It's really interesting to hear your thoughts. I'm one of the readers who thoroughly enjoyed this book but it's always interesting to hear a different opinion. I can understand why the lack of research would have bothered you - I definitely would have felt the same way had it been my culture. If I'm being quite honest, I'm not an expert on the culture, so I didn't realise the names hadn't been used properly. It's good to find out about that though. Thanks for the great review! :)

Same here, Maja. In her acknowledgement the author thanked a person who translated Russian and Mongolian for her over FB. IDK about Mongolian, but she definitely needs someone else to do the Russian parts.

Great review, Tatiana. I was neither here nor there in regards to this book, I've read some great reviews but it still didn't grab me even though I love reading about Russian history (I've added Deathless to my to-read list, thanks!)

It sounds like a little bit of effort could have gone a long way in making this legitimate. And I think the covers look so different that I wouldn't have assumed they were for the same book!

I am SO happy to read your review, and to know that it is not just me who was not immediately enchanted by everything about this book. I've been waiting for reviews to come out because I honestly couldn't grasp what was so great about this book. The disregard for remaining true and accurate to the culture you are trying to portray is to me inexcusable. It drives me nuts, to the point that I can't look past it, even if the story underneath is good. It comes across as lazy, sloppy, and inconsiderate in my mind. Cat Valente is an excellent example of an author who does this sort of thing right; at the moment I'm reading Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriot and have been similarly impressed at her ability to capture Japanese language and culture. Great review!

I'm not really sure that I understand the argument about using "kvas" instead of "vodka." Did she not realize how odd that would sound to anyone who has a familiarity with the Russian language and culture? Not everyone who reads this book will be ignorant of the real meaning. Also it's a bit silly to worry so much about the flags that would be raised if she were to use the word vodka, but then have several scenes in her book with teens clearly drinking an intoxicant and getting drunk. Changing the name doesn't really change the potential for that hypothetical "outrage."

All that being said, I think that Tatiana clearly stated above where her opinion was coming from and she also made it incredibly clear that her feelings wouldn't necessarily affect every reader. The points that she made were honest and valid.

Yes, that is interesting. I do understand why she would want to replace the word vodka with another word, to visually distance the reader from the real world. But why would she then choose as a replacement another real word - one that has a meaning so different from what is intended? It seems like she is assuming quite a lot about the readers by doing that - like that none of them will have knowledge of the Russian language or culture, or have friends who speak Russian, or have the ability to look up words on the internet. And I can understand why that (along with some of the other apparently intentional misuses of the language that Tatiana mentioned above) would be difficult to deal with for a native Russian speaker.

I do really wonder why the author chose to use that word and the others, even with full knowledge of their meanings. It seems odd at best. Especially since, as Tatiana pointed out, there are a whole host of other, equally foreign-to-English-speakers words that she could have appropriated.

"You want to write about alcohol, use "pivo" or "braga" or "samogon," if researching that is too hard, use "vodka."

I don't really see where she calls the author's knowledge of the word vodka into question there. I think she was just naming it as the most obvious word in a list of words that would make more sense in this scenario.

And honestly, I understand why she would assume that very little research had been done. Knowing that the author did research that word and then chose to use it anyway sort of baffles me. The same goes for the male/female switches on the last names, the name for the magic-users, and "the abandoned."

However, I think in the grand scheme of things these small details will not affect the overall success or failure of this book. My opinion of this book was based completely on its story, world-building, characters, and writing. But I really appreciate that Tatiana was able to provide a perspective that I might not have seen. That's why I read reviews in the first place.