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The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy, #1)

Katherine Arden

Start date: June 1, 2017

Finish date: August 31, 2017

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Dec 31, 2017 Kathy Miller rated it really liked it

Shelves: adventure, young-adult, fantasy

Great storytelling. I've read the sequel, The Girl in the Tower and can't wait for the conclusion. The stories involve Russian fairy tales and a very unusual young girl who is our courageous heroine, Vasilisa. She doesn't fit the norm for 14 century girls in Russia. She is not meek or pretty, except for her beautiful green eyes. She is not afraid of the forest or of the Demon Winter King. Yet, evil lurks and Vasilisa finds herself fighting for her people even as they turn away from her thinking ...more

20 likes · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2018 Kate rated it it was ok

I’m not really sure why there has been so much hype about this book. Maybe I just don’t like the genre, but I found I struggled to get through it. One thing that I found confusing was that there seemed to be so many different names for the same character!

11 likes · Like · see review

May 13, 2017 Kazen rated it really liked it

I haven't read much straight up adult fantasy lately and this book reminds me - why the hell not?! Reading like a grown-up fairy tale, The Bear and the Nightingale wove its spell around me just when I wanted to get away from the world.

So much is satisfying - the prose is weighty in the right places and beautiful throughout. The story could feel segmented but holds together well, having a cohesive instead of episodic feel. And perhaps above all, Arden trusts the reader. There is no semantic break ...more

2 likes · Like · see review