‘The Bear and the Nightingale’ by Katherine Arden

Genre: Adult Fiction – Fantasy

Published: 2017

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★

I was disappointed with this book. The premise sounded really interesting and talking to someone else who had already read it, I thought I would enjoy it.

I got over a third of the way through and I was basically just bored all of the way through. Nothing was happening and I decided that I would rather read something that I wanted to read rather than something I was forcing myself to read. The spirit idea and how it links to Russian folklore could have been more front and centre and perhaps it would have drawn me in more.

I didn’t particularly care about any of the characters. Vasya seemed the most interesting, but I didn’t want to know what happened to her. Even she seemed a bit insipid and droll, despite the author trying to build her up as some magical being. It didn’t work for me. There is a lot of description that didn’t seem to add anything to the plot or the atmosphere. Frankly, most of part one could have been dispensed with I think. The pertinent points could have been made with more oomph and in a shorter space.

I won’t be reading the second and third books in the trilogy. Onto my next book!