Seems to be a fantastical book. The age old fight between good and evil as a young girl/woman struggles against the expectations of place, time and gender. It is also a struggle between a step-mother, Anna and step-daughter Vasya. Anna is set in her spiritual beliefs/religious and doesn't understand the child. Vasya is blessed/cursed and sees beyond beliefs and into the world of magical beings and nature. I seldom read fantasy but this book has historical and paranormal aspects. It is set in the harsh and often unforgiving Russia in the 14th century. It takes patience to get to where the subtle changes start to happen and you can see in the 2nd half of the book why you were given so much information on how the world was built for the readers. I look forward to reading future books by Ms. Arden.

Good read for the YA reader and for readers who are new to Russian fairy tales.

The Bear and the Nightingale is a gorgeous fantasy that takes the reader deep into the mythos of old Russia.  It is a tale for anyone who loves fairy tales, for their magic, mystery, beauty and danger.  It is a novel fueled by firelight and dreams, seasoned both by hope and despair.  The Bear and the Nightingale is one of the best fairytale fantasies I have read.  It is a pleasure to experience the Russia of the past through the eyes of Katherine Arden.  

Russia is changing, slowly leaving the old ways and accepting Christianity.  The beings of myth and imagination are growing less powerful and are slowly fading away.  Vasilisa, like her grandmother, is a girl gifted with the ability to See what others do not.  It is with her that hope for the future lies.  The Bear, the god of hunger and destruction is eager to awake, and his brother the Frost Demon is losing the ability to contain him.  When Vasilisa's father remarries to a fervent and devout Christian and a new priest determined to stamp out the old ways comes, the Bear grows in power.  Her father's people suffer.  Ultimately it is Vasilisa and her vision that stands between her people and utter destruction.

The Bear and the Nightingale is beautiful.  It is a powerful tale of magic, vision and developing the strength to do what is right.  I highly recommend The Bear and the Nightingale to those who love fantasy, fairy tales and coming of age novels.

5/5

I received a copy of The Bear and the Nightingale from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden


Buy This Book
I have, most likely, given The Bear and the Nightingale one of the few low grades you will find for it. I did not do this lightly nor did I do it without reason. Part of it is simply that the book was badly marketed, at least for this reader. Hailed as being like Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, the story is instead a rather mundane telling of a brutal Russian folktale. Rather than a loving and enchanting heroine, who discovers her own power along the way, this tale has the completely commonplace feisty, independent, doesn’t-want-to-marry heroine. In place of a fast paced story full of magic, mystery and romance there is a “literary fantasy” with pedantic prose and a pompous message belonging in some dry, liberal, anti-religion text. On the bright side, it made the other fantasy takes on fairy tales I read the last few months look really good by comparison.

We begin with a messianic birth. Marina asks for a magical child and the Russian gods basically answer by giving her a “special” child whose delivery costs her life. I would normally at this point say “note to self, never ask a Russian god for a baby” but what kind of damned fool would do that anyway? This woman had been raised on the folklore of her people and knew that congress with their gods came at a high price. She had four healthy, beautiful children. There was no need for this baby but she was determined to have it, turned down an abortion her servant offered in order to do so and died for her stubbornness. Picture me with steam coming out of my ears and we are only 5% into the tale.

Vasilisa, the “special” baby, gets along with the hearth gods, loves nature, loves playing like a boy over being a “boring” girl yada, yada, yada denigrating of everything remotely smacking of femininity ad nauseam. She winds up with a step-mother and local priest who want her to stop practicing her old religion and embrace the new, which brings tragedy down on the heads of all until the heroine fixes everything and we all limp to the closure grateful to have survived.

For those that don’t know, Russian folktales are not happy things. The old Russian gods were even less benign than the faeries of European legends and received a lot of their “worship” through the spilling of blood. The stories almost always involve a death of some kind, if not of the hero/heroine then of something/someone else beloved. This book is no exception. Moreover, while European tales often involve the clever outwitting of evil by good, Russian tales straddle a far more gray line. Most often there is no good, whoever wins just wins and justice is not achieved even if some sort of balance is restored. While shades of gray can often make a tale more intriguing, in high fantasy it almost never works. It doesn’t here.

