Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo

23 reviews

hmbrokaw's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is everything I could hope for from a book of short stories

It is dark and twisted fairy tales, that somehow give me hope for people who manage to crawl out from the ashes and carry on

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alixbx's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If you are a Grishaverse lover, nothing in here will be more shocking than what you have already read in the other books. If you’re not as familiar with the works of Leigh Bardugo, I would advise greatly that you review content warnings. Grishaverse books may be Young Adult reading, but I would strongly argue it is not, and I feel similarly here with this text. It is beautifully written an illustrated with stories that do not offer happy endings. I find this to actually be it’s greatest strength, but it is entirely preference. As an anthology, it is not necessarily curated with a single vision or message. More than anything it offers lore that shapes the greater Grishaverse. If you enjoy Grimm Fairytales and Poe, you could enjoy this in isolation from the entirety of the series. It is in that same arena for vibes and style.

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casjopaia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's absolutely fantastic! The plot twists are AMAZING, unforeseen and just so much fun! In this book you also get to explore the magical Grisha-world a little bit further, which is so fascinating. The characters are extremely cool and all of these hints at fairy tales are so interesting. It's very dark, moody, dramatic and so mysterious. I highly recommend reading this, it was so so so much fun! Leigh Bardugo is simply a genius. And so is Sarah Kipins, the illustrator of this book - because yessss there are magnificent decorations on all of the pages, which turn into these gorgeous artworks at the end of every story!!!
GO READ IT

Here is also my rating for each story:
Ayama and the Thorn Wood 4/5

The Too-Clever Fox 4/5

The Witch of Duva 5/5
It's so gross. I LOVED IT!!!!

Little Knife 4/5

The Soldier Prince 3/5

When Water Sang Fire 5/5
Thrilling, dark and twisted. AMAZING.

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callidoralblack's review

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dark

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

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kristins3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

I’m usually skeptical of in-universe tales for existing series, but this was so good. I particularly loved the attribution of each tale to different countries and the incorporation of themes or even outright stories that exist in our own world

I had the hardest time following the Kerch nutcracker story so that was probably my least favorite, but I did like the creepy ending even if it had some scary similarities to ghost stories about haunted dolls that we’d hear as kids

I love the Wicked treatment of Ursula. The daughter is still innocent so she’s not justified in her implied actions in the little mermaid and thus doesn’t get a full Wicked redemption but it adds a cool set of motives for the character. At first I was thinking it was odd that the prudish fjerdans would tell stories with such promiscuous characters but then I realized the mermaids are the villains so that’s actually probably consistent lol

I think starting with Amaya’s story was a great choice, especially as it set the tone for altered story telling throughout. This was probably one of my favorites

The imagery in the fox story was probably the hardest for me to stomach, but I did like the profession of the story overall

I also really enjoyed Little Knife, and since it’s only a folktale I guess it doesn’t necessarily mean something for the sentience of bodies of water in the universe and it still works with the rest of it

It’s so interesting that Leigh Bardugo was able to construct such a complex world and inject so much into it. I feel like the storyline of the Shadow and Bone series was really holding back this amazing world building (though it remains my favorite part of that series) and it really came to fruition in later books like Six of Crows

Also incredible illustrations! I loved the progressive images in the margins and the final picture at the end of each story

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albyalbyalby's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Leigh Bardugo never disappoints with the Grishaverse, and the delightful and subversive takes on classic fairytales she gives in this book are underrated by her fans. The stunning descriptions give wonderful visuals that any reader will enjoy. Not to mention the beautiful illustrations throughout. Overall, highly recommend!

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