jillian

More like 3.3 stars. I did enjoy the story, though the storytelling fell flat for me. I know nothing of Russian folklore or fairy tales, so I don't know how the fantasy elements live up to their original counterparts and what liberties were taken with the story. Not quite the cliffhanger ending I was expecting, though I'm intrigued enough to continue with the series.
The audio production was good, and I did enjoy the narrator.

Side bar:
I originally picked this up because it was touted as the "next Harry Potter", but there really is no comparison. Frankly, I'm tired of every fantasy series being hailed as HP's successor. Can't we all just agree that no series (fantasy or otherwise) will come close to accomplishing what Harry and crew have for readers of all ages and genre preferences? Why can't readers, publishers, reviewers and librarians simply acknowledge a new book or series for its own merits and leave "The Next ____ (HP, Hunger Games, Twilight *groan*) " analogies alone? /end rant.