What really turned me off in this tale, though, was the agonizing pacing and it’s thoroughly modern heroine. The book meanders from one point to the next. This could be because it is based upon the extremely short tale of Morozko and the maiden given to him for his bride, and the longer length doesn’t suit it. But regardless of the reasons why, this thing dragged. Then comes problem two: Vasilisa, our heroine, seems to exist simply as a referendum against the male dominated culture of her time. I don’t like referenda in my novels. I read for entertainment and feel strongly that if you want to write a treatise, non-fiction is the way to go. While it is natural for folktales to include a lesson, a fantasy novel is a different kettle of fish. It can include a lesson but its primary purpose is to engross and delight, not educate. This book felt less like entertainment and more like a reminder that traditional womanhood is bad.

Lest I sound like some kind of feminazi hating traditionalist who believes a woman’s place is in the kitchen, let me explain. There is a huge difference between creating an independent, intelligent, powerful female character that inspires readers to roar and writing a book that belittles much that women hold important even today while simultaneously depreciating the roles women of the past held. Many times I feel “feminist” characters empower women less than they idealize men. Their message seems to be that a strong women must be just like a man, and I’ll admit, I take a lot of issue with that.

While the prose in The Bear and the Nightingale is lyrical, that is only one of the elements of fiction. The others, such as the plot – which is painfully lacking in real action – and adventure, and the characters – who were quite stock – had nothing to recommend them. If you are someone who simply likes to read prettily written books or to whom bragging about reading “literary “novels is important, this might work for you. Otherwise, I’d give it a pass.

I loved this book. It kept me up past my bedtime. The story doesn’t move at a pulse-pounding, break-neck speed but, like a road trip through an unfamiliar country, the journey itself is so, so wonderful! The characters were complex and interesting, the setting was fascinating, and the author seamlessly tied together threads of reality and fantasy to create a story that captivated me and left me wanting more (which is great, since this is apparently the first of three novels). I can’t wait to read more from Katherine Arden and I’m sure I will be revisiting this book many times.

“‘All of my life,’ she said, ‘I have been told ‘go’ and ‘come.’ 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 myself to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing. I would rather die tomorrow that live a hundred years of the life appointed me.”

Vasilisa Petrovna has the sight. All around her she sees creatures from Pre-Christian folklore, known as “chyerty” by the villagers and “demons” by the Catholic. But in medieval Catholic “Rus,” having the sight is a dangerous; so she hides her gift and seeks her own way in the world.

Her way does not include marriage. Every other girl may marry or go to a nunnery, but Vasya refuses, preferring to talk with her creature friends and ride horses in the wild woods around her village.

Everything changes when her father remarries to a Catholic stepmother. Vasys’s idyllic—if never easy—life in the woods shifts from difficult to miserable. The oppressive atmosphere over the village bodes ill for Vasya and her chyerty friends. She has no idea that the Winter king watches her, just as his brother, the devourer, watches. But she slowly begins to realize that her village may depend on the very gifts it scorns. Historical Fantasy/Russian Fairytale. Published January 10th 2017 by Del Rey.

Thoughts : I actually requested The Bear and the Nightingale thinking it was adult fiction, but I quickly realized it could easily be considered crossover, with the way the whole narrative revolves around the young heroine. So it was with pleasure that I read about the two girls who see the “demons” and soon become family by marriage. I thought, “Oh, how good Anna will be for Vasya! They can talk about their visions. They can be friends; they’re not so far apart, and Vasya desperately needs a friend.”

Clearly I didn’t read the book description very thoroughly before starting the book! I don’t want to spoil anything, but let’s just say nothing turned out like I hoped. Anna’s marriage into the family begins all the troubles for Vasya and her village. Why?

Because Anna is a fearful, superstitious Catholic. She assumes the harmless house creatures to be demons; and from then on out, the whole village slides into the clutches of the enemy: the one-eyed man, brother of the Winter King. He is,

“Appetite…Madness. Terror. He wants to eat the world.”

He gains more and more power, thanks to the fear-mongering, misguided Catholics, whose belief system is entirely based on a misunderstanding of the reality of Pre-Christian Russian folklore. God, Satan and demons? They’re all just misunderstandings. So they misinterpret the the harmless domovoi as demons and the one-eyed man as both God and the devil, at different times, and they lead the village into danger.

