fantasy, historical fiction
Vasilisa is raised in a small town in Russia in medieval
times to appreciate the stories of the spirits in the woods and to make
offerings for their protection. But most people cannot see and interact with
these spirits like Vasilisa can. Then, her father brings a new bride home who
fears wood spirits and, instead, looks to the church to provide a safe haven.
Egged on by Vasilisa’s stepmother, a new priest is driven to change the
townspeople’s beliefs and traditions. Trouble ensues.
The Bear and the Nightingale had a VERY slow start. I almost abandoned it. In fact, I would have
if not for the fact that a couple of my “similar book friends” enjoyed it. But
there sure was a lot of mundane setup to get through—excruciating descriptions
about things, people, and conversations. None of the characters were overly
interesting at the beginning. I assume Katherine Arden based this novel on ancient Russian tales similar to the German tales made famous by the Brothers Grimm. But, truly, nothing was pulling me into the story at all.
Finally, around the 25% mark it started getting interesting
enough that I was motivated to keep listening. And Vasilisa turned out to be a
great character. But, while the ending was, gratefully, gripping, it then ended too
abruptly. Even though the best part of Vasilisa’s story is likely to come, I am
left without desire to read the next novel in the series due to this author’s
pacing. I just did not appreciate this one. I was obviously expecting too much
from it.
The title surprisingly names two minor characters—one did
not even show up until the end of the novel. I found that odd. Again, I’m sure
the best is yet to come. Too bad I have no will to experience it.
The audiobook narrator, Kathleen Gati, was incredible. In
fact, she is also part of the reason I was willing to keep listening to the
story and not abandon it entirely. Her vocal repertoire is excellent, her
accents were on point, her voice acting was fantastic. A+
No comments:
Post a Comment