I'm okay with magic--although my parents probably wouldn't let me read it. They still won't let me read Harry Potter. But they might not pay that close of attention to it with not having anything in the title to suggest magic.


Bookblogger71 on Amazon said it juxtaposed mysticism with Orthodoxy in a good vs. bad battle (with Christianity being all bad). That's where I went uh-oh. I'm cool that people have different beliefs than I do. Everyone has the right to believe whatever they wish. This is America after all. I certainly don't want to force anyone to believe what I believe. But at the same time, I just bought a Russian Orthodox Cross necklace. My faith is important to me. So then I was sort of like, oh crap. My parents would totally freak out if they read any of it and I probably would be uncomfortable.


But I want to like it. I even like the title. I love Russian history, Russian forklore, Russian names etc. I collect Russian stacking dolls. But I don't think I could get the second or third book past my parents anyway. One of them has "Witch" in the title. Even though there's the great classic book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. For crying out loud, my parents didn't even let me watch Carebears or Smurfs because of the magic in it!

But maybe I could check the local library to see if they have it and see for myself if it's what the reviewer described or that is just their opinion. Sometimes people take things too literally when its just a story.