»Stefanie vor Schulte’s novel demonstrates that it takes the wisdom of a child to understand cruelty.«

»This enigmatic plot, studded with symbols, and vor Schulte’s concise, distinctive narrative style will be remembered for a long time.«

»An inspired debut from Stefanie vor Schulte!«

»A gruesomely beautiful fairy tale for grown-ups.«

»A great rhythm, beautiful sentences, atmosphere: a joyful cultural experience.«

»Boy with a Black Rooster is gripping, uncanny, a look into the human abyss. And yet, there is magic in this child.«

»Stefanie vor Schulte's novel is full of poetic power and with a language characterized by images.«

»This appears light as a feather, yet elaborately crafted all the same.«

»Stefanie vor Schulte’s debut novel, Boy with Black Rooster, is an engrossing and enchanting fairy tale for adults, offering readers some ideal (post-) pandemic escapism.«

»Halfway between macabre tale and surrealist epic, Boy with a Black Rooster, with its many ambiguities, is as reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch as it is of Giambattista Basile's Tale of Tales (adapted for the cinema by Matteo Garrone).«

»A debut that is both admirable and truly unique.«

»[...] connecting life and death with great intelligence and narrative proficiency.«

»Dystopian and poetic at the same time.«

»A thoroughly entertaining story.«

»I absolutely love this book! The plot untangles perfectly, and I could smell and taste every scene. It feels like an old story, one of those that stays with you forever, but every part of it is surprising and wonderful. I want to go straight back and read it all again.«

»This novel is a danse macabre, a memento mori, a vision of good and evil pared down to the bones. Boy with a Black Rooster beckons the reader into a nightmare landscape of war, famine, plague and madness, and Stefanie vor Schulte’s storytelling verve is such that we make the journey gladly.«

»Wow, what a book! Fabular but true, this meticulously crafted and deceptively simple tale stole my heart, broke it, and put it back together again. Vor Schulte is unflinching in her depiction of the worst of humankind, its cruelty and violence, but she also shows how love and kindness can flourish in even the darkest times. A beautiful, heart-rending book.«