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A review by kara_bianca_reads
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
5.0
Summary:
The Bear and the Nightingale is the first in a trilogy of Russian-based folkloric fantasy, and follows out main character Vasya, a young girl who can see the spirits of the house and woods, and who is fighting back against the sweeping changes to Christianity. This reminds me a lot of books like Deathless by Katherynne M Valente and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
Characters 5/5:
I absolutely adored the characters in this. A lot of the focus of the novel is character (and world) development, so it's definitely a very character focused story. I thought Vasya was very smart and brave, but I also really appreciated that she didn't consider herself out of the ordinary. It was a gentle kind of strength that I loved. I also was really impressed by the amount of development that was dedicated to the supporting characters. This has a LARGE supporting cast with a big focus on family and I cared so much about Vasya's family and community!
Plot 4.5/5:
I really enjoyed the plot of this, though I will say it's not a prominent focus of the entire novel. The majority of the plot happens in the final third of the novel, with the first two thirds focusing more on character and setting development. But what we did get of the plot, I really enjoyed. I love the tension between nature/urbanisation, and folklore/christianity and I just really liked it so much. I'm definitely keen to see where book two goes (I'm going to purchase that today!).
Setting and atmosphere 5/5:
This book is OBVIOUSLY a love-letter to the Russian setting, and a lot of time is spent describing the atmosphere and the connection to nature. The village/forest setting felt a little richer than the descriptions of Moscow, but I think Moscow is going to play a bigger role in Book 2. The descriptions were just so rich and beautiful and I absolutely loved it.
Writing style 5/5:
I personally love a really good character driven story, and I love spending a lot of the prose talking about characters and visuals and careful complex emotions and Katherine Arden DELIVERED on this front. I don't think it's a writing style everyone will like, but I LOVED it.
I had this book on my 5 star predictions list so uh-- good job me!
The Bear and the Nightingale is the first in a trilogy of Russian-based folkloric fantasy, and follows out main character Vasya, a young girl who can see the spirits of the house and woods, and who is fighting back against the sweeping changes to Christianity. This reminds me a lot of books like Deathless by Katherynne M Valente and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
Characters 5/5:
I absolutely adored the characters in this. A lot of the focus of the novel is character (and world) development, so it's definitely a very character focused story. I thought Vasya was very smart and brave, but I also really appreciated that she didn't consider herself out of the ordinary. It was a gentle kind of strength that I loved. I also was really impressed by the amount of development that was dedicated to the supporting characters. This has a LARGE supporting cast with a big focus on family and I cared so much about Vasya's family and community!
Plot 4.5/5:
I really enjoyed the plot of this, though I will say it's not a prominent focus of the entire novel. The majority of the plot happens in the final third of the novel, with the first two thirds focusing more on character and setting development. But what we did get of the plot, I really enjoyed. I love the tension between nature/urbanisation, and folklore/christianity and I just really liked it so much. I'm definitely keen to see where book two goes (I'm going to purchase that today!).
Setting and atmosphere 5/5:
This book is OBVIOUSLY a love-letter to the Russian setting, and a lot of time is spent describing the atmosphere and the connection to nature. The village/forest setting felt a little richer than the descriptions of Moscow, but I think Moscow is going to play a bigger role in Book 2. The descriptions were just so rich and beautiful and I absolutely loved it.
Writing style 5/5:
I personally love a really good character driven story, and I love spending a lot of the prose talking about characters and visuals and careful complex emotions and Katherine Arden DELIVERED on this front. I don't think it's a writing style everyone will like, but I LOVED it.
I had this book on my 5 star predictions list so uh-- good job me!