"'You are the devil!’ whispered Konstantin, clenching his hands.

All the shadows laughed. ‘As you like. But what difference is there between me and the one you call God? I too revel in deeds done in my name. I can give you glory, if you will do my bidding.’”

Thankfully for the villagers, Vasya understands that fear feeds the one-eyed man and that the domovoi help protect the households against him. She heroically and sacrificially turns the other cheek as everyone gathers against “the witch,” saves the bumbling priests again and again (as they, of course, fall head over heels in love with her), and finally rides out to save the day.

I don’t want to make light of all the things I truly enjoyed about The Bear and the Nightingale, because the story reads beautifully, despite its problems. I love Vasya, as a truly strong female protagonist, and I sympathized with her plight of making the village see reason. But we spend a lot of time in the head of a Catholic priest who is led astray by powers he misunderstands, to the folly of the entire village. We also spend a lot of time pitying Vasya’s situation as a woman, as she is forced to choose between either the marriage bed or the nunnery. Arden did Vasya a disservice by turning everyone against her, to the point that it felt overdone and melodramatic. When Vasya misses a certain funeral because she's out slaying the village upyr, this is the response she gets:

"Witch-woman. Like her mother.

‘[Dunya (hide spoiler)] loved you like her daughter, Vasya,’ [her father] said, later. ‘Of all the days to play truant.”"

C'mon. She just spent 24 hours nursing this dying woman into her grave. This is just obnoxiously melodramatic, and it happens again and again throughout the book.

I dreaded posting this review, knowing that my opinions would be different from most of my friends; but I just have to say that good Fantasy authors know how to respect the mythology and beliefs they interact with. Jim Butcher and Max Gladstone come to mind- they don't pick and choose winning and losing faiths, among the devout of their fantasy. There are good guys on every team. Katherine Arden didn't get the memo on this. Her handling of medieval faith, while sensitive in the way of characterization, is drastically biased in many other ways. I'll leave it at that.

With less emphasis on the human and religious drama and more on the fairy tale elements—which are, I suspect, why most of us pick up this book—I would have loved The Bear and the Nightingale enough to give it five stars.

This is obviously just my opinion, but I think this could have easily been children's fiction to rival Elizabeth Enright's. Which is...amazing! I loved reading about Vasya's life in the woods and the fairy tale aspects from Russian folklore. Here, she’s breaking in a young horse, after a period of convalescence:

“Vasya eyed the stallion’s tall bare back. She tried her limbs, and found them weak as water. The horse stood proudly and expectantly, a horse out of a fairy tale.

‘I think,’ said Vasya, ‘that I am going to need a stump.’

The pricked ears flattened. A stump.

‘A stump,’ said Vasya firmly. She made her way to a convenient one, where a tree had cracked and fallen away. The horse poked along behind. He seemed to be reconsidering his choice of rider.”

This is what people love about The Bear and the Nightingale! The writing and atmosphere are truly, breathtakingly lovely, and the characters, though dark and often tiresome, are clearly imagined with care and love. But the books's flaws are big enough that they did largely ruin the book for me.

Overall : Gorgeously wrought fairy tale with a few major flaws. They won’t be fatal flaws for everyone, although they are for me.

Characters: 3/5 Stars
Worldbuilding: 3/5 Stars
Plot: 2.5/5 Stars
Writing: 5/5 Stars

Overall: 3/5 Stars

Recommended To : A lot of readers enjoyed this story purely based on the historical detail, the strong characterizations and the perfect atmosphere. And no wonder! I have a feeling most readers won't feel the way I do about it, so I say go ahead and try it. You'll probably like it a lot better than I did. (Which is to say 3+ stars at least!)

Thanks so much to Katherine Arden, Del Rey and Netgalley for my review copy of The Bear and the Nightingale.

Blog Review: https://christyluisreviews.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/the-bear-and-the-nightingale-by-katherine-arden/

NetGalley gave me the chance to read this book before release and it was quite good and sad. I couldn't imagine losing a parent that I had a daily routine with only to have that parent replaced with a new person that disagrees with said routine. In this case the new stepmom hated and refused to allow the children to carry on the same practice of celebrating the spirit of Frost that they did with their nurse, mom, and dad. She adds disruption and stress into the lives of this family because of her own inability to be inclusive and understanding.

