Book cover of Thistlefoot

Book description

In the tradition of modern fairy tales like Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver comes an immersive fantasy saga, a debut novel about estranged siblings who are reunited after receiving a mysterious inheritance.

“A wonderfully imaginative, wholly enchanting novel of witness, survival, memory, and family that reads…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Thistlefoot as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In January 2023, my partner dropped this book into my hands and said, “I’m pretty sure this book was written exactly for you.” And you know what? They were RIGHT.

This book isn’t just the Baba Yaga retelling of my dreams—it also features one of the most captivating sibling relationships I’ve ever read. Bellatine and Isaac Yaga are beautifully complicated characters, each unable to stop hurting the other as they manage their trauma in very different ways. (Hint: both of them involve very cool magic.)

I spent the book desperately wanting each of them to reach one another, and was…

This book is exactly what I love in a folklore-inspired novel: an original tale artfully revised or updated with contemporary connections and resonance. Honoring the original while linking it to new or modern events in a continuing literary conversation. The test is whether this is done well and entertainingly without losing the familiarity and history. Nethercott delivers!

The classic Eastern European tale of Baba Yaga underpins her quirky, affecting novel. The mythical house on giant chicken legs is shipped from long-term storage in a Ukrainian warehouse to the US, inherited by Yaga’s descendants: a 20-ish brother and sister from an…

If you love Thistlefoot...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Thistlefoot?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 88 books like Thistlefoot.

Browse books like Thistlefoot

Book cover of Jade City
Book cover of We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Book cover of The Bruising of Qilwa

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,366

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Thistlefoot, you might also like...

Book cover of The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea

The Go-Giver by John David Mann,

The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be.

Desperate to land a key sale at the end…

Book cover of The Last Whaler

The Last Whaler by Cynthia Reeves,

This book is an elegiac meditation on the will to survive. Tor, a beluga whaler, and his wife, Astrid, a botanist specializing in Arctic flora, are stranded during the dark season of 1937-38 at his remote whaling station in the Svalbard archipelago when they misjudge ice conditions and fail to…

5 book lists we think you will like!