Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

163 reviews

mvergari_13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

The author does a great job at world building and is extremely knowledgeable about medieval Russia and Russian folktales. A great girl power story about women overcoming the boxes they've been locked into

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

It has a realistic setting around what young girls in medieval Russia would experience including being married off to men much older than them

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy

hellavaral's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

Minor: Animal death and Blood

alexijai98's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Stayed up until 1:13 to finish this so that’ll tell you something! I love Vasya as a protagonist - she is strong and kind and emotional. She is a fully-fledged person and I’m excited to continue her story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

ewitsmich's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book! Such rich and vibrant folklore is in good hands. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Sexual violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

sn8man's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

mmelibertine's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Slow to get going, and the 3rd person omniscient POV bouncing from one character to another in rapid succession didn't work for me. As the book pared that POV down to two or three main characters, it felt much stronger. Then it absolutely stuck the landing. Hell yes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

twoweeeeks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Sexual violence

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

Bit of a jumpy start with the multiple POVs and time jumps for the first couple of chapters but I'm so glad I stuck with it. Also, the names were confusing at times because everyone had a name, a nickname, and then an affectionate name given to them, and it took me maybe half the book to remember who was who.

The story was enchanting and magical with a big focus traditional gender norms and values in medieval Russia, as well as religious bigotry in traditionally pagan areas. However, these topics were handled really well and were written to evoke emotion in the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm

dragonaion's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

The title and cover are delightfully deceptive and are not for the faint of heart. Arden writes this in an excellent story book pattern, giving a natural cadence and bounce if you read it aloud, but this is absolutely a brilliant story for adults that will give nightmares to children. Filled with complex themes, this is an excellent blend of historical fiction and fantasy that had me at the edge of my seat and desperately turning the pages. One moment you are naturally shivering with the main characters in winter (I had to turn the fireplace on a number of times) and as they mention the household spirits you can almost imagine the ones next to you while you read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

The story takes place in a realistic Russian village and appropriately shows the hardships of winter, how women were treated in such a time, and the clash of Christian religion with pagan beliefs.