Concern mounts when things around the house start going awry leading the children to believe that the lack of honoring the spirit of Frost is creating negative effects on their family. I would definitely recommend reading this book. It's fascinating to watch the efforts of the children to correct the problems coming their way due to the change in their routine before their mother passed. Great book!

Steeped in Russian folklore with a twist on well-known fairytales, The Bear and the Nightingale was a wonderfully rich and immersive tale centering around a young woman named Vasya. With a backdrop of medieval Russia, both the landscape and the tale are often as bleak as the harsh Russian winters, and yet as warm as as the family's gigantic oven.

The story begins long before Vasilia's birth, with tales of magic and witchcraft and special powers in her bloodline from her mother's side of the family. While her father and her siblings have always known she was special, as she grows, it becomes incredibly clear just how special she really is. Her gifts, when she finally acknowledges and shows them, are the key to saving them from unimaginable evil.

It took me quite a while to get through this book, but it wasn't exactly a negative thing. There's just so much history, so many intricacies and minute details that if I were to rush, I'd feel like I was missing out on something important. When an author manages to make even the minutiae of daily life and the most mundane activities seem magical and important, you know you've discovered an incredibly special book. And that's exactly what Arden delivered with The Bear and the Nightingale.

Highly recommended, and I will certainly be on the lookout for both a sequel to this book, and anything else from Katherine Arden.

*eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Magical... This book is based on old Russian fairytales which are sprinkled through the book as told by Dunya, the old nurse and grandmother figure of this story. She raised Marina, daughter of the"swan-maiden" that bewitched Ivan I into marrying him. Even though it is a hard winter, Marina wants a daughter like her mother, one who could tame animals and see the future. Marina dies giving birth to Vasya (short for Vailisa), who has green eyes like the sea and has the second sight (can see the magical world). Wild and free-spirited, Vasya is always outdoors and makes friends with the guardians of the forest. When her father remarries a devout Christian woman named Anna and a new priest named Konstantin arrives in the village, the guardians and the old ways are pushed aside and fear of angering God causes an imbalance in the world. A demon known as the Bear, master of nightmares, awakens and feeds on the people's fear and awakens the dead. The demon's brother and master, Frost/Death, struggles to control him. Vasya is warned in dreams similar to the fairytales told by Dunya about what is happening. Anna and Konstantin help spread the fear among the village that Vasya is a witch and that Vasya's sin and witchcraft is causing their suffering. As the "real" world collides with the magical world, Vasya must use all her bravery and magic she can find within herself to try and save her village, no matter what the cost.

There was so many fairytales in this book that I was trying to remember and figure out how they may be related to what was going on currently in the story that it almost seemed like a mystery book, trying to fit all the clues together. This book was beautifully written. I could feel the cold and the fear and the hopelessness and panic that Vasya felt having no control in the decisions that shaped her life and her future:

“Why are you frightened, Vasilisa Petrovna?” “Do not you know, Batyushka?” she said. Her laugh was soft and desperate. “You were frightened when they sent you here. You felt the forest closing about you like a fist; I could see it in your eyes. But you may leave if you will. There is a whole wide world waiting for a man of God, and already you have drunk the water of Tsargrad and seen the sun on the sea. While I …” He could see the panic rising in her again, and so he strode forward and seized her arm. “Hush,” he said. “Do not be a fool; you are making yourself frightened.” She laughed again. “You are right,” she said. “I am foolish. I was born for a cage, after all: convent or house, what else is there?” “You are a woman,” said Konstantin. He was still holding her arm; she stepped back and he let her go. “You will accept it in time,” he said. “You will be happy.”

This is supposed to be the first book in a series so I am looking forward to book 2-- it can't be released soon enough.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Netgalley for review consideration.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is beautifully written. Her characters are complex and so well developed. She created a world that I wish I could spend time in, without all the cold and snow. Her mix of history and myth was flawless. While I as only vaguely familiar with some of the myths and many of them were completely new to me, Arden brought them to life in such a way it didn't make any difference.

