I picked up When Among Crows by Veronica Roth solely based on its premise—it sounded metal as hell. An order of knights that pull swords from their spines to keep the monsters at bay? That’s my jam. It was a short, dark, and heartfelt ride that is a must-read for the top of your summer reading list.
The streets of Chicago teem with people…and monsters if you know what to look for. Dymitr was trained on all the signs and easily connected with a group of Zmoras, a type of creature that feeds on fear. But Dymitr does not fear them and instead, hopes to help one of their own in exchange for a meeting with Baba Jaga. Ala is cursed and on borrowed time. She’s wary of Dymitr’s offer but doesn’t have many options left. She will lead this strange man and jump through supernatural hoops to get Dymitr an audience with Baba Jaga in hopes of finding herself a cure.
Starting Crows was a jarring experience because I anticipated a 400-page count for some reason. I was mentally prepared to get immersed in a complicated, dark world I imagined from the summary. But before I got too far, I realized that I was getting a much shorter story and that everything would wrap in less than 200 pages. The premise sounded so epic that I built my own little reality and expectations around it. Despite preparing for a descriptive and lengthy standalone, I ended up loving the much shorter and punchier adventure it became. The best way I can describe it is that it reads like a serious Supernatural episode. It gives the reader a mission, sprinkles in folklore, pulls back the curtain to show monsters living among us, and throws in moments of levity to shake things up.
Because the story gets right into the thick of it, there’s only so much I can say without giving anything away. But I can tell you a little about our two main characters and tease that another fun character will join the mission later. But we start the story with the two mains, Dymitr and Ala. Dymitr is morose, serious, and not immune to the pain and suffering of the world. He expresses concern for those around him but treats himself with apathy. He’s a severe-looking man who doesn’t bat an eye when interacting with monsters, which is intimidating and intriguing. Ala is impulsive but not in a chaotic way. The curse doesn’t give her the luxury of time, so she doesn’t carry around doubt and is quick to action. Of the two mains, more attention was given to Dymitr’s story so I feel less connected to Ala, but I did enjoy both of their roles in this story.
Amidst the otherworldly mission are themes surrounding cultural heritage and the varying ways we can be immersed in it but still isolated. Roth primarily focuses on scenarios where the character is not fully part of their group. The characters are seen as “other” even though there is connective tissue that binds them to their people. This can look like a character growing up immersed in the culture but rejecting it entirely or another who was purposefully made ignorant of their culture but has to live within it. There are even more interesting ways this theme manifests, but that gets into spoiler territory.
I haven’t read a Veronica Roth story before, but despite how you may feel about her other novels there’s no reason why you shouldn’t pick up When Among Crows. It’s a short and bittersweet standalone guaranteed to entertain you for a night or two.
Rating: When Among Crows – 8.5/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
