The Curse of Madame Petrova

June 17, 2024
After fortune teller Madame Petrova prophesized that twins Silke and Janis would kill each other, their parents separated them. Upon their parents’ deaths, cousins return Janis to the family manor, Holderstate, intending to usurp the estate once the prophecy is fulfilled. Determined to take control of their lives, Silke and Janis fake their deaths and go on the run. Living off the land and traversing through woods is challenging for the siblings, and the myriad adversities they face are more so. Poachers and petty crooks take advantage of Silke and Janis’s naivety until the siblings are taken in by entertainers Loore and Ranno, who expect hard work from the twins in exchange for their hospitality. Loore trains Silke as a card reader, while Ranno and dancing bear Trine take Janis underwing. And though Silke starts believing that the prophecy may be fake, her and her brother’s mounting debts could mean they will never be truly free. Via immersive descriptions of the historical European-feeling setting, Hof (Against the Odds) captures the dark whimsy of a classic fairy tale. Etching press artwork by Fienieg depicting the cards Silke uses to tell fortunes begin each chapter. Characters cue as white. Ages 10–14.

September 1, 2024
Cursed twins attempt to escape their predicted fate in this title translated from Dutch. Silke and her twin brother, Janis, were raised apart, out of their parents' fear of a horrible prophecy made by the enigmatic Madame Petrova, who said they would kill one another. Now orphaned and brought together by greedy cousins who hope to claim the family home, they fake their deaths and flee into the woods, determined to defy their fate. Exposed to the elements and forced to poach and forage, the siblings find that surviving out in the wilderness is no easy task. To make matters worse, the adults they encounter don't always have the best intentions, and everyone has something to hide. Who can they truly trust--and can they even trust each other? Set in historical Europe, the story is reminiscent of classic fairy tales. It succeeds in capturing the harsh realities of disadvantaged people who are struggling to make ends meet. This title is a sequel to Hof'sLepelsnijder, which hasn't yet been translated into English. Although this story makes sufficient sense as a stand-alone work, some context and depth seem to be missing. The characters and their histories feel flat, and their motivations aren't easily understood; the pacing also leaves something to be desired. The author excels in creating immersive scenes, but the prioritization of worldbuilding sometimes results in a meandering plot that often loses tension and momentum. All characters read white. An interesting premise that falls flat in execution.(Adventure. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2024

Gr 5 Up-Tarot reader Madame Petrova's prediction frightens a family so terribly that they choose to exile twins Silke and Janis, separating them at birth to avoid realization of the prophecy. After the deaths of the sibling's parents, greedy cousins take the kids in and hope to profit on their misfortune. Silke and Janis escape, embarking on a whirlwind quest to unravel the curse that brings them right to the enigmatic Madame Petrova herself. Hof establishes an empowering cross-generational tale that embeds wise life lessons subtly with mystery and intrigue. Old-fashioned vocabulary infuses Hof's work, and illustrator Fienieg eerily opens each chapter with etched tarot images. While English teachers could use Hof's text in lessons on figurative language, this title, originally written in Dutch, does not have a glossary to aid the translations. VERDICT An eccentric fantasy set in the pastoral Middle Ages; fans of Lemony Snicket's "Series of Unfortunate Events" will be drawn to this tale of wise and resourceful siblings trying to escape their fate.-Laura Dooley-Taylor

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2024
Grades 7-10 The story opens with twins Silke and Janis scraping by in the mountains, one month since fleeing their family's estate. After their parents died, the kids' malicious cousins had arranged for the twins to be reunited for the first time since one Madame Petrova foretold "It," a disastrous prophesy that they would each be the death of the other. Now, desperate to survive, the twins fall in with another traveling card reader, and Silke herself learns the craft--which, of course, is a con. A theme of dishonest manipulation is threaded throughout the pair's journey as they ultimately find their way to their mother's hometown, where answers await them about the true origins of "It." Fienieg's intriguing cover and endpaper artwork is bound to lure readers in search of a fantastical or at least folkloristic tale, but--as happens with Silke--they will find beneath the surface only gritty, humorless realism. It's a stark tale, and the vague setting doesn't help, but the momentum generated by the survival story and maintained by Hof's nimble pacing keeps the pages turning till the end.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2025
Silke and her twin brother, Janis, are fated to cause each other's demise, or so predicted Madame Petrova when she read the cards for Papa and Mama before the children's birth. Now orphaned and afraid their grasping cousins will make them fulfill this terrible destiny, Silke and Janis flee. With only a handwritten volume of their mother's juvenile poems as a guide, Silke tries to lead Janis through an uncertain world, but to where? A spell with a traveling fortuneteller entangles them in debt; a rural innkeeper is happy to enlist their help cleaning up after rowdy soldier guests, but she can't keep them forever. Then Silke thinks to send a letter to the grandparents whose names conclude their mother's book of verse. The story's preindustrial rural setting, with its wandering orphans, fortunetellers, and snowy forests, hints at the magic of a fairy tale, but Hof's Silke is the work of realism -- in her burden of anxious responsibility, her intermittent fractiousness, and especially her yearning for care. "Never to have to think about anything again," is her desire when she finally finds a home. The disassembling of Madame Petrova's curse is skillfully rendered and surprising, but no more so than the dismantling and reassembling of Silke's understanding of her very being. Hof entices us with the winsomeness of folklore and offers canny humor and a valiant, persistent love that emerges from loneliness and neglect. Deirdre F. Baker

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)