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missyb_ 's review for:
The Bear and the Nightingale
by Katherine Arden
WARNING: unpopular opinion ahead
I don't really start reading books with super high expectations anymore because I've been disappointed too many times to count, but when you go to a book page and you literally see only 4 and 5 star reviews it's kinda hard not to expect at least a moderately enjoyable read. I mean, come on: a fairy tale set in a fantasy version of Russia? This had everything to become an amazing novel.
But man if this wasn't underwhelming.
I understand why so many people loved this. The Bear and The Nightingale is quite original and different from your usual fantasy YA, which is also why I can quite confidently say that I don't think I didn't enjoy it because I'm too old for this genre. No, the truth is that it was simply extremely slow and painfully tedious. The entire plot is basically condensed in the last three chapters, and the rest of the book is just an infinite description of meaningless tasks, usually related to horses. There's no action, no tension and, most of all, no characterization whatsoever.
I guess this was my major problem with this book: I couldn't relate to or care about any character or any event at all because everything just felt so... distant. The author wanted to recreate a fairy tale kind of writing and atmosphere, but I feel like she focused so much on this aspect that she completely forgot to give her characters... a personality? They all felt so bland and their interactions so artificial. Even Vasya, the protagonist, only gets some sort of characterization towards the end, otherwise her feelings are very generic and forgettable.
Also... what was that half-assed attempt at creating a romance at the end? WHY?? Where did it even come from?? Why should I feel anything about this when both of them are so one-dimensional??
I seriously wanted to at least like this book, I mean it, but there was nothing I really enjoyed about it. Not the tedious writing, not the flat characters, nor the uneventful plot. The only good (?) thing I can say about it is that in a week I will probably forget I even read it.
I don't really start reading books with super high expectations anymore because I've been disappointed too many times to count, but when you go to a book page and you literally see only 4 and 5 star reviews it's kinda hard not to expect at least a moderately enjoyable read. I mean, come on: a fairy tale set in a fantasy version of Russia? This had everything to become an amazing novel.
But man if this wasn't underwhelming.
I understand why so many people loved this. The Bear and The Nightingale is quite original and different from your usual fantasy YA, which is also why I can quite confidently say that I don't think I didn't enjoy it because I'm too old for this genre. No, the truth is that it was simply extremely slow and painfully tedious. The entire plot is basically condensed in the last three chapters, and the rest of the book is just an infinite description of meaningless tasks, usually related to horses. There's no action, no tension and, most of all, no characterization whatsoever.
I guess this was my major problem with this book: I couldn't relate to or care about any character or any event at all because everything just felt so... distant. The author wanted to recreate a fairy tale kind of writing and atmosphere, but I feel like she focused so much on this aspect that she completely forgot to give her characters... a personality? They all felt so bland and their interactions so artificial. Even Vasya, the protagonist, only gets some sort of characterization towards the end, otherwise her feelings are very generic and forgettable.
Also... what was that half-assed attempt at creating a romance at the end? WHY?? Where did it even come from?? Why should I feel anything about this when both of them are so one-dimensional??
I seriously wanted to at least like this book, I mean it, but there was nothing I really enjoyed about it. Not the tedious writing, not the flat characters, nor the uneventful plot. The only good (?) thing I can say about it is that in a week I will probably forget I even read it.