Tag: the bear and the nightingale

Bookmas 2021

Merry Bookmas Day 12 – 12th December – The Christmas Song Book Tag

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Happy Sunday bookish people! And Merry Bookmas day 12! I thought it would be really fun to do another book tag today. I found the questions over at thesassygeek.wordpress.com.

Let’s get into the book tag!

You’re A Mean One Mr Grinch – Name A Villainous Character You Can’t Help But Love

For this one I had to choose Victor Vale from Vicious by V E Schwab because he’s a morally grey character and as a reader you’re never really sure if he’s a good guy or a bad guy and I really liked that. I also really liked his dialogue and his interaction with other characters – he is what made the book enjoyable for me.

All I Want For Christmas Is You – Which book do you want to see under the tree this year?

I have quite a few different books on my wishlist but one of the books I really want is The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer – Name a character that overcomes major obstacles and learns to believe in themselves

There are so many characters I could choose for this but I eventually chose Zaf from Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert because at the beginning of the book Zaf has so much anxiety and he has ideas of what he wants to do but there are things holding him back and by the end his character has really grown and I loved that.

Santa Clause is Coming To Town – Which character is on the naughty list and which character is on the nice list?

I’d put Tamlin from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas on the naughty list and Elizabeth Scrivener from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.

Frosty The Snowman – Melts your heart?

For this I thought of Cath and Levi from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell because I felt there were lots of similarities between Cath and myself and it was nice to see the romance in this book even though usually I don’t like romance at all.

Feliz Navidad – Choose A book that takes place in a country other than your own

Again, there were so many books I could choose for this one. I settled on The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden because it is one of my favourite books that I have read.

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Which holiday themed book do you use to spread Christmas joy?

I’ve struggled to think of an answer to this question because I haven’t read any holiday themed books yet.

Sleigh Ride – A fictional character to spend the holidays with?

I haven’t got a reason for this choice but my mind instantly went to Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Baby It’s Cold Outside – A book you didn’t like and that you would sacrifice to a fire to keep yourself warm?

First of all, I wouldn’t put any books into a fire but a book that I didn’t like is a good question. I would say We Are Blood and Thunder by Kesia Lupo because I just did not like that book at all, I actually gave it to my best friend and they enjoyed it so I’m glad I gave it to her.

Do You Hear What I Hear – Which book do you think everyone should read?

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco!

That’s it for this Christmas Song book tag, I hope you all enjoyed reading my answers. What would you all have put for your answers, let me know in the comments!

Bookmas 2021

Merry Bookmas Day 11 – 11th December – Books That Surprised Me In 2021

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Happy Saturday Bookish people! And Merry Bookmas day 11. Today I wanted to share some of the books that have surprised me throughout this year. There have been quite a few books that have done this actually, for lots of different reasons. I will try and show a picture of each book, give the title and give a little bit of information about why the book surprised me.

I’ll start with two books from the same series…

The first two books that I want to mention are Get A Life Chloe Brown and Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert. These two books are part of the Brown Sisters trilogy, I can’t include the third book yet because I haven’t read it but I imagine it would give me the same reaction. I was surprised by these two books because they are adult romance books and romance has never been a genre that I have enjoyed all that much. However, Talia Hibbert’s books have a good balance between wit and the actual romance, she also includes a plot in the books which made it easier for me to enjoy. I also loved some of the characters. If you are interested in my full thoughts about these two books I have posted reviews of them both.

Another book that surprised me was…

The reason I was surprised by this book is because it is written almost completely in email correspondence. I knew this before reading the book and it made me think that I might not enjoy the book as much because I couldn’t see how the mystery would still have those character relationships and the tension that I like in a book. I was wrong because I ended up loving the book and thought that using emails was a brilliant choice on the part of the author.

Another mystery that surprised me was…

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz surprised me because it is a large book and I hadn’t read anything by this author before. I was surprised that I was kept engaged in the complex and long mystery. It was one of my favourite books that I have read this year. I have a review of this book posted if you want to know my full thoughts on the book.

A historical book that I was surprised by is…

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn. This book is, the first book in a series, about a woman, I believe in the Victorian period, who is thrown into the middle of a mystery. I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this book because I hadn’t read many historical mysteries but now it is a genre I actively look for when buying books.

Up next is a book that was bought for me..

Lireal by Garth Nix. This is a book that surprised me because it was recommended to me by my partner. He had showed it to me in the shop and I looked at the synopsis and thought it might be an okay book but I didn’t really feel like reading it but my partner bought it for me so then I had to read it. And of course, he was right, I loved the book and I ended up giving it five stars.

Up next is…

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy. I got this book after seeing lots of great reviews about it and I thought well, it sounds okay so I’ll give it a go. I was surprised I liked it because again it’s not my preferred genre but I did end up liking it.

The next one is part of a series…

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. I have only read the first two books in the series so far but I was surprised by them because of the premise of the series. If it is a book about books or librarians I’m almost guaranteed to love it. But I was less sure about this book because it combined librarians with the supernatural world of vampires and fae and spies. I was imagining a retelling of James Bond but it was nothing like that but I ended up enjoying it and continuing with the series.

The next book is a stand alone I put off reading…

Fangirl : Rowell, Rainbow: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is another book that is way out of my usual genre, I had to fulfill a prompt for a readathon and I ended up picking Fangirl because it is a book about a girl who loves writing stories and fanfiction which to me is more relatable than some other romance/contemporary books. I was surprised that I actually became very emotionally invested in the characters, especially Cath and I gave the book five stars.

