The Bear and the Nightingale

This took me incredibly long for such a short little book and not for the good reasons...

Out in a Russian forest the local leader's daughter is a bit different. She just seems to be magical, always a bit wild. When she gets a mad stepmother who shuns the honouring of the local supernatural, things just go wrong and the girl, Vasya needs to persevere as the only person who keeps them safe through keeping the traditions.

Russia is a setting that just attracts me. Never been to the country, don't speak the language, I've never had a mysterious, passionate lover from Russia, but the whole aesthetic is just my thing. I love it. Not gonna lie, that was the reason why I really wanted to read this book and nothing could stop me, not even the doubt of it not being so brilliant at the end.
Spoiler alert (in case you are not seeing my rating), it actually wasn't brilliant to me.
Part of it is not using the creatures too much. Seriously, when someone dips into lore so rich, so interesting and great, then they SHOULD actually use it all properly, instead of bringing it a bit in, then kind of... not developing on any of it at all.
We get no explanation about anything. Why is Vasya (and her dead mother) so magical? What's the point?? There was a conflict with the creatures and it is still all so vague. Something so underdeveloped makes me feel like the author didn't really know what to do with all the cool things, they just sounded nice and she threw them together.

My another big bunch of issues with it is the whole fairytale aspect. Not the fact it is there, I love stories like that, I adore the whimsical feel and the wonder, but the style has its drawbacks.
One I find here is that while you can suspend your disbelief and just roll with certain thing in a streamlined little story, those things kick you in the teeth in hundreds of pages of stuff. Characters acting ridiculous, tropes, all those things get more annoying if the story is longer, because there is no reason to just leave them like that. There is room to work with stuff!!!
Another here was the writing. I am going to be nitpicky when the style is supposed to be something like this. If you are so careful, then be that properly. Stop using ‘milling' and ‘vaulting' a million times, please!!!!!!! This is becoming something that annoys me so much, the uncaring writing. It's not that hard to avoid it. Even in just a text editor you can search for a certain word.

This connects to the fairytale aspects as well; characters. Those characters are simply written for a reason, they are limited by the genre and it makes sense. If you want to send a clear message to kids listening to you, then it makes sense to simplify. But here we got a way too “amazing” and infallibly perfect protagonist and nothing at all in case of the others. Not even the supernaturals, even thought they could have been something interesting.
I also dislike the obvious disdain for normal people. The main character's older sister is normal. She marries and after that nobody gives a shit about her even existing. Same goes to one of the older brothers. It's such a juvenile way of thinking; you are nothing if you are not irresponsible and wild. Being normal means you are nothing and you might as well just disappear. I have no issue with the protagonist thinking this, but here she is being sold as the perfect mindset, as someone who is always right.

Disappointment, honestly. I really need something that I can enjoy a lot now, because I seem to be in a mood of picking up books I end up not liking at all. I don't know what's happening.

Good night and pass me the vodka.

See my full review at The Emerald City Book Review. I opened The Bear and the Nightingale with great anticipation and not a little trepidation; since the trend for fairy-tale fiction exploded some years ago, there have been some brilliant entries in the genre and some derivative duds. Katherine Arden's debut novel looked promising, with its half-magical, half-historical Russian setting and an enticing cover, but what looks good doesn't always turn out to be so in the reading.

Fortunately, from the first pages I was entranced, as Arden quickly led me into a truly wonder-full world, in which the time-honored motif of the mistreated stepdaughter gains new strength and richness through her multi-layered telling. There's so much to discover and enjoy that I'd like to encourage you to just pick it up and explore it for yourself ... but to name a few favorite aspects, I especially appreciated how elements of folklore and myth were treated in a way that brought them to life for modern readers, while feeling genuinely atmospheric and psychologically true. At the same time, the historical setting – a medieval land of wooden huts, wandering monks and tribal machinations – is briefly but convincingly developed through details of life and language.

Toward the end, I found that Arden's storytelling weakened a bit. The villains became more one-sided and less interesting, and the battles with monsters started to feel too much like a video-game slugfest for my personal taste. I'm hoping that in the sequels (and yes! there will be sequels!) she'll carry the skill she shows so amply in the buildup of this story through to the very last pages. I will definitely be watching for her next effort with great interest, and confidence that this time my expectations will be rewarded.

Gorgeous. Stunning. Absolutely breathtaking. Any of those words and phrases barely skim the surface of how impressed I was by this well-woven tale. Fairy tales will always have a special place in my heart. I relish the feeling of being swept off into a new world or, in this case, a world that is right on the borders of our very own. Arden's tale pulls together Russian folklore into a tale that will have you breathless with equal parts excitement and fear. It's a beautiful thing.

