A review by catbag
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

3.75

i really loved the old world magic, but you're telling me the new religious system doesn't come with its own magic?? belief leading to power but then new beliefs not resulting in anything?? eh??

slight spoilers:

anna declaring she'd like to run away and live in the woods and travel the world on her own, then immediately almost dying, only to be saved by the god who, for plot reasons only, has decided to protect her and her alone?? in the second quote below she's legit bragging about bringing snowdrops wHEN THOSE WERE A GIFT SHE DID NOTHING TO EARNNNNNNNN. her strength was in communicating with the spirits, and they basically became her allies, but they're ignored in all of her plans? ? you're telling me besides the main plot point, they couldn't become a primary part of her plans for her future?? whatever

“All my life,” she said, “I have been told ‘go’ and ‘come.’ I am told how I will live, and I am told how I must die. I must be a man’s servant and a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls and surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing. I would rather die tomorrow in the forest than live a hundred years of the life appointed me. Please. Please let me help you.”

- page 275

“Never mind that,” said Alyosha. “There is nowhere for you to go.”
“Is there not?” said Vasya. A slow fire kindled in her face, easing the lines of grief. “Solovey will take me to the ends of the earth if I ask it. I am going into the world, Alyosha. I will be no one’s bride, neither of man nor of God. I am going to Kiev and Sarai and Tsargrad, and I will look upon the sun on the sea.”
Alyosha stared at his sister. “You are mad, Vasya.”
She laughed, but the tears blurred her sight. “Entirely,” she said. “But I will have my freedom, Alyosha. Do you doubt me? I brought snowdrops to my stepmother, when I ought to have died in the forest. Father is gone; there is no one to hinder. Tell me truly, what is there for me here but walls and cages? I will be free, and I will not count the cost.”

- page 310