Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

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

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

weminence's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

I liked this story all the way through for various reasons but my problems with the story are still present and so I couldn't give this a five star rating. I loved the folklore in this book, the world for all its faults felt expansive and magical and the evolution of Vasya's village felt real and heartbreaking. I especially loved the ending when the plot is happening. The scenes in the cottage where my favorites. I do want to read the next book, but I do have issues with the story. 

Please if you are going to read this book check trigger warnings. 

While, I loved the world, I didn't like the accuracy to the period. Not the Christianity coming in and ruining everything for everyone; that felt par for the course, but Pyotr, Dunya, or Anna hitting Vasya I hated. I understand again that that is time accurate but as a fiction writer you get to pick which accuracies to portray. I also understand that Pyotr and Dunya were only trying to protect Vasya and make her act "right" but even if their motives are pure, it ultimately made the story hard to enjoy. Also, treating Vasya like an adult when she is fourteen is gross. Again, accurate for the time, gross for a book released in 2017. Yes, that one dude who briefly appears in the story is treated like a creep but not really because he's twenty-four and she's fourteen. Konstantin should've died at the end too for all his shitty behavior towards Vasya, but that is purely a personal opinion. Morozko, who I think is supposed to be Vasya's main love interest, is the creepiest in this regard but for some reason he is the nicest person to Vasya? Yeah, he gives her frost burn at one point, he still is some how the nicest person to this girl. (Besides her siblings to be fair) The scenes in the cabin were my favorite but they set up a relationship that just gets weirder the more you think of it. I just wish there was more care put into these aspects of the book. Especially considering more than once Morozko refers to Vasya as 'child'.

I am not saying this as someone who hates this book, in fact I bought into the propaganda and Morozko is my favorite but that's not to say that he should be, he's just some how the nicest adult in Vasya's life despite being the one with the most concerning age gape between them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

ibjilln's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Religious bigotry

kirschyhershey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

The Bear and the Nightingale is simply magical. Atmospheric with touching scenes centered around family and courage. It also explores questions of religion and what happens when power-seeking individuals use fear to control people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual harassment

thereadingnurse2021's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

The first half of the book is definitely slower paced, but once you get past part one things pick up and all the building that took place in that first part starts to makes sense. Then the following parts are deliciously creepy, foreboding, and intense in turns. I loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

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: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Death of parent

bluejayreads's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Very similar to Spinning Silver in concept - a little village in a cold snowy place under threat from terrifying supernatural beings of the snow - with the bonuses of a protagonist who may be a witch (she's not entirely sure) and of one antagonists being the "holy man is horny and upset about it" trope (which is one of my favorite kinds of antagonists). Very atmospheric and an enjoyable reading experience, but not all that memorable. I'm on the fence about reading the rest of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism

aguattery's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I'm not really sure what the plot is but the vibes are off the charts good. Dont recommend reading this alone or at night, especially if demons freak you out. 

I'm not really a fantasy type of gal but this was such a nice blend of fantasy and literary fiction that I enjoyed it. Definitely going to read the rest of the series. 

Also if you can get this version of audiobook the narrator really sells the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Animal death

sarahaf712's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Vomit