the secret history of moscow

Title: the secret history of moscow

Author: Ekaterina Sedia

Pages: 303

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Grade: C-

Synopsis: People all over Moscow are disappearing and a few people are claiming to the police that the people that are disappearing are actually turning into birds. Galina's sister Masha is one of the disappeared. Galina, a policeman Yakov and a street painter, Fyodor, head out to try and track down where all the birds are going to when they enter an underground world full of Moscovites from past and present as well as beings from Russian folktales. Galina, Yakov and Fyodor continue to try and track the birds down on a quest in a strange underground world.

Disclaimer: The language in the book is fairly fowl.

My Review: I had a hard time following along with the storyline in this book. The title of the book gets an A, but the story within the book was not nearly as good as I hoped. I didn't realize the book was a fantasy until I started reading it and it is quite an unbelievable one at that. I was sorely disappointed (and yes, the language is foul).

From the Book: "(p. 198) The bird Gamayun was related to Alkonost and Sirin in some vague fashion--even the most casual observer would've noticed that all three of them were not entirely birds; they had the faces and breasts of women, severe but beautiful. And when their lips opened, they sang in women's voices, deep and rich and bittersweet."