For me, the sign of a well crafted story and characters, is when they evoke strong emotions. When I am mad at one of the characters, or want to warn them of their foolishness, then they are well done. In that moment, I have excepted them as real. Arden's characters did that from beginning to end. There were times I wanted to smack one character or another or beg them to be reasonable.

Arden makes me want to believe in fairy tales again. In the world she created in The Bear and the Nightingale, they are real.

In Bear and the Nightingale, we open with the growing family of Pyotr Vladmirovich listening to the tale of Frost-Karachun, the death-god, now known as Morozko, the winter king. Marina, Pyotr's beautiful wife, is pregnant again, and this time will be her last, for the girl Vasilia will be born and bring great joy and great calamity to this family of the Northern Rus' wild.

Vasilia loves to be free, running through the forest and talking to the sprites. She leaves bread for their household spirits and convinces the hungry river-sprite not to eat her people. Her family, Pyotr and her four siblings, both love and fear for her, not realizing how much she knows. This sends Pyotr to take a new bride from the urban Moscow for both Vasya's good and to strengthen family ties to the royal family.

New bride Anna is different like Vasya, but does not understand or accept in the same way. Moscow has fully embraced its Christian tenets, while the wild folk still believe in the old ways as well as the new. While Anna can see the spirits, she fears they are demonic, and thinks her unruly stepdaughter is evil with them. As Anna and her new priest Konstantin's influence begins to grow, the old ways are slowly dropped, leaving Vasya alone and feared even more.

But with this change comes the realization of great horror. Crops are failing, winter is lasting longer and longer, and only Vasilia knows how to stop it. Can she save her people from themselves, meeting a destiny that the Winter King has laid out for her?

What works so well

First of all, the mood of this book is its driving force. This is a curl in your armchair, drinking whiskey-laced tea by a roaring fire kind of tale in which your arm hairs will still rise at parts. Winter is inextricably twined with the narrative, from Vasilia's birth to Frost King's plight. You will feel the hunger of the villagers, the bone chill even being next to a fire. Here, atmosphere is key. Arden does a spectacular job of creating it.

Second, this book is more than another fantasy novel, it is a tour de force in Russian mythology and folklore. Arden flawlessly combines the history of medieval Russia, its blossoming as a Christian nation, and the strongholds of the old ways into one narrative of opposing forces where coexistence is possible. I find that Bear and the Nightingale did this much better than the long-hoped for Last Days of Magic, whose narrative was too heavy-handed and biased. Here, we have a couple of misguided and possessed individuals instead of an entirely evil institution.

Peripherally related to point two is how authentic this narrative comes off as. The reader feels like they are living in the deep freeze of Russian wilderness, with its everyday struggle to survive and close family ties that result. Arden includes a glossary of terms in the back, and I used it to the fullest, but this did not detract but rather added to the experience. Here is a new addition to Russian canon.

What works slightly less well

The pacing was, shall we say, wonky. I separated the portions of this book into two parts: Pre-Konstantin and during Konstantin, as in when the priest showed up to Vasya's village and began to wreak Christian havoc. The first half of the book is slow and languorous, showing Pyotr's family, Vasya's upbringing, and the trials of winter in a slow and richly complex manner. Once Konstantin arrives, however, the pace speeds into a mad dash to the finish line, a build up of pressure that leads to an explosive and bittersweet climax. It almost felt like reading two different books. I loved both sections, and didn't mind either type of pace, but I wish it was consistent.

In a similar vein, the different perspectives were inconsistent, sometimes hard to follow from one person to the next. Split narratives are hard and often unnecessary, and while I liked how it added to characterization, sometimes I could not follow.

Conclusion

A bewitching, beguiling winter bouquet that sinks you deep into a whole new world. It is not often I am this happy that what I thought was a standalone is actually going to be a trilogy. I can't wait for more folklore, kickass female leads, and medieval Russian politicking!

I was born in the middle of a snowstorm, so in some ways, the protagonist of The Bear and the Nightingale, Vasilisa, is a kindred spirit. She is also a youngest child with a healthy streak of contrariness – something I can relate to, for better or worse.

