When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
Vibe: myth-under-neon sprint • found family spark • redemption at a price • folklore bargains • quiet magic, loud stakes • close-friends bond • m/m thread in the dark • knives and mercy
"We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword."
On Kupala Night, Dymitr arrives in Chicago’s monstrous, magical underworld with a perilous mission: pick the mythical fern flower and offer it to a cursed creature in exchange for help finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga.
Ala is a fear-eating zmora afflicted with a bloodline curse that’s slowly killing her. She's just desperate enough to say yes to Dymitr, even if she doesn’t know his motives.
Over the course of one night, Ala and Dymitr risk life and limb in search of Baba Jaga, and begin to build a tentative friendship. . . but when Ala finds out what Dymitr is hiding, it could destroy them both.
Ala: carries the dead, chooses the living
She walks in with ghosts on her shoulders, the zmora who has to watch the nightly slaughter, sun-starved, vision-sick, and still somehow kind. Grit without cruelty. Soft without breaking. She keeps choosing the living even when the dead will not let go, and that stubborn hope cracked me open. I wanted more of her. More light, more teeth, more time. The monster who refuses to rot, and I loved her for it. Give me the chapters where she finally rests, where the curse loosens, where she gets to want something bright and say it out loud. Her mercy is not weakness; it is defiance. I would follow her into the dark and back.
Dymitr: built for battle, ruined by duty, saved by choice
From the first page he reads like a man who has fought before. Muscle memory. Watchful silence. Secrets tucked under the ribs like knives. I trusted him even while knowing he was hiding something, because the shame felt heavy and real rather than performative. He does not posture; he endures. With Ala, he stops feeling like a blade and starts feeling like a close friend, and that shift matters. With Nico, the spark is quick and real, two men who do not waste time pretending they do not want what they want. I wanted more of them, yes, but what we get fits a night that keeps trying to kill them. He is steadiness when it counts, even when he cannot tell the whole story.
Nico: pokes the bruise, then guards it with both hands
At first I rolled my eyes. He needled for a rise because anger feeds him, and he is very good at finding the tender spot. Then he chose to come with them, and that was it for me. Strong and lethal when he needs to be. Gentle on purpose. Raised for violence, still chooses tenderness. Broken like the others and carrying his own ghosts, but the way he shows up for both Dymitr and Ala made me soft. The spark with Dymitr is quick and quiet and exactly right for men who do not waste time. The romance is not the point, but I still wanted more of it. As a trio they are not a well oiled machine, but they adapt, they hold the line, and they keep choosing each other.
This book is myth under neon
Kupala Night hums and the city feels awake. We sprint through an underworld of alleys, river air, and worn brick, and it reads lived-in, not staged. The magic stays understated until Baba Jaga, then it sharpens into jars, threads, bones, and rules you can feel, with a cost you can sense. Chicago mostly functions as city, but the nod to who built it and who paid for it lands. I kept wanting more drawers open, more names on the creatures, more space for the lore. Fast, tender, and beautiful. Too short.
Bottom line
I loved this. Five stars. I want more pages, more lore, and more of this trio, especially Dymitr and Nico. If you want redemption at a price and urban mythology that lingers, start here and join me in hoping the next book gives us the corners this one only lets us glimpse.
Scores — Fantasy
- Blade (stakes & momentum): 5/5
- Heart (character & relationships): 5/5
- Lore (worldbuilding & myth): 5/5
- Craft (prose & structure): 5/5
- Pull (unputdownable): 5/5
