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

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

3.5

For the first half or so, I only sort of follow what's happening. Every character has between 3-5 names, many of them very similar, and the timeline is very loosey goosey, so I gave up on tracking anyone other than the main character. I'm waffling on what to say about this, because I understand what the author was trying to do, but I'm not sold on the execution for much of it. For example, the stepmother is originally someone I feel sorry for, but she leans so heavily into her cruelty and stupidity that I lose any sympathy very quickly and it never comes back. 

That said, the ending came together quite nicely, enough that I'm willing to check out the second book anyway.
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