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341. THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE MADE ME LOSE MY COOL.
I finished reading The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden last night.
Wow.
I didn't know what to make of this book when I began reading it, because the writing style wasn't the usual style I'm used to reading. (This isn't a bad thing! I'm not used to following a child from birth to their teenage years, and was wondering what the point was of that journey. It made sense at the end.)
I've now ordered The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch as I want to dive back into this very rich world of magical creatures and mythology.
Spoilers ahead!
.
Things I liked:
+ The world. It's so rich! I love all the creatures (and ironically loved that the bannik made an appearance as one of my friends in RP suggested I use the bannik's story in our RP in January, so it was nice seeing that creature in this book!). I loved all the creatures and the magic of the world, and how Arden humanised spirits in a manner that didn't make them appear like a joke or unrealistic. They formed a great backbone to the book's worldbuilding. The creatures made it interesting imo. I will definitely be Googling them and reading more about them.
+ If you follow me on Goodreads (add me if you want to be friends!), you'll know I have a big crush on Sasha. HE WAS PERFECT! He was so gentle and lovely and just ugh, beautiful. I was sad to see him disappear during the first quarter of the book (but it was so good to hear he was thriving). AND THEN ALYOSHA ROSE UP AND WAS THE BEST MAN. Sasha and Alyosha were the two best men in this book; I love that they drank the respect juice, and were good brothers to Vasya.
I didn't mind Kolya (mostly because I love the name Nikolai) and kind of liked how his vibe was very different to Sasha's gentleness, but I found he became a nonentity halfway through the book once he got married and had a kid. (Good thing he mellowed out, though.)
+ Vasya was a great protagonist where I felt that she embodied the Chosen One trope in a way that wasn't obnoxious. Yes, events such as saving the creatures and the village fell to her, but I liked that she needed help and that her naivety remained throughout the book because she still has so much to learn and so much life to live. I like that she was headstrong and stubborn but wasn't disrespectful to those around her—she stuck firm to her beliefs, which is something admirable. (I also like how she's not interested in love right now, which I feel will be very interesting down the line…)
+ MOROZKO!! He was so effortlessly cool (pun intended). I like that he's an old soul, but he has a sense of humour, and felt like a rich character with so much history just waiting to be discovered. He's so fascinating. I did feel he came into the story too late, though. I think he's my favourite character; there's just something about him that I love, and I was always disappointed when he left the page.
+ Medva and Morozko's relationship has me so intrigued, and I hope the other two books explore it. I really liked that Morozko, who is Death and our Good Guy, is associated with being cold, while Medva, our Bad Guy, is associated with warmth and fire. I liked that little twist because I feel it's always the opposite with Good associated with Warmth and Bad associated with Cold. I felt that it was a poignant thing, and it's just a small takeaway I enjoyed. (Especially after being nose deep in Gregverse where I remember reading someone asking, "Why do shadows have to be bad?". I liked this choice.)
Medva was a great antagonist; I knew the voice speaking to Konstantin was the Bear, and I was so excited when he finally revealed himself. He's such a fascinating, scary antagonist; I like how powerful he was, and wish we got to see more of him.
+ I won't lie—and perhaps I'm telling on myself here—but I did enjoy the chemistry between Vasya and Konstantin (it was so toxic, I'm sorry!) and I lowkey shipped it because of the power imbalance. Yes, he was a man of God; yes, he was in a position of power; yes, he was an older man, but Vaysa held all the power. It was so delightful! And I think it really hit the whole "Forbidden fruit" trope for me in a way that worked, because I feel Vasya was attracted to him in some respect, but what ultimately worked for me was how it fleshed out Konstantin and made him more of an interesting character. He came in with a plan to basically be a bitch who ruined everything for everyone, and he fell apart because of a young woman's stubborn, unwavering belief in the creatures that he wished to banish. I liked the undercurrent of belief vs belief and how one person's belief was more fraught and ultimately more fragile than the other's.
Out of everyone, I would expect Vasya to fall prey to the voice, but this was a nice twist and a great character arc for Konstantin. He didn't know who he was; his religion and beliefs defined him, and him being sent to this village really undermined what he thought about himself; while Vasya knew who she was and stuck to her beliefs and understood, at her core, what she was capable of.
