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Book Review : The Bear and The Nightingale

BOOK DETAILS:
Book Title : The Bear and The Nightingale
Author : Katherine Arden
ISBN : 9781785031045
Publisher : Del Rey (Penguin)

Genre : Fantasy / Russian Fairytale
Publication : 2017
Pages : 312
Format : Hardback

BOOK BLURB:
In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.
But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods...

RATING: 4.5 ☆'s

REVIEW:
The book derives inspiration from Russian Fairytales and their characters. And thus, it comes close to my heart.
I don't really belong to a reader family even though my maternal grandfather was an English Teacher. So, the credits for my reading habits, really go to my friends.
And it's because of one of those many friends that I Russian fairytales have been close to my heart. When the said friend was moving abroad, she distributed some of her books among her friends and the pile I got contained a book of Russian fairytales.
Back then, with only few books at my disposal, the books I received were read multiple times and I particularly enjoyed the book on Russian Fairytales because the tales were so different from all the English fairytales we were used to and so, I was very excited about this read and it didn't disappoint me

WHAT I LOVED:
  1. The Concept of Death --- I loved the concept of death and his twin and what they as characters contributed to the plot - they gave an interesting twist to the plot
  2. Strong Female Character --- strong Female lead in a fantasy fairytale is such a refreshing take on the fairytales full of Prince Charming saving the Princesses riding on a horseback - move back men, females don't need no saving anymore
  3. Elements of Russian Fairytale --- the house spirits and baba Yaga and other elements rekindled my fond memories of Russian Fairytales and it was a happy place for me
  4. No Dull Moment --- once the plot gets interesting, it makes you go through not a single dull moment and takes you up for a joy ride


WHAT I DISLIKED:

  1. Slow Beginnings --- even though the beginning is important to establish the background, it was pretty slow and made me want to put down the book a number of times. Had it not been for the soft spot I have for the genre, I might have DNFed the book


THE VERDICT:

The book is, in my honest opinion, very interesting and it's definitely worth picking up - it will be a total page-turner - but yes, in return for a page turner, all that the author asks for is a little patience in the beginning. So, if you are patient enough to wait for the book to get interesting, pick the book up.

READ, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR:
  • A Fantasy
  • A Different Take on Fairy Tales
  • A Strong Female Character


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Comments

  1. Unknown7 March 2018 at 21:29

    Very well put thoughts Khyati. I personally did not enjoy the book as much as many of the readers of this book, but I'm glad you enjoyed it 😊. I am thinking of taking it up again after some time, before reading the girl in the tower of course. Need to refresh my memory woth all the difficult names lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown8 March 2018 at 07:07

      Thank you Shalaka for taking out the time to read the review and share your thoughts. Do give it another try, maybe with little familiarity from last time, the book might stick this time.

      Delete

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