Reviews - Ursul și privighetoarea

15.9k reviews for:

Ursul și privighetoarea

Katherine Arden

4.09 AVERAGE

valkyriefury's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

luthoreads's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really wanted to love this one, i’ve had it in my tbr for so long, like years, and i finally got to it but unfortunately i didn’t enjoy it as much as i wanted.

I know it’s a trilogy so the first book i expected it to be introductory but it took it to the next level of introductions, almost 70% of the story was getting to know the main character, we literally follow her since before she was born until she’s around 14 years old where the main story happens.

The amount of characters in this is already difficult to follow but what made it more challenging was the use of almost 3 names for the same character; now i know this is common for russian background but it was very hard to follow (the glossary at the end could have been at the beginning for a more accessible use).

At the very end of the story it got so good, it was exactly what i wanted, Vasya is a very interesting and unique character and i really would’ve loved to get more of her final arc but i guess that’s going to be in book 2 and 3. I really don’t know if i’ll continue it, for now my interest is not really high.

mags_gcs's review against another edition

5.0

Wow. Just, wow.

This one snuck up on me! For the first quarter of the book I wasn’t quite sold, the back and forth perspectives were confusing to me and the setting hadn’t really materialized in my brain yet. I kept going because I could tell the story was going somewhere and WOW did it go somewhere! This book truly has it all, well rounded characters, extremely fleshed out scenery, and a plot that knows where it’s going and doesn’t take too long to get there.

While I admit it took a minute for the setting to fully become realized in my brain, slowly as I was reading I started to notice a chill that wasn’t there before. I could see the forest with clarity and visualized the architecture so clearly. Katherine Arden is a master of place. By the end of the book I knew exactly where she wanted us and could even smell the world she had built around me. If you’re a person who loves world building, this book is for you.

The characters really shine as well! The many perspectives almost put me off but as you get further into the book the perspectives start to focus in on the ones driving the plot. I feel like everyone was pretty well rounded and I found myself on rooting for each one at different points, even the “villains” in the story. Particularly Anna, I know she really was a bad stepmother but it’s hard to hate her when I know how young she was when she was put in this position against her will. Vasya is obviously the star of the novel and “the chosen one” but I feel there were times I was frustrated with her choices before falling back in love with her. Konstantin was also a tough character because I felt myself wanting him to come around at many points throughout the story.

This book is the first in a trilogy and I can’t wait to read the others, this was such a strong opening and I hope the rest is just as good!