Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Bear and the Nightingale, by Katherine Arden

24 reviews

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

4.0

Hey look, I finally read this! And then proceeded to devour the next two books immediately, so pretty safe to say I loved it.

Definitely going on my new faves list.

CW: y'all it's set in like the 14th century so

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexism, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

thereadinghammock_mserinv's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

What a rich lore-heavy narrative tapestry this story turned out to be. I'm SO glad I listened to the audiobook versus reading physical or digital, as I think all the names and Russian phrases would have tripped me up as a reader and detracted from my enjoyment of the overall story. But as a listener, I loved Kathleen Gati's delivery of each character and distinguishing between spoken dialogue and narrative story with the use of accents and other modular voice changes.

I loved the integration of traditional Russian folklore. The house spirits, the forest sprites, the monsters. I appreciated how the village began with such a lovely integration of the Old Ways and Christianity, sharing reverence for both in equal measure. Yes, the village still side-eyed the idea of a witch, but everyone still left offerings for their Domovoy and the Vasila, out of respect.

Vasyia simultaneously wise beyond her years and a petulant child in the way only a teenage girl made to grow up a bit too fast must be. Alyosha was such a wonderful brother, and though he may not have fully understood what was going on, was ride-or-die for his sister and wanted nothing more than to keep her safe. Anna and Father Constantine were characters I loved to hate, but also felt for the struggles they went through as their own hopes and dreams were dashed by the will of another.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death of parent

Minor: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death, and Grief

jelliestars's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Alcohol, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Child death, Child abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, War, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

mmefish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

It's hard to believe that Katherine Arden is not Russian (or just Slavic) because of how authentic this book feels — it is clear she's very knowledgeable on the subject. Well integrated myths and Russian terms brought back memories from my childhood, while masterfully crafted 14th century Rus' landscapes made me want to read more Slavic-inspired fantasy. 
And to think that it's a debut novel!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, and Rape

ktkeps's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Injury/injury detail, and Death of parent

lizzy1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, and Sexism

nachtvlucht's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Physical abuse, Injury/injury detail, and Domestic abuse

saintyeehaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

I came into this book expecting a first person narrative focused on the female lead (similar to Uprooted) so it took me some time to get adjusted to the ever shifting perspectives. There were many times when I found myself waiting for the story to actually get going, which made chapters like Pyotr and his sons' visit to Moscow especially sluggish for me. Overall though, once the story got going I was all in. I loved Vasya's relationships with the different creatures, the characterization of Morozko, and the sheer evil/selfishness of the antagonists . I am definitely going to continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, and Vomit

sauvageloup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.5

a brilliant book that i got through slowly, but through no fault of its own, i think

pros:
- stunning, lyrical, fairytale writing. simple style but really lovely in originality of description and poignant turns of phrase. the story is carried along beautifully, smoothing over time skips.
- the character development was also so good, with Konstantin descending into worse evils, Anna's rise and fall, Vasya growing into her strength while still being fallible, and my favourite, Morozko, of sleep and death. he was cold but fair, human but other, real and not, and i just loved how Arden wrote him.
- i also enjoyed the setting so much, and the historical details too. the afternotes show how much effort Arden put into historical accuracy.

cons:
- maybe a bit slow, which didn't help my lack of reading focus

looking forward to reading book 2, and glad i won't have to leave the characters :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Religious bigotry, and Body horror

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Blood, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual assault

warning for eating disorder is really for starvation and struggling to get enough to eat, descriptions of extreme weight loss.

terezar114's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book is divided into three parts and to be honest the first part will be boring a bit and you'll find yourself wanting to stop reading but please continue because then it's worth it. As someone who's from Europe and heard the original story about Morozko growing up it was really cool to read this spinoff.

Spoiler

There was nothing I hated more than Konstantin and Anna. Just pure hate for these too. I was actually taken back by some scenes where Vasja gets beating and that seemed like it could be a lot for some readers. The first part is a bit boring, let's not lie to one another but then when it gets to the part where she's older and she starts to talk to demons and Konstantin starts to cause trouble it gets fairly interesting. And then the third part when Morozko finally and actually shows up and stays it's even better. Can't forget some of the things he said but I couldn't stop picturing, for some time in the beginning, the old man which Morozko is portrayed by in the actual russian Morozko movie instead of the handsome dark haired man with cold icy eyes.

If you enjoy reading adventure book you'll love this one although if you're searching for some romance this book may not be IT but I think it's worth the read and I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Violence, and Death of parent