But that’s where the similarities end. Vasilisa – or Vasya for short – is a child of the wilderness, the fourth child of a lord in the frigid Russian hinterland. She’s impish, crafty, and gets herself into all kinds of scrapes like a typical kid. But she can also see and communicate with the spirits of the home and natural world, an ability that is both a blessing and a curse. When her stepmother and an attractive young priest campaign to cleanse the village of its demons, Vasya is thrust into the critical role of protecting and restoring the balance.

When I started reading The Bear and Nightingale, I initially thought it would be yet another book retelling a fairy tale in a new light. But Katherine Arden’s debut novel is so much more than a clever rehashing. Rather, she does a masterful job of crafting a fresh tale that is haunting and complex, making this one of my most anticipated reads for this year.

The book begins with the telling of a story around the family hearth, of the folk character Morozko, sort of a Russian equivalent of Jack Frost. It seems simple and provincial. But from there, the story spirals into one of family love and loss, magic and consequences, of best intentions gone wrong. There is an intriguing overlay of religion, which becomes more a commentary on fear and what it can do to a community.

There are many things to love about this book, but one that set it apart from some of my other recent reads is the author’s ability to truly transport the reader into another world. From the first few pages, you hear the crackling of the fire, feel the cold inching in through the cracks of the izba. I found myself getting creeped out by the shadows on my walls. That’s the magic of a masterful storyteller and wordsmith.

Arden also does a splendid job with creating characters you care about, in relationships that resonated. From the get go, the fierce love in Vasya’s relationship with her old nurse, Dunya, and her brother, Alyosha, was – in the most uncheesy of ways – heartwarming. The stepmother, Anna Ivanovna, and the priest, Konstantin, are both reviled and sympathetic in their fervor. I found myself particularly captivated by their development, appreciating their depth beyond their seemingly black and white views.

The novel holds twists and turns that are worth experiencing for yourself. Curl up next to a roaring fire and get ready to be transported.

The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Star rating: ★★★★ ☆ 4/5 stars

Format: ebook galley

Summary: Vasya is the last child of her mother, who died in childbirth– intent on having her even though she knew she wasn’t strong enough to have her. She grows up into a wild girl who can see the household-spirits, chyerty, who protect the house and help with household chores. When her father takes a new wife named Anna she puts in motion to stop leaving offerings for the chyerty upsetting the balance of good and evil in their village.

Review: I received a free galley copy of this book from Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I’m fascinated by Russian folklore (I’ll fight anyone who says Baba Yaga isn’t the coolest) so when I first heard about this book I was immediately interested. The writing is really good, it feels like you’re reading a fairytale that was written a long time ago.

I liked most of the characters but I had a hard time with Father Konstantin and Anna. At first I felt bad for Anna, all she wanted was the peace of a convent but her father decided that she would be married off to Pyotr. Obviously she was miserable but the way she turned all her bitterness to Vasya and how increasingly cruel she became towards her stepdaughter. She could never resist an opportunity to bring her down, usually by calling her ugly. I was shocked at how sweet her daughter Irina turned out to be.

The problem I had with Konstantin was his gross obsession with Vasya. For one she is a child, and for another he’s supposed to be celibate right? I mean, there’s nothing exactly wrong with not being celibate but when you’re in that sort of position it’s a bit of a break of trust, especially for these women. I’m not sure that makes sense but… Ugh he was gross.

I was confused at the ending of the book. I wasn’t sure what exactly was happening and why Vasya wasn’t with her sister Olga like she said she would be. Is she in love with Morozko? I just wish these things had been more defined in the end. I’m not exactly sure what their relationship is. I feel there is potential for a romance between them but I didn’t think at the end of the book it had really developed there yet. I did read that there are supposed to be two more books so hopefully this is addressed.

Overall though this book was really great. I loved the tone and all the supernatural beings in this book. I liked how close Vasya and all her siblings were. I thought it was a little slow in some places but I think there was enough with the characters to still keep me interested.

Recommendation: Whether you are interested in Russian folklore or not I think this is a great fantasy novel.

