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A review by aseaoftomes
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
January 2021 reread:
This was my second time reading this book and I still loved it as much as the first time.
This is a Russian inspired historical fantasy that takes place around the time of the shift from paganism to Christanity and everything that goes along with that. It follows our main protagonist Vasya, who has the ability to see the spirits of the old religion, a very uncommon thing, and it marks her as an outcast in her village, where people are turning more towards Christianity. Vasya's father remarries a woman who is a devout Christian but can also see the spirits. Things really take off when a mysterious man gives Vasya's father a necklace to give to her and things go from there.
The thing people talk most about when they talk about this book is the world building and the atmosphere. Both of those things are arguably the strongest points of the book. You're pulled into a fairytale-esque story and can just feel the place you're reading about from the brutal winters to the coolness of a lake. It's incredibly vivid and well-written. The incorporation of Russian and Slavic folklore is also so well done. As someone of that background, the way the author wove in all of the different tales and made them into something unique was just so lovely and added an extra layer to some of the stories I'm familiar with. And the cultural aspects were also great to see and for once, done in a respectful and accurate way. You could tell that Katherine Arden did her research, so that was refreshing to see.
The writing was also great. The pacing was fairly well done and flowed well. I still stand by the fact that parts of the ending of the book felt a bit out of place with the rest of the story - it's faster paced and the mood shifts drastically, but overall I thought it was well-done.
The plot felt like that of a fairytale. It was mostly a slower paced story as we're just learning about the world and the characters and the overall time period and the customs, so in a way it was very day-to-day life, with a flare. And I really enjoyed it.
Finally, the characters. It was interesting to me that on this reread I had slightly different feelings about certain characters. I found that while I still really enjoyed Vasya as a character, that I saw her differently. Most of the time we see her through other people's eyes and what really moves her arc forward is external events, rather than internal events a lot of the time. I still love the spirits - Morozko and Solovey being my favorites of them (Morozko is my favorite character in the trilogy and I always miss him when he's not around). I had a slightly different relationship with Anna and Konstantin this time around as well. I still don't particularly care for either of them (particularly Anna), but I found both of their arcs interesting. Finally, I really do love Vasya's family - particularly Alyosha. All in all, I still really enjoyed the characters, even if I saw many of them differently this time.
Overall, I still love this book and it's one I can see myself rereading for many years to come. And it's a perfect read for when it's cold and snowy outside (that's the only time I read them...I actually wait for it to snow).
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4.5 stars - a few quibbles but overall incredibly well done.
This was my second time reading this book and I still loved it as much as the first time.
This is a Russian inspired historical fantasy that takes place around the time of the shift from paganism to Christanity and everything that goes along with that. It follows our main protagonist Vasya, who has the ability to see the spirits of the old religion, a very uncommon thing, and it marks her as an outcast in her village, where people are turning more towards Christianity. Vasya's father remarries a woman who is a devout Christian but can also see the spirits. Things really take off when a mysterious man gives Vasya's father a necklace to give to her and things go from there.
The thing people talk most about when they talk about this book is the world building and the atmosphere. Both of those things are arguably the strongest points of the book. You're pulled into a fairytale-esque story and can just feel the place you're reading about from the brutal winters to the coolness of a lake. It's incredibly vivid and well-written. The incorporation of Russian and Slavic folklore is also so well done. As someone of that background, the way the author wove in all of the different tales and made them into something unique was just so lovely and added an extra layer to some of the stories I'm familiar with. And the cultural aspects were also great to see and for once, done in a respectful and accurate way. You could tell that Katherine Arden did her research, so that was refreshing to see.
The writing was also great. The pacing was fairly well done and flowed well. I still stand by the fact that parts of the ending of the book felt a bit out of place with the rest of the story - it's faster paced and the mood shifts drastically, but overall I thought it was well-done.
The plot felt like that of a fairytale. It was mostly a slower paced story as we're just learning about the world and the characters and the overall time period and the customs, so in a way it was very day-to-day life, with a flare. And I really enjoyed it.
Finally, the characters. It was interesting to me that on this reread I had slightly different feelings about certain characters. I found that while I still really enjoyed Vasya as a character, that I saw her differently. Most of the time we see her through other people's eyes and what really moves her arc forward is external events, rather than internal events a lot of the time. I still love the spirits - Morozko and Solovey being my favorites of them (Morozko is my favorite character in the trilogy and I always miss him when he's not around). I had a slightly different relationship with Anna and Konstantin this time around as well. I still don't particularly care for either of them (particularly Anna), but I found both of their arcs interesting. Finally, I really do love Vasya's family - particularly Alyosha. All in all, I still really enjoyed the characters, even if I saw many of them differently this time.
Overall, I still love this book and it's one I can see myself rereading for many years to come. And it's a perfect read for when it's cold and snowy outside (that's the only time I read them...I actually wait for it to snow).
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4.5 stars - a few quibbles but overall incredibly well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief