Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

31 reviews

sauvageloup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

a brilliant book that i got through slowly, but through no fault of its own, i think

pros:
- stunning, lyrical, fairytale writing. simple style but really lovely in originality of description and poignant turns of phrase. the story is carried along beautifully, smoothing over time skips.
- the character development was also so good, with Konstantin descending into worse evils, Anna's rise and fall, Vasya growing into her strength while still being fallible, and my favourite, Morozko, of sleep and death. he was cold but fair, human but other, real and not, and i just loved how Arden wrote him.
- i also enjoyed the setting so much, and the historical details too. the afternotes show how much effort Arden put into historical accuracy.

cons:
- maybe a bit slow, which didn't help my lack of reading focus

looking forward to reading book 2, and glad i won't have to leave the characters :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Religious bigotry, and Body horror

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Blood, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual assault

warning for eating disorder is really for starvation and struggling to get enough to eat, descriptions of extreme weight loss.

bushra19's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

The plot was very slow paced in the beginning but it slowly became very exciting.
I liked the main character she was brave, stubborn and strong willed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

Minor: War, Misogyny, Gore, and Emotional abuse

khymihr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

sarahaf712's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Self harm, and Misogyny

Moderate: Mental illness, Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Vomit

chattie_the_mad_chatter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is my 2nd read in less than a year and I loved it even more on a re-read. It is a coming of age story about a girl in Medievil Russia who can see the characters of folklore Cheroti who are household/ nature spirits and pagan deities. Christianity is sweeping through Russia and her village starts to be told they cannot be Christian and leave offerings to the household spirits. Vasya tries to build a bridge between these two worlds whilst trying to save her family from darkness that resides in humans and some folklore characters. But society feels Vasya should take her place in the world as she is no lo get a girl but a woman. Vasya is her own person she makes her own path and her freedom is important not only for herself but for all those who need protecting.

The writing in this is so immersive you are pulled into the world of both a historical Russia and a fantastical world of folklore. The strength of Vasya is astounding. The relationships between her family members are either beautiful, heart breaking or hurtful. I love the characters, human and Cheroti the villainous ones are excellently drawn. It's a slow burn book, but the simmering heats up and the time taken to get their means your understanding and affection for the characters is more heartfelt. Fantastic scene setter for an amazing trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

hanarama's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

The Good:
• Fairytale-esque
• Dreamy prose

The Bad:
 • Middle is a bit slow

You Might Like this if You Like:
• Russian folklore
• Naomi Novak 
• Historical fantasies 
• Witches 

Vasilisa is a young girl growing up in the Russian wilds. With the ability to see household spirits, she is devoted to the old folk beliefs in spite of the growing influence of Christianity. Wild and carefree, she often chaffs at the confines that Russian culture puts on her. 

Arden crafts a beautiful story that is at once historical fiction and fairytale. Folklore is woven beautifully throughout the narrative, highlighting what is lost through assimilation. 

The story is deeply atmospheric, often haunting and very moody. The dreamy prose adds to this, making the story feel like a tale shared with the reader on a cold winter night by a fire. 

Despite the fairytale elements, the characters feel rich and nuanced. Their relationships are complex and feel realistic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, and Animal death

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.0

A girl finds that she can see creatures out of forgotten folklore. This, she keeps secret so that nobody accuses her of acts against their new religion and god. Later, a combination of forgetting the old myths and one man’s need to feel exalted above all others leads to deadly trouble that only she is positioned to deal with . 

I love books like this, that use existing mythology and folklore. This book uses Russian folklore to create a magical setting filled with helpful spirits that tend the home or stable, or steward the forest, all only visible to certain lucky people. There's a lot of religious scapegoatting in this book, and overall the book didn't capture my attention as well as I thought it would, but I enjoyed it well enough. I gave it a 4 star review, but ultimately felt so-so about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization

sarahsbooklife's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

Minor: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

3.5

Once I got used to the narrative voice of this book, I really enjoyed listening to this one on audio. It was definitely an immersive experience, with some moments near the end getting pretty creepy, TBH. While I did like this book a lot, I didn't love it on the level of, say, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, which I was sort of expecting to based on reviews I'd heard. I think I'll pick up the next book in physical copy, just to see if perhaps this is something that needs to be enjoyed more quickly than the realities of my life allow for with audiobook listening. But overall, Katherine Arden has created a gorgeous world, with both loveable and love-to-hateable characters. The plot is very much fairy tale-esque, so if a more whimsical narrative isn't your style, I would say to steer clear of this one. I'm excited to see where we go with (hopefully) Vasya in the next installment!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Violence

pades's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Misogyny

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape