Lush, gorgeous prose with its feet planted firmly in Russian folklore. If you like fairy tale retellings and/or magical realism, you'll love this book. I can hardly wait to read the next in the series!

Grab on and be ready to be scared witless, because you will be. The author has taken this Russian children’s fairytale and turned it into a great work of wonder. It was slow reading for me at times, but the ending is a real hang on to the seat of your pants thrill.
I have never heard of any of these “nightmare” creatures except the Baba Yaga and that only by name.
This is not a Children’s book unless you want them to have nightmares for a long long time. Glad I did not let my 8 year old granddaughter read this. Maybe when she’s about 25 lol.
The heroine of this story is thought by the villagers to be a witch because she was so wild. A motherless child who ran the forest and came and went as she pleased. Her father seemed to dote on her because she was the last child of his beloved wife. But she saw things and heard creatures that no one else could see. I hate to know too much of a storyline before I read, so I will leave the rest for you to discover for yourself. Enjoy, don’t you love to be scared sometimes.?
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this electronic version of this book. The opinions given are my own

This book took me a little while to get into due the the Russian theme. Once I got it figured out, I didn't want to stop reading! So imaginative and creative! I can't wait to read the next two books!

This is not so much a retelling of a folk-tale, as a folk-tale told anew.

It is a slow burn of a story. In fact, what brings us in, is the folk-tale told by Dunya, the woman who has raised Vasya since her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. Dunya is a servant, but more than that.

We hear the tale, that leads us into the world where wood spirits and house spirits work to keep the people safe.

This is not a quick go in, and out story. As I said, it is a slow burn, a slow tale, but the telling is not slow. We know there is evil out there, and watch as it takes people and breaks them, and it is coming for Vasya.

Gripping, amazing, lyrical, beautiful are all words to desribe this tale.

It is the first book in a trilogy, and now I will read the other two books.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Addictive reading!

I could not put this down. I read into the night, transfixed by this medieval fantasy set in the wintery northern Russian cold. I was transfixed by the young girl Vasilisa, daughter of a local Lord, a magic bearer who is persecuted by the new,y come priest for witchly behavior as she tries to marry the old protective hearth and home ways with the teachings of the church.
The honoring of the spirits and demons is a colorful background to this story of love and heart. The story of a startling young woman, and of Morozko, the frost-demon and winter-king and of his brother Bear.
Reading Auden's author notes gives a fascinating insight into what she was trying to achieve with Russian names, history, and folklore.
I'm still wondering why it took me so long to read this absolute gem.
I was glued to every page, every word and every nuance.

A NetGalley ARC

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

This book is fantastic. I love how well Arden turned Russian folklore into historical fantasy, mixing real characters with her creations for this excellent, fast-paced tale.

I enjoyed this whimsical tale that draws from Russian folklore. I enjoyed the world (the magic! the atmosphere!) and the characters. I cannot wait to read the follow-up.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE BY KATHERINE ARDEN?
The Bear And The Nightingale by Katherine Arden is basically human catnip to a reader like myself. It’s a story that is modeled after a Russian fairy tale. It is set in Winter. WHAT IS NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THIS COZY SOUNDING BOOK. I love fantasy stories. And I love it when a book has beautiful sounding writing. So, yeah I grabbed this bad boy from Netgalley. Then it sat, because I am the worst. It sat for so long, that I downloaded the sequel via audio from the Volumes app. I am one of those people who likes to read a series in a consistent format, so I placed a hold for this audiobook via Overdrive and waited for what felt like MONTHS. And well, friends, IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Okay, so the book opens up with a fairy tale about a girl who seeks to marry Frost because her stepmother is making her. Then we go into this woman, Marina, who is about to have a baby. Marina knows that having the baby will kill her and leave her current children motherless, she goes ahead with the pregnancy anyways. The baby is a girl – Vasya. The Bear And The Nightingale then picks up years later when Vasya is six – and she comes across a mysterious man in the woods while she’s lost. Anyways, eventually Vasya gets a stepmother named Anna who is weird and sees ghosts. Her sister, Olga, ends up married to this guy Vladimir. And then, there’s a Winter King who comes and messes things up – like kills all these animals and people are dying and it is just awful. So, it is on Vasya to figure out what’s up and save the day. OH and also Vasya can talk to the house spirits and has a little bit of magic about her. THERE IS SO MUCH HAPPENING HERE.

HOW DID I LIKE THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE?
Okay, so I really want to re-read this book later in print. I think that unfortunately with audio, my attention wavered. And well, if I have to ALSO use my imagination for the world, I just have zero clues about what is going on. The writing in this book is beautiful, don’t get me wrong. The imagery is on point. I felt loyal to Vasya. And also, I almost cried in the beginning with Marina, because as a mom, I was really in my feelings. Still, I just want a better, closer reading. Also, I think once I clear out more books from my shelves, I would really like to own this book anyways. So, I would be more than happy to re-read.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of The Bear And The Nightingale is narrated by Kathleen Gati. Gati is completely new to me as a narrator. My own personal audio judgement jury has come back with the verdict that I like her narration. It is perfect for this book. She has a voice with an interesting timbre. She sounds all old world. I just loved it. I think that they could not have picked a better audiobook narrator.

Loved this book!
A fantastic mix of real-life trials in snowy Russia and the supernatural. I have always loved fairy tales, especially those with a hint of darkness. That bit of dark is like a hint of spice in food: it makes it all better. I would reccomnd this book for fans of Wintersong and Uprooted.

