Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Der Bär und die Nachtigall by Katherine Arden

85 reviews

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

I remember seeing a lot of hype surrounding this book. While I'm not the type to fall for hype after reading the blurb, I came to the conclusion this book wouldn't have the same tired old problems as books that tend to get hyped (glorification of abusive relationships, gender bioessentialism, characters that act like walking tropes) and should give it a go. I was mostly right.

I think if you read books purely for vibes and you enjoy richly described dark fairy tales you'll probably enjoy this boom greatly.

What I liked:

• Vasya was a realistic protagonist who was easy to empathise with. Though set mostly in the Russian countryside, I think anyone growing up on the fringes of society in some capacity can relate to Vasya's struggles as our world seems to be heading in a darker direction and we're expected to keep our heads down and not question anything.
• I also enjoyed Vasya's family's dynamics with each other.
  It really paid off when Dunya died and eventually came back as a thrall of The Bear, and Pyotr chose to sacrifice himself to bind The Bear. Dunya's ghastly resurrection was especially hard to read.
• Vasya did not end up in any last minute unnecessary romantic relationships or forced by the plot to "find the right man". I don't know if she is explicitly aromantic, asexual or aromantic asexual but it was depressingly refreshing to have a female lead whose freedom from romantic or sexual relationships was seen as a good thing. It would have been so easy to have her hook up with the Frost King at the end and major kudos to Arden for not going there. More MCs like this please! The bar is subterranean!

What I didn't like:

• I feel like the bulk of the plot was backended towards the last third of the book. While it was necessary to build up
  the village's conversion to Christianity through fear and the consequences of ignoring the demons that used to help them
  the same things kept happening and got very repetitive to the point of it being accidentally comedic. Seeing how this is Arden's debut novel, I'm sure she can improve her pacing in later novels.
• Some of the characters do end up feeling kind of tropey. While this is to be expected in fairy tales, said characters feel more like a means to progress the plot rather than be organic characters or twists on the trope they were embodying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

piperclover's review against another edition

I was pretty interested in this bc of its Russian folktale roots and had been seeing this author highly praised recently but this is just so boring and slow.  I'm 33 minutes in and I have no idea who anyone is or why they're important or why I should care.  There was about 10 minutes at the very beginning of this book that I was intrigued by but then it moved on to other characters. Maybe this gets fantastic in another hour but I'm not willing to sit through that much of an audiobook that I'm not liking even a little bit. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

anna_the_literasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

hes2375's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Child death

janieboucher's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Body shaming

furreverreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

So good! 
Chilling, exciting, atmospheric. A perfect mix of frustrating characters, and lovable characters; villains and heroes.
Arden wrote it beautifully, incorporating the Russian language and traditions well I think. I was not ready for it to end, but do think she ended it well. 
Ugh! So far definitely the best book I’ve finished in 2024. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Blood

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, and Death of parent

shavanners's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Child death

megan_pristineprose's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

This is very dark. Not as whimsical as I had hoped.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore and Physical abuse

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, and Murder

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

colorcrystals's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty and Fire/Fire injury