Where the Dark Stands Still

Author: A. B. Poranek
Published: 2024
Target Audience: Ages 14-17

...if the legends are true, this is the night that Liska will find it. She will take it into her hands and make her wish, and she will atone for her sins...

Growing up in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that magic is ungodly and its practitioners are monstrous. Yet despite her efforts to hide her own magic, she fails to fully suppress it, unleashing devastating consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska ventures into the demon-inhabited forest in search of a wish-granting flower, only to be caught by the warden of the wood - the Leszy - who offers her a deal: one year of servitude, then he will grant her wish.

With few options left, Liska agrees. As she tentatively settles into a new routine of cooking and cleaning in his crumbling manor, she is pleasantly surprised to find the Leszy is not as cruel and cold as the stories say. That is until she makes an unsettling discovery: she is not the first person to make this deal.

As gruesome apparitions stalk her and the demons in encircling wood grow vicious, Liska must race to unravel the Leszy's secrets if she ever hopes to survive the year...

Review:

'Howl's Moving Castle' meets Polish folklore in this stunning book from first-time author A. B. Poranek. Add in a cursed forest, a twisted bargain, and a dash of Beauty and the Beast, and 'Where the Dark Stands Still' will be your new favourite romantasy to look forward to in 2024. It is a wonderfully atmospheric book, evoking a prickling unease of unknown threats and lurking predators as Liska navigates the hungry forest and buried mysteries of the manor. Yet as she gets closer to answers, she also gets closer to the Leszy. Readers will be utterly captivated as Liska's wary tentativeness meets the Leszy's thorny compassion, and blossoms into something neither ever expected. 'Where the Dark Stands Still' is an enthralling slow-burn romance, but also does not shy away from the complexities of their budding relationship, or Liska and the Leszy as individuals. The story acknowledges the power imbalance between them, the secrets, and the transgressions. It gives room for hurt, yearning, betrayal, and growth. Their interactions and conversations feel natural, and the developing connection between Liska and the Leszy feels earned.

If this tantalising mix of gothic fairy-tale mystique and simmering desire hasn't already sold you on this book, than the fascinating world of 'Where the Dark Stands Still' certainly will. Drawing on the author's summers spent in the Polish countryside, 'Where the Dark Stands Still' is filled with the best of Slavic cryptids. From vengeful strzygon cutting an indiscriminate bloody swath, to melodic rulsalka luring passersby to a watery grave, from wily house-sprites and trees with human eyes, and finally to the Leszy himself. Demon and warden, callous and inscrutable, he has promised to grant Liska's wish, but do his true intentions skew far darker? Yet Liska is also hiding secrets of her own. Why is she so desperate to be free of her magic, what is she seeking absolution for? And what is the red-eyed hound haunting Liska, warning to her to get out, get out, before he wakes?

While 'Where the Dark Stands Still' is marketed as a Young Adult book for teen readers, I would argue it would be more accurate to place it in the emerging New Adult category (ages 17-25). This is even reflected in the characters themselves, with Liska being 18-19 years old and the Leszy being distinctly characterised as a grown man. Thus, Liska's mental labelling of the Leszy as a "boy" after seeing him unmasked feels jarring and at odds with his established character, and comes off as a last minute editing change to justify marketing the novel in the YA bracket. While the 'Where the Dark Stands Still' does take place in a dark fantasy setting, it does not contain material inappropriate for young readers, and will be throughly enjoyed by teens and adult readers alike.

No matter the category, it cannot be denied that 'Where the Dark Stands Still' is an enchanting story of love, loss, atonement, and fighting for a better future. Make sure to grab yourself a copy when it hits bookstores on the 29th February!

Excerpt:

'You still have not given me your name.'

'Must I?' she challenges [...] 'I don't need you to tell me yours. I know who you are.'

He flicks an ear, coming even closer. The fern is now all that stands between them.

'Oh?'

'The Leszy.'

A pause. Wind howls through the interlude, filling the air with the sound of shuddering leaves. The stag raises his head and takes one more step.

And begins to rot.

There is no other way to describe it. As if devoured by insects, his flesh withers away, his muscles decomposing as silvery fungi erupt along his flank, then rot in turn. The skin falls from his face to reveal yellowed bone and cracked teeth, his eyes sink into his skull and vanish into the blackness of gaping sockets. His skeleton breaks and shifts and reforms...

Into a man.