trying to help him, to master the magic she is so afraid of.
Until the day a spirit guides her to a terrible truth.

The whole story reads like a dark fairy tale. One with a looming threat, strange demon boys, house spirits and a simple but courageous heroine whose only wish had only been to belong.
Strong on magic and found family, built on a beautiful writing, that gothic tale will sweep you off your feet, plunging you in that dangerous world and making you forget that our world doesn’t host house spirits nor alluring demon boys.

It’s an excellent atmospheric read and I can’t wait to talk about it with the author and read more of her future stories!

Thanks for reading.

Sophie