But when we finally met Morozko and he lingered for more than half a second on the page—oh, boy. I really ship Vasya/Morozko; there were deliberate text choices describing him looking at her that I just dug into and felt were telling about his attraction toward her, so I'm looking forward to seeing how their relationship builds. There's just something about them that works. He kept smiling around her. He was laughing! As someone who really enjoys seeing someone smile at another in visual and written media as a sign of attraction, I felt that this was so telling.
"Come in, Vasya; it is cold" was SUCH A GOOD ENDING LINE. I LOST MY MIND. There's something so familiar and accepting there, and I just fucking love Morozko.
+ I did enjoy the introduction of the Winter King at the beginning, and kept wondering how true the story was. It made me excited every time he was mentioned.
+ The prose. Gorgeous. Some of the turns of phrase were just so potently beautiful; others were very interesting, as I hadn't seen sentence structure like this before (or words used in a particular way). It was a dark fairytale from start to end.
.
The things I didn't enjoy:
- The time skips were not as clear as I'd have liked, so sometimes I found myself confused regarding how much time passed. (How old was Vasya by the end? 18?)
- I felt Anna was not as well-rounded as she could've been. I felt quite sorry for her! She was like Vasya, but rather than embrace the creatures she could see, she fell apart and lost her grip on her confidence and the world around her. Why was she jealous? Why didn't her jealousy change? I felt there was so much that could've been explored and I felt that she fell prey to the Evil Stepmother trope quite a bit. (I suspect Pytor not disciplining Vasya when she encouraged creatures to linger in the house was the main source of resentment for Anna.)
I'm not sure if I'd have found a deep conversation between her and Vasya believable, given Anna's hostility toward Vasya, but I wanted more from and for her. I found her death tragic; she died afraid, she died scared of what had driven her away from so many people, and she died manipulated and deemed lesser by Konstantin. I felt like her story was just so tragic, which might have been the point. (I didn't dislike it! Her death was coming, and it was just so sad that Anna never quite felt peace in her life. She's a tragic character for me. She died afraid.)
- The battle at the end. I didn't mind it because Alyosha and Pytor, two characters who are not special like Vasya, got to play significant roles in it, but I felt that the battle itself really broke the tension and the mood of the book. It wasn't bad by any means! But I had been hoping, since the rusalka said she'd have to turn on Vasya when the Bear woke, that the climax would be built with the creatures around Vasya slowly turning on her and struggling with that deception. I felt it was a little rushed and out of place, and I was disappointed we finally got the Bear on the page as more than a voice to Konstantin and then… that was it. It wasn't bad per se, it just broke the dark tension for me. I wouldn't have minded another 100 pages of the creatures luring townspeople out, or them being tormented by having to hurt Vasya.
(Also, can Alyosha see the creatures now?)
- How long it took for the necklace/jewel to be given to Vasya. Oh my god, DUNYA, JUST GIVE IT TO HER. I wasn't quite sure what it was meant to do for Vasya, and it wasn't really clear once she possessed it. All it did was burn against her skin, or turn cold. I think we spent too long away from it that by the time it was mentioned on almost every page that I forgot its purpose—and then it didn't seem to really be much of anything once she had it. Morozko was a bit weird about it, but at the same time… it was just a jewel. (Perhaps I missed something?) This is something I hope is revisited and expanded upon. (I think Morozko gave it to Pytor? It took me a bit to realise the one-eyed man was not the Winter King, but the Bear.)
- It took too long for Morozko to appear on the page. I also wish we got more stories about the Bear. Does he have legends? Do the people know about his story? I really do hope the next two books give us more about him. I find the history of Very Old Beings so intriguing, especially when it's left off the page, so I can only hope the Bear isn't so easy to defeat and comes back in some capacity.
- I didn't like the POV shifts in the middle of a scene, but I feel that's very much the style of fairytales. It didn't bother me too much, but it was something I noticed a bit.
.
I really enjoyed this—and I really want to read fic now! (That's how much I enjoyed it!). I started this book on 1 March and finished it on 20 March. It was one of those books where I knew I liked it, and I'm certain I could've finished it earlier, but I also wanted to take my time.
