I couldn't resist this book. At 47% of the way through I bit down on that brilliantly persuasive bullet and finished the darn thing. I am such a sucker for a good fantasy series and, let me tell you, this one delivers! It's got a bit of everything: beautifully spun Russian fairy tales, night walking vampire zombies, dramatic battle sequences, plus all the usual family drama that tends to spring up when your teenaged step mom is hell bent on besting your also teenaged, "born to bring down the establishment" little sister. Said sister also talks to horses which is pretty BA. If you're, you know, into that sort of thing.