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A review by akynn
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
4.0
3.73 Stars
I really enjoyed this book it had a beautiful atmosphere and setting. The writing was great, and I feel like this was a great introduction to Russian mythology for me. Something I did wish was a little more developed, or just progressed more was the relationships between the characters, specifically with Vasilisa's siblings. I loved the relationship she had with her family, and family is already a large part of the novel but just personally, I wish there was more to it. I think this might have had to do with the fact that I went into this book thinking there was a romance, and since there wasn't (not that I was really disappointed), I really honed in on Vasilisa's other relationships.
Something else that really took away for my enjoyment of this novel were the ages. I loved many aspects of this book, but the character's ages wasn't one of them. I understand wanting to be historically accurate but this is a fantasy novel, its okay to age the characters up. I'm trying to think of a possible reason to why the Vasilisa was so young, like how this book is the first in a series, but everything I think up doesn't have any back to it. I really liked this book but if all the characters, especially the girls getting married and having children, could be aged up a bit, I would've liked it even more.
All in all, I definitely want to continue this series and see where Vasilisa's life takes her. And I cannot help but hope that we finally get to see her siblings again.
I really enjoyed this book it had a beautiful atmosphere and setting. The writing was great, and I feel like this was a great introduction to Russian mythology for me. Something I did wish was a little more developed, or just progressed more was the relationships between the characters, specifically with Vasilisa's siblings. I loved the relationship she had with her family, and family is already a large part of the novel but just personally, I wish there was more to it. I think this might have had to do with the fact that I went into this book thinking there was a romance, and since there wasn't (not that I was really disappointed), I really honed in on Vasilisa's other relationships.
Something else that really took away for my enjoyment of this novel were the ages. I loved many aspects of this book, but the character's ages wasn't one of them. I understand wanting to be historically accurate but this is a fantasy novel, its okay to age the characters up. I'm trying to think of a possible reason to why the Vasilisa was so young, like how this book is the first in a series, but everything I think up doesn't have any back to it. I really liked this book but if all the characters, especially the girls getting married and having children, could be aged up a bit, I would've liked it even more.
All in all, I definitely want to continue this series and see where Vasilisa's life takes her. And I cannot help but hope that we finally get to see her siblings again.