It was nice reading a book set in Russia that had significant research/knowledge backing it. As much as I love the Gregverse, I really do wish it had more (slightly-more-accurate) Russian culture embedded in it. I'm not familiar/exposed to this culture, and I find it fascinating (I love Russian diminutives; it's one of my favourite things about the culture, and I liked learning about the names and different nicknames while reading this book, even if it took me a bit to understand who was who and how they were related because of the names/surnames).
I have a feeling the Winternight Trilogy will be a Yuletide request for me…
WHY AM I ME AND GET INTO THINGS YEARS AFTER IT WAS PUBLISHED/AIRED?
*
I want to be like those of you who read a few books a month! Carving time out in my day to read has been fun when I've let myself do it (after work for workdays, sometime during the weekends), and I think with the weather starting to cool (boo!) it might give me a good excuse to go outside with the heater on and a cup of hot chocolate (and cats, of course) and read for a little bit.
Wow.
I didn't know what to make of this book when I began reading it, because the writing style wasn't the usual style I'm used to reading. (This isn't a bad thing! I'm not used to following a child from birth to their teenage years, and was wondering what the point was of that journey. It made sense at the end.)
I've now ordered The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch as I want to dive back into this very rich world of magical creatures and mythology.
Spoilers ahead!
.
Things I liked:
+ The world. It's so rich! I love all the creatures (and ironically loved that the bannik made an appearance as one of my friends in RP suggested I use the bannik's story in our RP in January, so it was nice seeing that creature in this book!). I loved all the creatures and the magic of the world, and how Arden humanised spirits in a manner that didn't make them appear like a joke or unrealistic. They formed a great backbone to the book's worldbuilding. The creatures made it interesting imo. I will definitely be Googling them and reading more about them.
+ If you follow me on Goodreads (add me if you want to be friends!), you'll know I have a big crush on Sasha. HE WAS PERFECT! He was so gentle and lovely and just ugh, beautiful. I was sad to see him disappear during the first quarter of the book (but it was so good to hear he was thriving). AND THEN ALYOSHA ROSE UP AND WAS THE BEST MAN. Sasha and Alyosha were the two best men in this book; I love that they drank the respect juice, and were good brothers to Vasya.
I didn't mind Kolya (mostly because I love the name Nikolai) and kind of liked how his vibe was very different to Sasha's gentleness, but I found he became a nonentity halfway through the book once he got married and had a kid. (Good thing he mellowed out, though.)
+ Vasya was a great protagonist where I felt that she embodied the Chosen One trope in a way that wasn't obnoxious. Yes, events such as saving the creatures and the village fell to her, but I liked that she needed help and that her naivety remained throughout the book because she still has so much to learn and so much life to live. I like that she was headstrong and stubborn but wasn't disrespectful to those around her—she stuck firm to her beliefs, which is something admirable. (I also like how she's not interested in love right now, which I feel will be very interesting down the line…)
+ MOROZKO!! He was so effortlessly cool (pun intended). I like that he's an old soul, but he has a sense of humour, and felt like a rich character with so much history just waiting to be discovered. He's so fascinating. I did feel he came into the story too late, though. I think he's my favourite character; there's just something about him that I love, and I was always disappointed when he left the page.
+ Medva and Morozko's relationship has me so intrigued, and I hope the other two books explore it. I really liked that Morozko, who is Death and our Good Guy, is associated with being cold, while Medva, our Bad Guy, is associated with warmth and fire. I liked that little twist because I feel it's always the opposite with Good associated with Warmth and Bad associated with Cold. I felt that it was a poignant thing, and it's just a small takeaway I enjoyed. (Especially after being nose deep in Gregverse where I remember reading someone asking, "Why do shadows have to be bad?". I liked this choice.)
Medva was a great antagonist; I knew the voice speaking to Konstantin was the Bear, and I was so excited when he finally revealed himself. He's such a fascinating, scary antagonist; I like how powerful he was, and wish we got to see more of him.
