"In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, a stranger with piercing blue eyes presents a new father with a gift - a precious jewel on a delicate chain, intended for his young daughter. Uncertain of its meaning, Pytor hides the gift away and Vasya grows up a wild, willful girl, to the chagrin of her family. But when mysterious forces threaten the happiness of their village, Vasya discovers that, armed only with the necklace, she may be the only one who can keep the darkness at bay."--
A journey through Russian fairytales and a misfit’s struggles.
This was a lovely, fairytale-like book, and absolutely season-appropriate. (Prtf)
i was going to give this 2 stars but why bother? it's... underwhelming; i was bored to tears, the plot picked up in the last 20 pages or so and i did not care about the characters at all. vasya, lyoshka, & sasha were more tolerable than the rest. but... nothing more, i just DID NOT CARE for anything or anyone.
that being said, the author did a brilliant job at setting up the story, the environment, & the atmosphere. i'm not well-versed with russian folklore so it was good to know about that & it 'seemed' incorporated nicely into the story.
What a solid blend of historical fiction, fantastical folklore, pre-industrial Russian atmosphere, and love of horses.
I shall tell the story of Morozko, of his kindness and his cruelty.
I started this book back in spring and just couldn't get into it properly after a couple of chapters. I still wanted to read it because of how a few of my friends raved about this trilogy, so I put it aside, figuring maybe I'd be able to get into it when I was in a better mental state. Then I tried continuing it this summer. Again, I quickly lost interest. But I still kinda wanted to read it, especially since one of those friends I've mentioned told me it starts slowly but is hard to put down later. So recently, when I was searching for something on my TBR that would fit more than one prompt from all those readathons I'm still hoping to finish, I stumbled upon The Bear and the Nightingale and decided to …
I shall tell the story of Morozko, of his kindness and his cruelty.
I really enjoyed this book. I've never read any Russian folktales or fantasy. One particular theme I enjoyed was the tension between the old religion and the new.
Amazing!
4,25
4.0? 4.5? need to think about it
Different, and highly enjoyable. The first third or so of the book were a little plodding, but the ratcheting up of the tension as the winters worsen was great. Vasilisa was a great protagonist, and the historical groundedness of the fantasy felt great.
Beautifully written Russian fairy tale about the power of both fear and courage and about the fight of a young girl for her freedom to choose. Some unexpected turns and twists surprised me as the witch-child Vasya strives to save her people from the dark fear and hunger of winter.
Vasya is a wonderful protagonist, wild, free and with her own sense of how things ought to be. I particularly enjoyed her connection to the horses.
And neither the Winter King nor the priest Konstantin were what I expected.
The stories flows quickly toward the inevitable and still surprising ending.
A somewhat conventional fantasy story based on Russian folklore. I especially liked the strong sense of place and time, and the descriptions of desperately cold winters in the forest. The pacing is a little off and Vasya, the main character, is a bit too much of the stereotypical Chosen One and Not Like Other Girls characters. Other seemingly important characters vanish midway through the book, which feels like an awkward setup for sequels. I enjoyed reading this, but there was not enough depth in it to really stick with me.
A novel, with a strong female protagonist, loosely based on Russian fairy tales. A couple of people had gone to see the author at a talk in the burbs, and said that she'd written it because she was bored. And had written too much and had taken the first third of her manuscript and rewritten that as the first novel of a trilogy.
An excellent first volume, very well written, deftly using Russian folktales to create an appealing heroine and a cracking story
Audiobook.
This book is fantasy but a lot different from the stuff I usually read. In this case, it was a nice change. The story is engaging and the setting so out of the norm that it keeps the interest. The narrator for this book is fantastic, I feel she added to my enjoyment and it's possible I'd have dnf'd this if I had eye read it.
