WHEN AMONG CROWS by Veronica Roth had me from the very first sentence. After all, when the author herself describes this novella as The Wizard of Ox meets The Witcher, it is difficult to resist. Me? I’m a sucker for any story about Polish mythology, and WHEN AMONG CROWS has that and more. In the true Polish spirit, so many of the characters are resigned in their self-sacrifices and tortured by their past deeds, but they all obtain the peace they seek. WHEN AMONG CROWS is a rarity among short stories in that Ms. Roth is able to not only create a fully visualized world and tell an entire story arc, but she also includes the necessary backstory and character development to engender empathy for the characters. While I am not normally a fan of novellas because they tend to lack the story depth I enjoy, this is the second of Ms. Roth’s novellas I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I can’t wait to see what she does next!