I can't say this is a book I absolutely fell in love with, but I did really enjoy reading it? The writing was lovely and evocative and there was a really great sense of familiarity re: how the author wove in Russian fairytales throughout the narrative. I felt distant from the characters, though, and I never quite connected with Vasya the way I wanted to. I couldn't get a clear picture of her in my head beyond Heroine -- this is more of an archetypal fairytale story a la Robin McKinley vs the more personal-type fairytale retellings of Naomi Novik.

i did actually get an advance reader copy of this months and months ago but then never got around to reading it until i got an audiobook from the library. i regret a little not reading it before but the audiobook version was really good so what are you going to do.

here is the thing that made me love this book - the truly terrifying and visceral experience of being female in a patriarchal society comes through SO CLEARLY that i was horrified and distraught and panicked over her. and that was it. there was no guarantee she or any other woman would be okay and at first i was like, no! this is terrible! but then i was like, SASSAFRAS, katherine arden, you HAVE CAPTURED THIS. the correlations between man/woman and Christianity/the old religion were also so spot on, it was incredible. ugh, the slow creep and tension of female oppression was shuddery. i still am goosebumps over it and impressed i came to appreciate how good the writing was to make that work and not make it be so disgusting i had to stop reading.

i'm very interested to see what happens with the sequel - which, again, i got an advance reader copy of and really am hoping to read it before it comes out too. haha. i need more free time.

It's hard to imagine a story which was less written for me:
- Heavy folklore aspect from a culture I am unfamiliar with
- Historical fantasy
- Religious persecution and politics as one major religion takes the place of a previous
- Magic!
- Strong female protagonist
- Slow burn realism of everyday life in a historically accurate setting
- Imperfect and realistic, yet healthy, familial relationships
- LOTS of exploring relationships and character development!

The major theme of this book is the conflict between new and old beliefs. Christianity is coming to the fore and it does not align well with the old religions which worships nature spirits. Arden masterfully shows us the old ways through the eyes of Vasya, both great and terrible, and how the human's worship of them brings balance to the world. When Anna's zealous priest shows up, he rallies the villagers against the old ways, weakening the protective spirits and causing the symbiosis to break down.

Things start to break down for me when all characters who turn towards Christianity are set up as being weak, misguided, and if not true evil, well, dangerously close. The closest thing to balance we see is in Vasya's brother Sasha going off to study Christianity with a passionate desire for a religious vocations. Yet Sasha's absence through most of the novel is a glaring hole I'd love to see explored.

My own knowledge of Russian mythology and folklore, let alone medieval culture, is limited. Arden includes an apology in notes at the end of the novel regarding her twisting and mixing of all these ideas. She borrowed and merged mercilessly, apparently. My impression from her note is that Arden was concerned her peers would judge her for changing common tales. Well, Katherine Arden, I had no idea what was consistent and what was your own creation. This doesn't make the story any less appealing.

I wonder how I might have reacted to this story knowing the original tales… But in the end, what matters is that Arden's tale is enchanting.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballante Del Ray, NetGalley, and Katherine Arden for providing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The folk tales of Russia come alive in this atmospheric novel. I found the description of life in pre-industrial times interesting. The depiction of a girl growing up in a magical world was very well done.

I found this dark fairy tale a creepy page turner that I couldn't put down. The plot was taut and the characters well developed. I didn't know what to expect. I found this title especially well written.

I really enjoyed the first book of the Winternight Trilogy. It was a little slow going at the beginning, but this was a BIG story and needed a good bit of build up. The last half of the book drew me in completely and really sped up. It read like a fairytale which was intriguing. The Russian names and nicknames were easy to trip up on. It took me a while to get all those straight. The best part of the book is that you could stop after book one. I don't feel like I absolutely have to read the second book in order to have closure. With that being said, I would most likely read the second book because the characters and plot are interesting.

While this book didn't work for me, it's highly popular at our library and I recommend it all the time.

Katherine Arden conjures the spirit—and spirits—of medieval Russia in The Bear and the Nightingale, her enchanting fantasy debut. Motherless Vasya Petrovna grows up unfettered on her father’s rural estate, but once she reaches womanhood, she discovers that she has inherited the magical abilities that run through her mother’s line. As the uneasy balance between traditional pagan beliefs and the newly embraced Christianity wavers, Vasya finds herself on the front lines of a struggle to ensure the survival of her village.

Arden, who studied Russian language and literature, talked to us about the inspiration for her remarkable first novel, the harsh beauty of Russia’s winters and why she prefers the fairy tales of Pushkin to those of Perrault.

(click link to read more)

What a great debut for Katherine Arden! I am hooked on her books for sure and can't wait to get my hands on the other two books in the Winternight Trilogy!

This is a great Russian folklore that let you escape into the deep snowdrifts of the times. I loved being able to escape to Russia with the descriptive language Katherine Arden used when describing scenes in this book. She has an amazing talent with this.

This story focuses around a Russian girl that has lost her mother. Her father remarries so that she will have a mother figure but this mother figure tries to make her leave everything that her real mother taught her behind. She can see spirits that no one else can. You don't want to make these spirits mad because they will get their revenge!

I highly recommend this book. I am pretty sure you will love it when you get a little into it. The characters were well developed and the story line flows really well. The use of Russian folklore and medieval historical fiction was very well researched and taught me a lot along the way!

I'm in the minority for this one as it continues to be the apple of many reviewers' eyes on here and I just did not really enjoy it. I found the book to be entirely too slow, but that wasn't its greatest downfall for me. The greatest issue was the characterization. I felt as though a little bit of characterization was done and then they simply remained stagnant. Characterization and plot were lost to the over-emphasis of atmosphere and world descriptions. I'm a character-driven reader so this obviously was an issue for me. I don't care how pretty your world or writing is, you have to make me care about the characters and the author did not do that for me in this one.

If you enjoyed [book:Uprooted|22544764], which I did not, you may like this one too.