The Bear and the Nightingale is a powerful, evocative tale written in the style of old Russian fairy tales with an active narrator, and an oddly close and personal omniscient point of view. The voice carries with it a storyteller’s cadence, mixing telling with experiencing such that the reader is drawn in instead of pushed away until I could feel the sharp bite of cold and the burn of heat. Proof of the book’s success in that is how I accidentally started this novel out of order so had to stop, but when I picked it up again almost three months later, I started right where I’d stopped and what I already knew rose up to inform what I read next.

This is the story of a girl with an unusual bloodline who can see and talk to the old folk when most continue the tributes out of tradition and habit more than true belief. She’s a wild thing, truly unsuited for a female role, who spends her free time running in the forest, returning with all manner of berries and herbs to appease the nurse who raised her when her mother died in childbirth.

At the same time, this is about the clash of old beliefs with new, and the costs of rejecting old truths. When the family priest is replaced by an Orthodox fanatic, he considers the old ways a path to the devil, simultaneously saying God created all things while rejecting those beings created of magic, faith, and tributes to keep the village safe. His rejection is so complete, and his voice so compelling, he convinces everyone to deny what he does not understand and betray truths as a devil’s lie.

You see their world through the eyes of many characters, rife with the little details that make their lives solid and concrete, like using ice blocks for windows in the winter so the light comes in but the cold does not. At the same time, you meet the old creatures from the start, and a reader would have to work hard to believe them nothing more than childhood imagination.

The narrative offers a fascinating look into both how people can be sheep when driven by a hypnotic orator and how blind people can be to the clear line between this rejection and their sufferings. As in most fairy tales, rejection of tradition, of the balance between the fey world and our own, has serious consequences, and the suffering falls on those who were swayed by an evocative voice most of all.

In case it isn’t clear by now, I loved this story with its powerful and complex nature. It contains a bevy of fascinating characters, many not human, and an exploration of the lines between good and evil as well as the slippery slope between saintly and corrupted. There are none so blind as refuse to see, and the priest is blinded by his sins of pride and arrogance, too full of himself to recognize what he’s doing and punishing others for his own weaknesses.

If you like fairy tales but want a full and complete story, this book is for you. The style is traditional rather than modern, but there’s something about the cadence that will throw you into the darkened woods and make you feel the struggle between a new world and the old one.

P.S. I received this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

My rating is the same as The Thirteenth Tale because it evoked all the right images and was well-written (5 stars) but didn't give me anyone I could like (1 star).
I found it hard to care for any of the characters until Morozko ('cause who doesn't love a brooding frost demon?) came in more at the end. Vasya is too headstrong and kinda stupid, her siblings all blurred together and everyone else (except Morozko) had glaring problems and garnered no sympathy from me.
The story dragged in many places and only picked up at the end, which resolved itself too easily and then came to a sudden stop. The events of the story for the first three quarters couldn't be defined as an actual plot since it just showed the everyday lives of this family. That being said, I found their lives intriguing as I don't frequently read books with so little happening.
With regards for the title, I'm confused. Does the Nightingale refer to Alyosha for being called one, Irina and Vasya being called little birds, or the horse's name meaning it? Or all of the above? And the prophecy the bannik gave her at around 50% didn't come true so I'll assume that's coming later. She didn't pluck snowdrops, weep for a nightingale or die. Or be born three times: once of illusions, flesh and spirit. I'm guessing her horse and/or brother will die in a later book. I'll stick around to see where that goes.
Overall I'll remember it for the uniqueness and Russian folksiness but not for anything else. It's kind of like a dream: you recall the emotions you had if not their reasons.

This book is like stepping into a Fairy Tale, wrapped in Folklore, steeped in legend, while listening to some history. So brilliantly told. This will be one of the favorite books of the year!

A charming blend of fantasy and wintry Russian folktales make this a perfect read to cuddle up with someplace warm. A young girl brought up with the tales of her old nurse. She was raised in the traditions of her county-side home, Vasilisa learns to honor the spirits of the forest. Unfortunately her mother dies and her father brings his new wife from the city to live with them. She refuses to allow traditions, scoffs at their stories. Soon to bad things begin to happen. A beautiful coming of age story filled with monsters and magic and strength of character.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought the writing was beautiful and I was very interested to learn about Russian mythology and fairy tales as that is an area that I know literally nothing about. I’ve always been a fan of mythology and fairy tales in general, so it was just fun to hear some new stories. I thought the author did a great job of incorporating Russian culture and language into the overall story without ruining the flow. I did find myself wondering, however, whether this was supposed to be a complete alternate Russia/Russia-derivative (kind of like Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha-verse) or if it was simply a fantastical historical Russia. The author’s note at the end of the book cleared that question up, but it wasn’t really clear throughout the story and I found myself distracted in some parts.