Characters like Vasilisa have always been my favorite. Stubborn, willful, strong to a point where they actually cause others to fear their strangeness. Vasilisa is a woman on the fringes. She's a character who doesn't conform to norms, and is better because of it. In other words, she's everything I aspire to be. Arden wastes no time in pushing Vasilisa towards her ultimate fate and, to her credit, Vasilisa faces it head on. I was mesmerized by her, and it made this story fly by. I could have read many more pages following this amazing woman.

As mentioned above, the Russian folklore is really the star of the show here though. As the children sat around the fire, to hear tales of bravery and death, so did I. Arden brought to life the winter demon, his black-hearted brother, and all the household spirits that populated this story. As Vasilisa grew to know them, and love and hate them as called for, so did I. I found myself so immersed in this story, that I actually felt angry when people pulled me away from it. My one wish was to find out what became of our brave protagonist, and the family that she would do anything to protect.

The Bear and the Nightingale is my first five-starred review of 2017, and well deserving of that honor. This is the kind of book that you buy in hardcover, so that it will survive many re-reads to come. If this isn't already on your reading list, it should be. It really, really should.

Katherine Arden's debut novel, a Slavic-folktale-inspired historical fantasy set in Rus' in the fourteenth century, is phenomenal. It's the first book I read in 2017 and one of my two favorite new releases, but it's taken me a long time to review it since I don't feel that I can adequately describe this wonderful book and all that it encompasses. The writing is lovely with small details that bring the setting alive, the fairy tale aspects are enchanting, and the characters (especially the main protagonist) are well drawn. It's slow paced and it seemed to take a long time to build to the end, but I very much enjoyed the journey and am looking forward to reading the recently released sequel!

4 1/2 stars

Full Review on My Website

~Full review and comments on The Bent Bookworm!~There was a time, not long agoWhen flowers grew all yearWhen days were longAnd nights star-strewnAnd men lived free from fearJust to clarify: The Bear and the Nightingale (TBATN) is NOT a YA book. I've seen it pop up on several lists as such, but it is not. It's also NOT historical fiction, though it is heavily inspired by historical, medieval Russia. It is adult fantasy that reads almost entirely like historical fiction until Part II, where it starts to feel like magical realism historical fiction...so let's just keep it simple and say fantasy. Could some teenagers read it and appreciate it? Yes, but the style is very different from most YA, and some of the content is definitely adult (marital rape and a little graphic violence). This obviously didn't deter me from ADORING it, but I thought the slight genre-confusion I've been noticing was worth a mention.In Russian, Frost was called Morocco, the demon of winter. But long ago, the people called him Karachun, the death-god. Under that name, he was king of black midwinter who came for bad children and froze them in the night.Feels:I am in love. With everything. With the world, with the characters, with the woods, the village. With Vasya. A little bit with Alyosha. I wept with Vasya and her family. I saw the spirits as Vasya did. I felt the fear of the villagers. I felt the pain and confusion of a young child with a wild, free spirit in a world that didn't accept her. The writing in TBATN is astounding. Lyrical, whimsical, and utterly entrancing.Characters:“I am only a country girl,” said Vasya. “I have never seen Tsargrad, or angels, or heard the voice of God. But I think you should be careful, Batyushka, that God does not speak in the voice of your own wishing. We have never needed saving before.”Vasya, the main character, is my sister from another mother. I swear. Her love of nature, her stubborn refusal to accept the fate others wish to push on her, her refusal to be broken. I already said I love her but it bears repeating. The story spans from right before her birth to the time she is 14 years old. She doesn't have an easy life, but she has to be one of the most resilient people I've ever met. Bent, at times, but never broken.“All my life I am told how I will live, and I am told how I must die. I must be a man's servant and a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls and surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing.”Now no joke, there are quite a few characters in this story. However, they are all so clear and distinct I was never confused. Not once. Not even with the Russian names. I did have to realize in the beginning that everyone had a given (fancy) name and a called (shorter, plainer) name, but since Arden stuck mostly to the called names it wasn't hard. Also, each character experiences a growth arc in the book. No matter how minor, they show some growth and change – sometimes for good, sometimes for bad! That is an incredible feat and after reading so many books with such flat minor characters – amazing.Romance – guess what? There is none. None. None, none, none, NONE! It's such a beautiful breath of fresh air. There IS marriage. There's also sex – and by sex I mean marital rape. It's not graphic, but it's obvious. I feel it's treated as well as such a thing CAN be – these are medieval times, and in those times women were no more than property, no matter how highly valued that property. The women themselves often never questioned the right of their fathers and husbands to barter with them and then use their bodies for their own pleasure – it was a husband's right and a wife's duty! insert much sarcasm It definitely effects the entire dynamic of the story.Plot:TBATN is not a fast-paced book. It's a slow burn building up to more and more – and it's TOTALLY worth the read. All the details are beautiful and intriguing, and they really add to the mystery and overall atmosphere. The characters are really the driving force, and all the drama and suspense are very slow to build but after spending several chapters getting to know the people and the country I was already so invested I already knew I was in for the haul. Things really start to pick up with the arrival of a new priest in Vasya's village. There is a struggle between the new Catholic church and the old spirits of the land and as things start to happen at first NOTHING is explained. Everything just kept building and building and there's even a little mini-climax at one point (which was EXTREMELY satisfying), but things just keep going! Not only did it keep going, it picked up speed and I was completely wrapped up in the story.As previously stated, there is no actual romance in TBATN. It doesn't need it. There's also not an entirely happy ending. It is...heartrending, yet hopeful at the same time. There's no actual cliffhanger, but so much room for additional stories, and Vasya's fate and path seem far from decided.Worldbuilding/Setting:Phenomenal. It truly has a historical feel to it. I'm not all that well-versed in Russian history or mythology, but the detailed notes on language and history at the end, as well as the comments I've read from people native to that part of the world seem to bear out that thought as well. The descriptions allow you to fall through the pages into the story, and it really feels like a full sensory experience. When the mythological creatures begin to appear, it feels so amazingly right.Rating/Further Notes:5 stars. I don't have any more words for how beautifully savage this book is. I can't wait to see what Katherine Arden comes up with next. I've heard rumors this is the first of a trilogy, but in her author Q&A page I only see mention of a sequel. I'll be buying whatever she comes up with!Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!2019 - Still in love with this book and this entire series.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+

