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A review by kristins3
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Violence
Minor: Child abuse