+ I won't lie—and perhaps I'm telling on myself here—but I did enjoy the chemistry between Vasya and Konstantin (it was so toxic, I'm sorry!) and I lowkey shipped it because of the power imbalance. Yes, he was a man of God; yes, he was in a position of power; yes, he was an older man, but Vaysa held all the power. It was so delightful! And I think it really hit the whole "Forbidden fruit" trope for me in a way that worked, because I feel Vasya was attracted to him in some respect, but what ultimately worked for me was how it fleshed out Konstantin and made him more of an interesting character. He came in with a plan to basically be a bitch who ruined everything for everyone, and he fell apart because of a young woman's stubborn, unwavering belief in the creatures that he wished to banish. I liked the undercurrent of belief vs belief and how one person's belief was more fraught and ultimately more fragile than the other's.
Out of everyone, I would expect Vasya to fall prey to the voice, but this was a nice twist and a great character arc for Konstantin. He didn't know who he was; his religion and beliefs defined him, and him being sent to this village really undermined what he thought about himself; while Vasya knew who she was and stuck to her beliefs and understood, at her core, what she was capable of.
But when we finally met Morozko and he lingered for more than half a second on the page—oh, boy. I really ship Vasya/Morozko; there were deliberate text choices describing him looking at her that I just dug into and felt were telling about his attraction toward her, so I'm looking forward to seeing how their relationship builds. There's just something about them that works. He kept smiling around her. He was laughing! As someone who really enjoys seeing someone smile at another in visual and written media as a sign of attraction, I felt that this was so telling.
"Come in, Vasya; it is cold" was SUCH A GOOD ENDING LINE. I LOST MY MIND. There's something so familiar and accepting there, and I just fucking love Morozko.
+ I did enjoy the introduction of the Winter King at the beginning, and kept wondering how true the story was. It made me excited every time he was mentioned.
+ The prose. Gorgeous. Some of the turns of phrase were just so potently beautiful; others were very interesting, as I hadn't seen sentence structure like this before (or words used in a particular way). It was a dark fairytale from start to end.
.
The things I didn't enjoy:
- The time skips were not as clear as I'd have liked, so sometimes I found myself confused regarding how much time passed. (How old was Vasya by the end? 18?)
- I felt Anna was not as well-rounded as she could've been. I felt quite sorry for her! She was like Vasya, but rather than embrace the creatures she could see, she fell apart and lost her grip on her confidence and the world around her. Why was she jealous? Why didn't her jealousy change? I felt there was so much that could've been explored and I felt that she fell prey to the Evil Stepmother trope quite a bit. (I suspect Pytor not disciplining Vasya when she encouraged creatures to linger in the house was the main source of resentment for Anna.)
I'm not sure if I'd have found a deep conversation between her and Vasya believable, given Anna's hostility toward Vasya, but I wanted more from and for her. I found her death tragic; she died afraid, she died scared of what had driven her away from so many people, and she died manipulated and deemed lesser by Konstantin. I felt like her story was just so tragic, which might have been the point. (I didn't dislike it! Her death was coming, and it was just so sad that Anna never quite felt peace in her life. She's a tragic character for me. She died afraid.)
- The battle at the end. I didn't mind it because Alyosha and Pytor, two characters who are not special like Vasya, got to play significant roles in it, but I felt that the battle itself really broke the tension and the mood of the book. It wasn't bad by any means! But I had been hoping, since the rusalka said she'd have to turn on Vasya when the Bear woke, that the climax would be built with the creatures around Vasya slowly turning on her and struggling with that deception. I felt it was a little rushed and out of place, and I was disappointed we finally got the Bear on the page as more than a voice to Konstantin and then… that was it. It wasn't bad per se, it just broke the dark tension for me. I wouldn't have minded another 100 pages of the creatures luring townspeople out, or them being tormented by having to hurt Vasya.
(Also, can Alyosha see the creatures now?)
- How long it took for the necklace/jewel to be given to Vasya. Oh my god, DUNYA, JUST GIVE IT TO HER. I wasn't quite sure what it was meant to do for Vasya, and it wasn't really clear once she possessed it. All it did was burn against her skin, or turn cold. I think we spent too long away from it that by the time it was mentioned on almost every page that I forgot its purpose—and then it didn't seem to really be much of anything once she had it. Morozko was a bit weird about it, but at the same time… it was just a jewel. (Perhaps I missed something?) This is something I hope is revisited and expanded upon. (I think Morozko gave it to Pytor? It took me a bit to realise the one-eyed man was not the Winter King, but the Bear.)