Vasilisa Petrovna is not your typical Russian girl. To the consternation and exasperation of her loving family, she is constantly running off into the woods and speaking of fairy-tale creatures as though they are real. It is all relatively harmless until her father goes to Moscow and brings a new wife back to the harsh wilderness of the north country. Vasya's new stepmother is extremely devout, and forbids the family from acknowledging the traditional household spirits. Things get even worse when a charismatic new priest arrives from the city preaching fire and brimstone for the unfaithful. As life in the unforgiving terrain deteriorates, Vasya must do her best to protect her family and village in the face of increasing hostility and suspicion over her unique abilities. Part fairy tale, part coming of age story, the Bear and the Nightingale features enchanting descriptions and well-developed characters trying to find a balance between old and new traditions.

2.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews

A young woman in the depths of the Russian forest faces temporal and supernatural challenges, especially with respect to household spirits that few others can see.

The cover of Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale caught my eye at NetGalley. A closer look suggested it wasn't my kind of book, but then I got several e-mails from the publisher suggesting I try it. They compared Arden to Robin Hobb, and Hobb herself blurbed the book, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Guess which of us was right.

The book draws on traditional Russian fairy tales, and that's its downfall in a nutshell. The stiff, mannered voice that seems quaint in a fairy tale is wearing at book length. Constructions like “in arguing, pleading, and speculation, the evening passed” lose their charm fairly quickly. By a few chapters in, I was already tired of the voice, and of the thin characters that might have worked in a short story.

Arden adds color by including occasional Russian phrases. Happily, I speak Russian, but even so I found the additions more irritating than interesting. As Arden herself admits in an afterword, she's inconsistent in her transcription and usage. I think most readers won't benefit from the distinctions between, e.g., devachka and devushka, and I simply didn't see a logic to the language.

The setting, deep in the Russian woods does feel credible, though the characters don't work as well. The story takes places in a prior century, but that doesn't entirely excuse some of the attitudes. “Long-limbed for a girl”, “he kissed her until defiance turned to passion”, etc. There's not a lot of this, but I found it unappealing, especially because the characters are so shallow. The story's turns to politics in the second section doesn't help, though it does recover somewhat at the end, with a return to relationships and magic.

I still like the cover, and it seems clear that Arden is a capable writer, but for this story, she's equally clearly chosen the wrong approach. I found the voice stiff, and the story relatively tedious. Even for Russophiles, I can't recommend it.