In my last post, I got back into my Slavic folklore era with Veronica Roth’s When Among Crows. I loved how the story set itself apart from other similar concepts with a modern day setting, showcasing some unique (terrifying) weapon choices, and positing a deep and sincere romantic subplot.

This week I’m continuing my journey through that story world with the second Curse Bearer novella: To Clutch a Razor.

If it’s possible, I think I enjoyed this sequel even more than the original, a feat that is, in my humble opinion, all too rare. As TCaR progresses, it becomes obvious just how much of When Among Crows was essentially just setting up the gameboard. With all these pieces in place, TCaR is allowed to just start knocking over dominoes. And boy oh boy does this book knock them over.

I can’t really point to specifics without spoiling major plot points, but the drama within this book is positively Shakespearian. Everyone seems somehow pitted against one another. Lovers, family, friends, enemies; it doesn’t matter, every relationship seems balanced on the edge of a knife, and Roth does an excellent job really making the reader believe it could go either way.

And even though there is plenty of wonder within the folkloric elements already in place from the first book, some new myths are incorporated into the story as well. I spotted some Rusalka outside a club in Chicago, and we meet a Dybbuk in the Polish countryside. Before we’ve even left the airport we encounter a Vila (polish Wiła). Also, there are Wieszczy, which I had never heard of before, but are described as almost zombie-like, with a typical hungering for flesh, but with a crucial level-up in horror: if their cravings get too bad, they will eat their OWN flesh . . . yikes.

To try and distract myself from that unsettling sight, I want to return to Roth’s description of the Wiła for a moment, as I think it demonstrates well what we see throughout the Curse Bearer series; a mix of old with new, a weaving of folkloric fantasy and modern reality. Early on, main character Ala bargains with a Wiła — who lives in an airport fountain — to give her the ability to speak Polish, the language of her ancestral home (though crucially not where she grew up):

“Standing beside her is a woman. But not merely a woman. She has long hair — most Wiła do — and her feet are bare, but otherwise she’s opted not to look like a figure from an old book of fairy tales. She wears, not a flowing white gown, or a crown of flowers in her hair, but a hot-pink dress that makes her skin look even duller and greener than it would have otherwise. In an attempt to mitigate this, perhaps, she’s wearing a liptstick to match the dress — but it’s garish on her, and incongruous, like it’s painted on a corpse.

Not all women are beautiful by the standard definitions, and not all Wiła are, either. This one isn’t. There’s something froglike about her round eyes and her wide mouth.” – pg 55

There’s probably some things to unpack surrounding beauty standards in these few lines, but I don’t feel remotely qualified to write on that. Instead I think it’s interesting how Roth still includes a brief description we might expect from a book of fairytales:

“. . . not a flowing white gown, or a crown of flowers in her hair . . . “

And then immediately goes pretty far afield of that expectation with:

“. . . but a hot pink dress that makes her skin look ever duller and greener than it would have otherwise . . . she’s wearing lipstick to match the dress — but it’s garish on her, and incongruous, like it’s painted on a corpse.“

We can really sense that this creature is from an older time, but also that it still is able to exist because it adapts, even if it isn’t quite getting there.

Finally, we have the bargain Ala makes with the Wiła, one which I don’t think it’s hard to imagine Roth wanting to make as well when she was researching this book, to be able to speak the language of her ancestors (I believe Roth is from Polish descent).

As someone who took two years of Russian in college, and had a nearly 3 year streak studying Russian on Duolingo, I can’t help but wonder if there is something more to that desire. Roth is near me in terms of age, I wonder how many others of “my generation” have attempted to understand something more of their heritage, but simply can’t because they don’t even speak the same language . . .

Or, Ala’s desire to speak Polish is purely practical (she will be in Poland for a large chunk of the book), and the bargain is just an excuse to show off another interesting bit of folk legend. Who is to say?

I’ll begin to end this post by noting that Niko and Dymitr’s romance continues to expand in prominence within the story as well. Romance readers might argue it has gained enough critical mass to be considered the ‘main plot’ of the book but to my taste, it is still more of a sub-plot, with all the fighting and Knights vs Monsters still kind of occupying the main thrust of the story (for me). However, I was once again pleased with its inclusion. I hope they get to just go on a date sometime with out all the violence and sorrow of being the main characters in a dark fantasy hahah.

Give ‘To Clutch a Razor‘ a Read?

For certain. As mentioned above, I think I may have managed to enjoy To Clutch a Razor a bit more than When Among Crows. We get some new monsters and myths to marvel over, some positively Shakespearian plots, romance, and the ever fascinating mix between myth and modernity. But really I think where this book shines, is in the way it seems to capture a certain kind of desire to understand where we’ve come from, and an inevitable inability to do so . . .

That’s all I have for this week! What does everyone think? Anything I missed? As usual, what are your favorite Slavic myths and folkloric characters? Have you ever tried to learn a language? How did it go? What was your drive for picking it up?

Leave your thoughts in the comments! Looking forward to talking about this one!

Until next time . . .