The Bear and the Nightingale

The beginning and the end were good. The middle had its moments and lots of hiccups I wish I could’ve skipped. But part three was by far the best which is why this one warranted 4 stars.

Vasya is a wonderful character, she is a shining star in a sea of dullness until she meets Morozko. Vasya might be the sun but Morozko is the moon and I much prefer the night. It seems impossible for them to come together but it’s a great motivator to read the next 2 books.

With the Russian wilderness as the setting and the threat of crops failing after a new marriage begins, this story weaves mysteriously around the main character Vasilisa and her new step mother. Forest creatures with evil intentions creep closer to the homestead as Vasilisa realizes without the use of her spiritual gifts all will be lost. Katherine Arden has written an enchanting book filled with puzzling rituals, courageous characters, & a supriese ending.

I learned so many things reading this book and the other two in the series. Russian fairytales, Russian words, and more. The best book I have read in quite a long time.

Wow!!! What a beautiful novel! I am absolutely blown away by this story. It reads like a fairy tale with original twists. Katherine Arden shows amazing talent in her debut album! I can’t wait to get my hands on the next volume.

This book is slow going at first, but quickly builds into a page turner that has you up through the night. Nothing feels better than when an author goes off the beaten path and takes inspiration from lesser known mythologies. Truly one of my favorite books.

Sooooo.
I loved this book.

It has a little bit of a Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown feel to it. But the world is what really enchants — this seems to be set in the historical period during which Moscow was under the authority of the Golden Horde, and while that isn’t a FOCUS of the narrative, or even in the foreground, having it as part of the background tapestry really grounded the book for me.

Vasya, our leading lady, is very young at the beginning of the book, but even as a young child she’s still compelling and fascinating as the girl who does not quite fit — even before she was born, it seems, this was an anticipated outcome. And her relationships with her family and community because of that otherness are that much more interesting.

Overall, the book felt very much like a folktale, which I loved, and there were elements that had a touch of familiarity to those of us who are familiar with the Germanic folklore (like the step-mother/step-daughter conflict) and elements that were much less so. The Russian flavor and twist on that familiar folkloric structure is what made this book so fun for me, personally, to read — because this isn’t an area where I have any kind of real expertise or knowledge, and that made it just unpredictable enough to feel original and new. YMMV, of course!

Small note: Readers unfamiliar with Russian naming conventions might need a couple chapters to acclimate — but I loved that the naming element wasn’t sanitized/westernized here.

A fresh take on the historical re-telling of a fairy tale, set in Mongolian-ruled Russia. The attention to historical detail makes the supernatural elements seem completely believable, and Arden’s writing is beautiful. By turns eerie and lovely, I would recommend The Bear and the Nightingale to any reader looking for something outside the ordinary.

This was a refreshingly different story to everything else I’ve been reading lately. The historical rural setting gave this tale so much life. The harsh and often dark realities of Vasya’s childhood were beautifully balanced by the hints that the woods around her contained something ‘more’. Something dangerous and precious and oh-so-tantalising. I loved the cultural flavours of the story that (I expect) honour those traditions, although the various nick-names for each character were often difficult for me to keep my head around. Doing so was entirely fitting for the culture, so I take full responsibility for my struggles there and wouldn’t wish it any other way. The style of story-telling sometimes seemed almost biblical, with the narrative jumping time periods often – not a bad thing, although I did get more connected to the story once the events settled (mostly) into Vasya’s POV. The momentum certainly picked up toward the end and left me eager for the next instalment.

Loved all three books in the Trilogy.

Thanks to NetGalley and to Random House UK/Ebury Publishing for providing me with an ARC copy of this book that I voluntarily choose to review.
I’m a big fan of fairy tales and I’m always happy to discover new tales and stories that fit in that category, or that retell some old classics. And I love the stories based on old folktales that capture the beauty of old language, customs and the historical times and places long gone. The Bear and the Nightingale reminded me how much I like these stories and how the best of them are irresistible, at least for me.
Set in Russia (before it was Russia, as the author explains in her notes), the novel creates a great cast of characters, those “real” (princes and princesses, labourers, farmers, villagers, a landed family with food connections), others with a touch of the paranormal, like the protective spirits (of the house, the door, the stables, the forest, the lakes) that might turn nasty if not fed or treated kindly by human beings, the horrific ones (Death, The Bear, vampires), and animals, like the magical nightingale/horse of the title.
The character at the centre of the story, Vasilisa (Vasya), is the youngest child of her mother, Marina, who wanted to have a girl who would be like her. Marina had the ability to see things others couldn’t (the spirits of the forest, of the house, and she could also talk to animals) and she wants to pass her ability on. She dies when her daughter is born, and young Vasya grows among a family who loves her but doesn’t fully understand her. She can talk to horses, they teach her how to ride, and she can talk to the spirits others believe in but can’t see. She loves the old fairy tales and later realises they’re not only fantasy and old-wives tales. As is still the case, people fear what they can’t understand, and a newcomer, a priest, tries to change things by getting rid of old beliefs and putting the fear of God into people’s hearts. This can only lead to disaster.
The descriptions of the landscapes, the houses, the creatures, the atmosphere and the weather are beautifully achieved, in a style reminiscent of classical fairy-tales. The characters are also fascinating and we get a good understanding of their psychological make-up and of what moves them. Particularly interesting are the priest and Vasya’s stepmother, who try as they might, can’t reconcile their wishes with what is expected of them, but Dunya, the housemaid and ersatz mother to Vasya is a touching character, the family relations are heart-warming and even the animals have their own personalities. The author explains that she has tried to adapt the Russian names to make them easier for English-speaking audiences, and in my opinions she succeeds in both, maintaining the particular characteristics of Russian names, whilst not making it confusing or disorienting. The poetry of the language is another great success and I found the book impossible to put down.
There are many moments of sadness, scary moments, and also moments of the story that will make us think (Vasya is different and misunderstood, accused of being a witch despite her efforts to save her village and her people, the weight of custom and the role of men and women in traditional societies are also subject to discussion, family ties and religious thoughts…), but it is a magical story that will make us remember the child we once were. A word of warning, this is not a story for young children, and although some of the imagery is familiar as is the case with many of the classics, there are cruel and terrifying moments as well.
As an example of the writing, I wanted to share some of the passages I highlighted:
At last, they saw the city itself (Moscow), lusty and squalid, like a fair woman with feet caked in filth.
“In Moscow, priests are in love with their standing and think overmuch of the gold in their churches. They eat fat meat and preach poverty to the miserable.” (This is Sasha, one of Vasya’s brothers, who later becomes a monk).
Here, Vasya complaining of her lot in life:
“I am foolish. I was born for a cage, after all: convent of house, what else is there?”
“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 my flesh 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 in the forest than live a hundred years of the life appointed me….”
Just in case I didn’t make myself clear, I love this book, and although I know it’s not the type of book that everybody will like, I’d recommend that you check a sample or the read inside feature and see what you think. You might be rewarded with a magical reading.