Reviews with content warning for Death - The Bear and the Nightingale

I picked up this one as a book club read and it lives up to the writeups I read on it. Set in Russia it tells the story of a girl who has The Sight, who catches the attentions of the two Lords of Winter and Storms. (Definitely a similar flavour to Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver)

It's a nuanced story that illustrates the tensions between Russian Orthodox Christianity and the practice of tending household gods, and also the tensions between the traditional roles of women and the desires of the main character to have her own freedom.

The harsh climate of the setting creates a hostile environment, that makes people getting on with one another even more intrinsic to survival. It also increases the perceived risk of either, not being God-fearing, or severing ties with the old gods that have protected the people so far.

Also cool spooky freehold havens are fun, and spiritual presences that have more than one form make for dream logic that really pulled me into the story.
I shall follow up on this read as it's only the first book.

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moonchild_cos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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matcha_pages's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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claudiashelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

❝ Wild birds die in cages. ❞

I love this one! I genuinely do. This novel is a dark fairy tale steeped in Russian mythology, complete with magic demons, blended fantastical elements, Catholic Orthodox and familial turmoil. I adore everything about this book. Following Russian folklore was difficult for me at first, but I believe that was a challenge I appreciated. Sadly, there was still dumb Patriarchy in this book, which is awful, but the world-building is so excellently described that it has effectively created a grand atmosphere where I felt like in a mediaeval Russian winter heeded by incredible manoeuvring.

I just feel unfortunate for going over this incredible Winter storybook in such hot conditions in a tropical country, cries.

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The beginning was very slow, and for the first quarter or so of the book, half of it was not that prevalent to the book’s plot, but rather setting up for future books in the series. I was not particularly fond of this choice. The writing was very atmospheric, which I liked, but I didn’t feel the need to keep picking up the book to continue reading, so that’s why I can’t rate it too highly. I found the topics surrounding religious bigotry interesting, what with the prideful, fear-mongering priest and what not, as well as the consequences of actions persuaded by fear and the topic of offerings.

However, I do not wish we got more vengeance bestowed on the priest in the end. The irony of how he acted in the bear’s name, believing it to be God, as well as the fear of death Vasilisa put in him at the end, was quite good, though.

I am not sure whether I will continue the series.

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araowl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book has exactly the kind of writing I look for. Atmospheric and descriptive, the writing style just absolutely immerses you in this world. I found the characters to be multi-faceted and complex. I thought the main character what a bit of a stereotypical chosen one at first, but I think the author did a good job of making her much more layered than that. Overall this was a beautiful book with a very immersive setting, layered characters, and compelling themes. I would only say that the character of stepmother felt a bit flat to me, and it seemed like the beginning was quite slow and the ending sort of rushed. But I'm really excited to read the next in the series!

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annjk's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I found this book thrilling and the characters well fleshed out. The folklore immensely enjoyable or scary when the scenes demanded it. The twists and turns of this story were satisfying to be along with, not really knowing what will happen even if I roughly anticipated the ending. It's the road to the resolution that kept me on my toes and had me finish ca 300 pages in one weekend.

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