- It took too long for Morozko to appear on the page. I also wish we got more stories about the Bear. Does he have legends? Do the people know about his story? I really do hope the next two books give us more about him. I find the history of Very Old Beings so intriguing, especially when it's left off the page, so I can only hope the Bear isn't so easy to defeat and comes back in some capacity.
- I didn't like the POV shifts in the middle of a scene, but I feel that's very much the style of fairytales. It didn't bother me too much, but it was something I noticed a bit.
.
I really enjoyed this—and I really want to read fic now! (That's how much I enjoyed it!). I started this book on 1 March and finished it on 20 March. It was one of those books where I knew I liked it, and I'm certain I could've finished it earlier, but I also wanted to take my time.
It was nice reading a book set in Russia that had significant research/knowledge backing it. As much as I love the Gregverse, I really do wish it had more (slightly-more-accurate) Russian culture embedded in it. I'm not familiar/exposed to this culture, and I find it fascinating (I love Russian diminutives; it's one of my favourite things about the culture, and I liked learning about the names and different nicknames while reading this book, even if it took me a bit to understand who was who and how they were related because of the names/surnames).
I have a feeling the Winternight Trilogy will be a Yuletide request for me…
WHY AM I ME AND GET INTO THINGS YEARS AFTER IT WAS PUBLISHED/AIRED?
*
I want to be like those of you who read a few books a month! Carving time out in my day to read has been fun when I've let myself do it (after work for workdays, sometime during the weekends), and I think with the weather starting to cool (boo!) it might give me a good excuse to go outside with the heater on and a cup of hot chocolate (and cats, of course) and read for a little bit.
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I think the characterisation of Anna is something most of the fandom agrees is less than ideal. It fits with the fairytale style, where people are just kind and helpful, or cruel and a hindrance to the hero(ine) without justification, but the way she is written and how her story ends always feels lacking in authorial compassion to me.
I want to be like those of you who read a few books a month! Carving time out in my day to read has been fun when I've let myself do it
I ... read a few books a week rather than a month (when I was a teenager I used to read two or three books a day but I can't read that quickly any more), but I think whatever the number, pausing to devote time to read books is really valuable. I've made it a habit now that whenever I feel myself getting sucked into endless scrolling through social media, I have to redirect my attention to reading a book. I always read in the morning while eating breakfast (and have banned myself from looking at social media until at least 11am), and I've found that it improves my mood.
I've sent a friend request on Goodreads. I'm Dolorosa over there.
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(ALSO SASHA IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!)
It just makes me sad that Anna was this girl who was tormented by what she saw, and I understand that she was meant to show how Vasya could have been… but I wish we had more from her. Did she hate Vasya because she kept the creatures around? Did she envy her because she didn't fear them? Did she hate her because her family didn't treat her like there was something wrong with her? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and a moment of understanding to happen between them, and it just… never happened. It was a missed opportunity, considering how their stories mirrored each other. :/ I'm glad fandom agrees Anna deserved a bit more.
THREE BOOKS A DAY? I usually take a month to read just one! I definitely want to read a few more a month and have realised to do that, I need to do what you've done—opt for a book instead of social media. I really hope to read more since I feel like it'd just be nice to escape into a different world, and it's a nice activity to do! And I agree with you—I think my mood improved today because I opted to read instead of scroll social or even waste time on YouTube watching videos I've already seen.
(Also YAY we're friends on another platform!)
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(Vasya/Morozko has me by the throat. I didn't get much of a sense for Vasya/Medved yet, but I hope he comes back since his ending felt anticlimactic yet promising of a return. I also want more brother stuff. I AM SO CURIOUS ABOUT THEM!)
Without wanting to spoil anything, I think I can safely say you will get your wish here!
I'm so happy you're enjoying the series, and would love to read your final thoughts when you've finished the trilogy.
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I cannot believe how much I'm enjoying it! There's something magical about this series that makes me not want to put it down! (Also MOROZKO! Did I tell you I love Morozko???)
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ok I put it on hold on Libby to keep it in my mind, though I've got like 15 holds I'm cycling through lmao so hopefully it'll be one of my reads before the year is done!!
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Hopefully!!! 2024 is still brand new, you've got time!