Hi friends, as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours I’m excited to share my thoughts on the fantasy debut: Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova.

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TL;DR: I’m not sure what I expected going into this but it wasn’t what I got and I absolutely mean that in the best way! Foul Days is dark and full of monsters but the “horror” aspect is light enough that those who are scared of dark and scary things (it’s me) can read it in bed alone at night. It’s heavy in Slavic lore and it’s action-packed from start to finish. I loved Kosara and her acerbic nature. She’s crabby and witty but vulnerable enough for us to see past that exterior to the damaged young woman she still carries inside. Her banter with Asen was A+ and their “copper vs. charlatan” dynamic was one of my favourite parts of this story. I was so pleasantly surprised by this fantasy debut and I’m already itching to get my hands on the second book (*please bless me, Tor gods*)!

“Wherever you go, the ghosts from your past go with you.”

I think this is one of those books that you shouldn’t take too seriously in that yes, there are some aspects in the world-building, character development and plot logic that could’ve been strengthened, but if you can just enjoy the vibes and interesting characters, you’ll be able to have more fun. It was a wild and adventurous romp through a monster-ravaged world where everyone’s simply doing their best to survive the Foul Days that each new year brings. When we were thrown seemingly into the middle of the story right from the start, I was admittedly confused and had a bit of trouble finding my bearings in this world. Since I knew we’d be getting a story based on Slavic folklore, I think I immediately assumed that this would have a more historical setting and that’s my bad. Instead, what we get is a mix of modern urban fantasy and I don’t know why the modern elements threw me off each time they came up but it also wasn’t a deal breaker.

“I can smell another witch’s magic from miles away,” Ruseva continued. “You don’t smell of magic, but of cheap perfume and sour cabbage.”
And you smell of casual xenophobia and a superiority complex.“

I still found the world-building interesting and I appreciated how the author contrasted Chernograd and Belograd, the two cities separated by the wall. Chernograd is the monster-ravaged part of this world and the citizens have grown used to living with death as their neighbour. In contrast to Belograd, a bustling city full of colour, merriment and cheer, Chernogradeans exist in a somewhat bleak reality drained of colour and happiness. Having to live in tough conditions exacerbated by both monsters and the wall, they’re hardy folk who (mostly) go about minding their own business to survive. The Slavic folklore elements were strong in this one and I loved learning about the different monsters and what they were capable of. Dimova wrote these creatures in such a way that was fascinating and simply natural and made me want to keep reading about them! They were scary but not overwhelmingly so but their existence fueled the dark energy of the city.

Kosara barely suppressed her laughter. Silly Belogradean copper. “You need me. I’m a witch.”
“You’re a charlatan.”
She clutched her chest to show him he’d dealt a deadly blow. As far as she was concerned, she was both.”

The plot was intense and full of action and there’s a lot that goes on from Kosara fleeing the Zmey and getting sucked into a murder mystery to a more complex magical mission to save both cities from an even more threatening monster whose presence is more myth than reality, until now. I will say that the ending felt a little rushed only because of how easily certain things came to our characters—I thought there’d be a bit more of a struggle or challenge but this could also be the author misleading us into thinking that things have ended better than when they started and we’re in for a heck of a surprise. 😂

“That’s different,” she said. “I have to get my shadow back.”
“And I have to catch a murderer.”
“It will be dangerous.”
“Please, I crossed the Wall illegally, defying the explicit orders of my boss. I thrive on danger.”
Kosara measured him with her eyes. “Do you really?”
“Of course not. I’ve never done anything so foolish before.”

Kosara was a great MC and I loved following her POV. She’s prickly and snarky and her sarcastic nature added a lot of humour to the story that had me laughing more than I expected to while reading something so dark! She’s had a trauma-filled past that she has tried burying deep but she also carries a heavy burden from a tragic incident in her youth. Despite the walls she’s built up high, you can’t help but feel for her and her loneliness. She’s very much a “what plans?” kind of character and sometimes I did want to give her a good shake so she’d take a moment to think first and then act and it gave her this naivete that I sometimes found at odds with her tough nature. Still, she was very much an easy character to root for and the author’s direction for her character by the end has my curiosity piqued to see what happens next.

“There’s a difference between being technically right and morally right, and you’d choose technically right every single time. Even if it means letting people die because of it.”

There are many side characters in the story and their roles range from the main “sidekick” to various monsters that he and Kosara interact with along their journey. I liked Asen a lot! I loved the ‘good cop’ vs ‘charlatan witch’ dynamic he had with Kosara and was so curious about his upbringing and how exactly he came to be a Belograd cop. He challenges and supports Kosara in surprising ways and despite the shaky trust and secrets they kept, they made a great team! There is a romantic subplot that goes back and forth a bit and isn’t explored too much but it’s made me even more excited to see how that relationship evolves and how their team dynamic changes in the next book. Other characters such as Roksana and Malamir were interesting but I couldn’t figure them out as they weren’t very well-developed and their interactions with Kosara felt surface-level despite the roles they played. As a villain, the Zmey was also interesting but also rather flat and unfortunately, didn’t feel like the most terrifying of monsters to me. But I did hate what he would do to the young women he got in his grasp and the insidious charm and beauty he represented.

“But once you start breaking rules, when do you stop? Where do you draw the line between a good reason and a bad reason? Can I trust myself at this point to even know the difference?”

Overall, this was a great debut. I have a feeling things are about to get a lot more angsty, devastating, magical and action-packed and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book!

Is Foul Days on your TBR or does it sound like a book you’d want to read?

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