![]() ![]() ![]() I loved fairytales as a child, and this book allowed me to relive some of those feelings. The pace was a little slow compared to the books I typically read, but it allowed me to really immerse myself in the frozen, magical world Arden created. I loved watching Vasilisa grow from an adventurous child to a fierce, independent young woman. When her religious stepmother and a devout priest move to her small town, the villagers stop leaving offerings for the household spirits and they begin to weaken, allowing a dark presence to take root in their community. ![]() Vasilisa eventually realizes that while she can see and speak to them, no one else can. She and the other villagers leave offerings to the household spirits. She grows up in a small, remote Russian village hearing fairytales from her nurse, such as that of Frost, the winter king. The Bear and the Nightingale follows Vasilisa Petrovna from birth until young adulthood. I grew up in Connecticut, where the winters aren’t comparable to the Russian winters described in the novel, but I still experienced nostalgia for the cold, snowy winters of my youth. I didn’t finish it at the time due to generally being busy, but I finally picked it up again this winter, since I felt like I had to wait to read it in the wintertime. My book club chooses a “wintery fantasy” read every December, and this was our selection back in December 2020. It took me over a year to finish this book, but I ended up loving it. ![]()
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