I thought Vasya was a really compelling character. I loved how the author starts the book with Vasya’s birth and we get to follow her into her teenage years. It really allows the reader to watch the character develop and helps us to understand who she is and what her motivations are. I also thought Vasya stayed really true to who she was supposed to be as a character throughout. Sometimes I’ve found that characters do things that don’t really make sense with who they are supposed to be, but I thought Vasya was a great example of somebody who just made sense as a character. She was so complex and conflicted throughout the book. As a reader, I felt that I could really empathize with what she was going through. Vasya tries to be the good Russian girl that she’s supposed to be, but at the same time her heart is leading her in a completely separate direction. Just…a really good character. I also loved the cast of secondary characters that Arden gives us. The familial relationships that exist between Vasya and her brothers and her younger step-sister felt so genuine.

The plot itself was a little slow-moving. It required a lot of setup, but I didn’t really find that I minded. The world that the author paints for us is so beautiful and filled with an ordinary (but at the same time not ordinary) magic. That being said, nothing much really happens until the last 25% of the book and then I felt that the ending was a bit abrupt.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes well-developed characters or who is interested in a historical picture of Russia. Just from a quick scan of Goodreads, it looks like this book is the author’s debut novel. I anticipate that we’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the future.

Overall: 4
Language: None
Violence: Moderate
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate
Sexual Content: Mild

Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a charming, engaging story inspired by fairy tales of the Russian wilderness.

Vasya is the daughter of a Russian lord, and the granddaughter of a suspected witch. Growing up in the vast forests in the north, fireside tales of friendly spirits and dangerous imps dominate her childhood. Vasya knows to leave offerings for the guardian spirits of her home and stables, to placate the water demons and to pay obeisance to the guardians of the forest. When her father marries a high born woman from Moscow, the folk traditions of Vasya’s youth are branded as heresy and witchcraft, and the orthodox church forbids any practice of the old ways.

But something evil is stirring in the deep woods, something ancient and hungering. As the strength of the old ways wanes, it seems that Vasya may be the only one who can stop what is coming.

Fairy tale retellings are in vogue nowadays, but it is rare that an author takes the material and makes it their own. The usual fare simply regurgitates the story while incorporating an excess of teen angst. Arden manages to take the tropes of the fairy tale and make them into a story with familiar elements, but which is her own. It reminds me of the Sevenwaters books by Juliet Marillier, a compelling series based on English myth and fairy tale.

I suspect this book may be shelved in the young adult category, but it will appeal to older readers nonetheless. Fans of fantasy and magic will find a lot to like in this story. In all, this is a very strong debut novel and I look forward to Katherine Arden’s future work.

An advance ebook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Bear and the Nightingale will be available for purchase on January 10th, 2017. (less)

Great Potential
This story had some amazing potential what with utilizing Russian folklore and fairy tales. It could have been a fantastic story. In fact, many of the details were fantastic. However, the actual application and follow through were not up to par. I was hoping for more folklore. It was a main plot point, but this isn’t made apparent until well on in the book, which is disappointing. The folklore is the best part.

Disconnected
There were quite a few pieces of this book that felt disconnected. One of the biggest pieces for me was who the story followed. It starts out following some characters and then as the story progresses it follows others, but doesn’t stick to them. Even the main character, Vasya, isn’t consistently followed. And while following other characters definitely adds insight to the world, I was a little put off by it. I would have like more consistency or perhaps just a select few who were followed.

Another piece of disconnect had to do with the story timeline. The story is about Vasya, but instead of picking a select point in her life, perhaps a few months to a few years, it follows her from birth to teenager. There was so many gaps in the timeline that I found myself feeling slowed down while reading and losing connection with the characters. I would have preferred the story focus on a smaller chunk of time to allow more connection with Vasya herself.