Cry of the Firebird by Amy Kuivalainen

Found family? ✔️
A mismatched group of adults? ✔️
Finnish and Russian folklore + mentions of other mythologies? ✔️
Romances you're gonna root for, including enemies to lovers and past friends to lovers? ✔️
Introducing your newest obsession, out in October 2021...
This amazing book!

Following Anya who grew up on a farm in Russia, the reader is met with a cast of characters and a wonderfully built world inspired by Russian and Finnish folklore. The found family trope is something that slightly appears in this book: an array of characters meet up to protect Anya from the Darkness, a group of magicians and other mythological creatures that want to take Anya to their side because she is a very powerful shamanista.
I especially liked how Anya was referred to as a shamanista instead of a witch or something because, and most people I’d say don’t know this but witches and shamans/shaminstas are actually different.

I'm very picky when it comes to Russian rep, especially mentions of folklore but this one was out of this world. All the characters were super awesome, the romance was to DIE for, the intensity of this book is just wow. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what happens in the next ones! I really love Kuivalainen's writing, there's time for info but it also moves the story along. I really loved the mentions of other creatures such as the "thanatos" and "keres". I think this is a perfect like not too spicy but there's still tension NA book (I think they're like Adults?). The book really kept me on the edge of my seat and the characters are very well built out. The different romances, with their different histories and all their friendships, were an equally nice addition. I found myself really rooting for all the romances which do not happen very often, especially with more than one couple. And I really really REALLY loved the Russian folklore aspect and the incorporation of Yvan Tsarevich as well as Baba Yaga. It was also fun finding the Russian words and actually knowing what it means 🤣
This is definitely top 5 of the year!

Rating: 5/5 stars

**Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of the book**