The final book for this list is…

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden surprised me because it is based on folklore and is a very dark book, there is a dark and cold atmosphere to the story. But I found the whole book to be beautiful, whimsical and magical. One of the best books I have read.

That’s it for the books that have surprised me in 2021, I hope you all enjoyed reading about it. What books have surprised you in 2021?

Book Quotes

Favourite Book Quotes: 30 – 21

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Happy Friday Bookish people! I’m back with the next set of ten quotes in my top 100 favourite book quotes series. I hope you’ve all been enjoying it so far, I can’t wait to share with you what my top ten is, but we aren’t quite there yet. Only two weeks to go!

At 30 is a quote from a popular series with Fae in..

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

30. “kiss me again, kiss me until I am sick of it”

Up next is from a great murder mystery/thriller….

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

29. “one may smile and smile and still be a villain”

The next quote is from the ‘Queen of crime’….

Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie

28. “if the foundations are rotten, everything’s rotten”

At 27 is a quote from one of my favourite books…

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

27. “every good story needs a villain”

Now a quote from a beautifully dark book…

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

26. “wild birds die in cages”

At 25 is from a duology…

Vicious by V E Schwaab

25. “plenty of humans were monstrous and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human”

Up next is a quote from a book I haven’t read yet…

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

24. “I turned my nightmares into fireflies and caught them in a jar”

Now a quote from a very unusual murder mystery…

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

23. “we are never more ourselves than when we think people aren’t watching”

At 22 is a book that I found very humorous….

The Left Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

22. “Fantasy writers, they’re the bane of our existance”

And finally from the third book in one of my favourite series’….

Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

21. “most stories are too good to be true that’s what makes them enchanting”

That’s it for this week’s quotes, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Quotes

Favourite Book Quotes 70 – 61

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Happy Friday bookish people! We are getting very close to the halfway point in this list. Today is numbers 70 – 61.

I’m going to get right into it, I hope you enjoy it!

At 70 we have a quote from one of my favourite books…

Crescent City by Sarah J Maas

70. “What blinds an oracle” – I love this quote because it kept me thinking about it all throughout the book.

At 69 is a quote from a book that I’m yet to read but is on my TBR this month…

Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin

69. “Our lives reflect our hearts”

68 is from a book that I read over a weekend readathon a few months ago…

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

68. “My soul sees it’s equal in you”

At 67 is a quote from a book series that I need to continue…

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

67. “The head is too wise, the heart is all fire” – I like this quote because of how real it is, the heart feels more emotion in the metaphorical sense.

Up next is from a book that I gave five stars…

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

66. “Mornings are wiser than evenings” – I like this one simply because I’m always awake early in the morning.

At 65 is a quote from a very popular series…

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas

65. “we are the thirteen. From now until the darkness claims us”

the next quote is from a spooky retelling..

House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A Craig

64. “we are born of the salt, we live by the salt and to the salt we return” – I loved this book, it was spooky and wonderful and this quote sums the book up.

At 63 is another retelling, at least I think it’s classed as a retelling…

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

63. “All legends have a spark of truth”

62 is from a book that has just been turned into a tv show…

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

62. “when people say impossible they usually mean improbable”

At 61 is from a book I haven’t got around to reading yet…

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

61. “all you children playing with fire looking surprised when the house burns down”

That’s it for this weeks group of quotes, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews, Uncategorized

Book Review: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

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Happy Monday bookish people! This is my fifth and final book review for today and it is for The Bear and the Nightingale. This book had a beautiful cover and I’m not ashamed to say that this was the reason I first bought this series. I can’t help myself with beautiful covers!

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review!

The Bear and the Nightingale plot:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The plot of this novel starts off slow, allowing us to be introduced to the town and the people in the town. Particularly Vasilisa and her family who are the main characters within the novel. It’s dark atmosphere had elements of fairytales and caught my interest with all it’s mythical creatures and spirits. Although it starts off slow the pacing soon picks up as Vasilisa gets older and the main events of the plot begin. As this happens the atmosphere gets darker and the winter landscape only furthers this. The family dynamic was something I truly enjoyed about this book, it had layers that were being explored throughout. The ending of this book made me so excited to pick up the next one in the series, although I haven’t managed to get it onto one of my TBR’s yet I will soon!

The Bear and the Nightingale Characters:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Each character in this novel has their own place within the plot. Some of them are morally grey and I enjoyed the dynamic of having these types of characters in this story. Vasilisa is headstrong and devout in her beliefs of the spirits, I loved her character. I felt that she will be such a good protagonist in this trilogy. I feel for her, I felt her sadness and her pain and her resoluteness to do what she needs to do for her town no matter the consequences. The other character I enjoyed, even though he was only in the story for a little bit, was Morozko, also known as the Frost. He feels like a fairytale character and I can’t wait to see more of him in the trilogy.

Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

As with the rest of the categories this book is whimsical and beautiful and there isn’t really much more for me to say in terms of writing and dialogue.

The Bear and the Nightingale Overall Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I had to give this book five stars. I’m still thinking about it months later and all I can say is I really recommend this book to anyone who might be even a little interested in it.

Blurb/Synopsis:

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

The Bear and the Nightingale is a magical debut novel from a gifted and gorgeous voice. It spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you enjoyed it!