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solarhasta's review against another edition
4.0
i didn’t necessarily have high expectations for this since i’m not too obsessed with the grishaverse in particular, despite six of crows being one of my favourite series. however, the writing was beautiful and the illustrations were stunning and i thoroughly enjoyed most of the stories.
favourite stories: when water sang fire (5/5), the witch of duva (5/5), the too-clever fox (4/5), & ayama and the thorn wood (4/5).
favourite stories: when water sang fire (5/5), the witch of duva (5/5), the too-clever fox (4/5), & ayama and the thorn wood (4/5).
sloanerangerlibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
Bardugo’s take on Grimm’s classic fairytales is a fun, quick read. However, the last two stories (the clockmaker and the mermaid stories) were not as good and didn’t really make a lot of sense.
For example, one of the mermaids kills someone so that her BFF won’t have to go through a breakup? Also, the version of Hansel and Gretel was very interesting, especially given her notes at the end and the fact that women are often the ones portrayed as cruel in fairytales, but I felt the child rape part was unnecessary - couldn’t it be enough that he was killing them too? She does this kind of thing in Ninth House too, like can we not…
The illustrations could have been fine if they were just one per chapter, but there was one on every single page that was almost identical to the last one and it did not add anything to the experience.
For example, one of the mermaids kills someone so that her BFF won’t have to go through a breakup? Also, the version of Hansel and Gretel was very interesting, especially given her notes at the end and the fact that women are often the ones portrayed as cruel in fairytales, but I felt the child rape part was unnecessary - couldn’t it be enough that he was killing them too? She does this kind of thing in Ninth House too, like can we not…
The illustrations could have been fine if they were just one per chapter, but there was one on every single page that was almost identical to the last one and it did not add anything to the experience.
fr4nco's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
ishizon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
This is my pre-game to the Grishaverse! A friend recommended it to me after I talked about my dream of living in the woods near a stream and spending my days foraging for mushrooms.
Leigh Bardugo's "A Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic" is a collection of short stories that are retellings of some famous fairytales like Hansel and Gretel, The Little Mermaid, and The Nutcracker. They're also the stories she imagined that were told by elders to children in the Grishaverse, so I'm really excited to start that one in a few.
It's hard to pick a favorite from the six stories, but the ones I'd say surprised me the most were The Too Clever Fox and The Witch of Duva. Little Knife and When Water Sang Fire also meant a lot to me because of the relationship between the princess and the river in the former and Ulla and Signy in the latter.
There were also a lot of lines from these stories that struck me but it'll make this review too long and I want people to read these stories for themselves so I will leave it here!
Leigh Bardugo's "A Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic" is a collection of short stories that are retellings of some famous fairytales like Hansel and Gretel, The Little Mermaid, and The Nutcracker. They're also the stories she imagined that were told by elders to children in the Grishaverse, so I'm really excited to start that one in a few.
It's hard to pick a favorite from the six stories, but the ones I'd say surprised me the most were The Too Clever Fox and The Witch of Duva. Little Knife and When Water Sang Fire also meant a lot to me because of the relationship between the princess and the river in the former and Ulla and Signy in the latter.
There were also a lot of lines from these stories that struck me but it'll make this review too long and I want people to read these stories for themselves so I will leave it here!
kayla_biblioteca's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
discoverwithsam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
lis_allenwalker's review against another edition
5.0
Similar to The Lives of Saints, this fleshed out the world even more, it's not necessary to read this in order to understand the rest of the GrishaVerse, but if you want to be fully immersed in the world then I highly recommend.
Actual rating 4.5 stars
Actual rating 4.5 stars
nikki_lee_b's review against another edition
4.0
The collection of short stories in this book are charming and dark, and I loved it.
I'm a fan of twisted grim fairytales and I believe these stories embodied that atmosphere.
Unfortunately, because these are short stories, the characters in these stories weren't as deep as they would be if they were a full length novel, but I didn't expect them to be.
There are some I liked more than others and some that I felt like were far out there. But each story felt complete and I wasn't left unsatisfied.
I think Leigh Bardugo did a great job of weaving the themes in each story but also having the whole book carry the same theme of loneliness.
The artwork is gorgeous and I like how the picture progress as you progressed through each story.
If you are a fan of the Grishaverse, this is a must pick up. It's not necessary for the overall narrative of the Grishaverse, it's more like the cherry on top of a sundae.
I'm a fan of twisted grim fairytales and I believe these stories embodied that atmosphere.
Unfortunately, because these are short stories, the characters in these stories weren't as deep as they would be if they were a full length novel, but I didn't expect them to be.
There are some I liked more than others and some that I felt like were far out there. But each story felt complete and I wasn't left unsatisfied.
I think Leigh Bardugo did a great job of weaving the themes in each story but also having the whole book carry the same theme of loneliness.
The artwork is gorgeous and I like how the picture progress as you progressed through each story.
If you are a fan of the Grishaverse, this is a must pick up. It's not necessary for the overall narrative of the Grishaverse, it's more like the cherry on top of a sundae.