The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo REVIEW

Click to view this book on Goodreads

Started: 08/01/18

Finished: 14/01/18

Spoilder: Yes.

There are certain authors that are consistent with the quality of work they produce, and Leigh Bardugo is one of those authors for me. Whatever she writes is great. I'm a lover of her Grishaverse and everything in it, so when I heard about this, naturally I was hyped. Her fairy tales are both charming and thought-provoking. They read exactly as the old classics read. Some of these feel like they've come straight from the world of the Brothers Grimms. It is a testament to an author's skill to write in different styles or genres without the standard of the work slipping.

My favourites in order. The Soldier Prince When Water Sang Fire The Too-Clever Fox Ayama and the Thorn Wood The Witch of Duva Little Knife

Ayama and the Thorn Wood This one was very reminiscent of the classic fairytales, but I love that it takes the concept of the original and turns it on its head. The moral of this one is the good old idiom 'Don't judge a book'. The Beast has been cast out, feared by all and declared a monster. It is the people who inadvertently make him a monster. When they try to hurt him, he merely defends himself and the people fear him more, and thus the fear cycle goes on. It isn't until young Ayama is sent into the wild lands to negotiate with the Beast simply because no one else will. Taking the time to talk to him, she comes to realise how similar their lives are and how misjudged, abused and unappreciated they both are.

This is a lovely tale of friendship with a strong message of taking the time to get to know someone before passing judgement on them, and also not placing trust in someone simply because it is expected of you. We are all free to form our own opinions, however unconventional.

The Too-Clever Fox Foxes are my favourite animal so I feel a little bias connection to this story. Really liked this one and how moral heavy it was. Koja the fox can talk his way out of any bad situation, and his quick thinking and wit have saved his life on several occasions. He's proud and thinks very highly of himself because, though he isn't a handsome animal, he's the smartest in all the woods. So when a legendary hunter comes to town and animals start going missing, Koja takes it upon himself to outsmart the hunter, but his scheming turn sour on him when he misplaces his trust.

I really liked Koja; I got Loki vibes from him - does something naughty, gets into trouble, talks his way out. I enjoyed this story a lot but I admit this was the only one whose plot twist I guessed very early on. I had my doubts when things appeared to go in Koja's favour, but in the end, my guess was correct. It was really interesting reading this one, knowing that Nikolai from the Grisha Trilogy was often referred to as the Too-Clever Fox. I can totally appreciate that now. This is so Nikolai.

The Witch of Duva A retelling of Hansel and Gretel, which is not a particularly loved story for me. Due to my expectation of the original fairytale, I was almost prepared to not like this one. In the beginning, it all went as expected. Nadya had a fine life, then her mother died, her father remarried a woman she hated and her brother went off to war. I'm not a fan of the wicked step-mother trope in fairy stories, but this is Bardugo fairy stories and I should have realised it wouldn't end how I thought it would.

Nadya, who gets sent off into the scary woods by her step-mum, ends up getting lost and follows her nose to a cottage. She's wary, being aware of the stories of the witch in the woods who feeds up children and then cooks them, but she doesn't care, so miserable was her former life. It was at this point that I was waiting for the witch to betray Nadya and eat her or something. I was very surprised by the plot twist in this one. I didn't see it coming and loved how it completely flipped the story on its head and changed my opinions of the characters in a moment. Though it did leave me a few questions. Like, if Karina was only trying to protect Nadya, why was she cruel to her? Why did she starve her? That won't make things better for her. Also, if Karina was willing to marry her father to put herself between him and Nadya, why did she leave at the end after Nadya supposedly returned? Surely that was the point of her marrying Maxim, to stop him touching Nadya, and when he finally had her, Karina left, didn't do anything to stop him.

Little Knife Wasn't sure what this was a retelling of but it was my least favourite, not because it was bad, but I just didn't find it quite as interesting as the others so far. Yeva, the duke's daughter was the most beautiful woman imaginable from birth and everyone who looked upon her wanted her. Her father was greedy and used her beauty to gain riches, declaring he would marry her off to the first man who completed his challenges. Yeva never had any say in the matter. An outcast Tidemaker Semyon  arrives, who has no home or riches but he wants her for a wife. Using the river as his aid, he completes the tasks quicker and better than any other, including the Ravkan prince vying for Yeva's affections. The duke believed the prince would win easily so thought nothing of the challenges.

Although this wasn't my favourite, what I liked most about this story was how Yeva didn't conform in the end. She found the strength to defy the men around her and made her own decision based on what she wanted for her future. And what she wanted was peace from the hungry eyes of the world and a life without a man.

Growing up, I think it's important for young girls to see an example of a strong woman. As a child I favoured the animal Disney films to the princess ones, the only exception being Mulan. Why? Because she was a strong woman who defied what men expected of her. She broke the mould. Since childhood, I've always appreciated characters like that.

The Soldier Prince This one was a Nutcracker retelling and I loved it. From the very start I was intrigued, with the mysterious clocksmith and the Kerch setting (which I adore), and just the general feeling this story had. There was something much more sinister to this. The Nutcracker, stuck in a cabinet and only brought out when Clara wants to make believe and visit the fairylands she visited as a child, longs to be the one to explore strange lands, the real world. He's alive within his little wooden body, and much like the clocksmith who made him, he yearns for something more in life; love and adventure and everything that comes with being alive. But in order to get what he wants, the Nutcracker must go against the grain of what is expected of him, stand up for himself and truly believe that his dreams are justified and worth the struggle.

This story is wonderful and so relatable. It's following your dreams despite how unconventional, despite those who tell you you cannot. I really enjoy the Nutcracker story and as soon as I realised this was a retelling I was so happy. It's almost like it's taking place after the events of the Nutcracker when Clara is older and the Rat King battles are said and done. This was more of a What If type of story. What would have happened to the Nutcracker after Clara grew up kind of thing. It was very Pinocchio too in the way the Nutcracker becomes a real boy. All he wants is to feel and live, but it is those he believes to love him that are holding him back.

When Water Sang Fire I fully expected to not like this one so much as mermaids have never been my thing, but this was quite fascinating and gripping. It doesn't read so much like a fairy story as some of the others do; it's more like a short story, maybe that's why it hooked me so much.

Ulla is the outcast mermaid but discovers she is the most powerful. A mermaid's power is her voice, and they cast spells through singing, creating and crafting and I found the imagery of that quite wonderful. Ulla becomes friends with Signy and together their voices create the most beautiful things. They perform a song for the royal family and are selected by the youngest prince to come ashore for three months as his guests, an honour coveted by all the mermaids. Ulla and Signy, at first beguiled by the palace and the wonders of court life, soon realise that life on land isn't quite as glamorous as they thought and that charming princes aren't always trustworthy.

This story was so much better than I thought it would be and I'm curious enough about Ulla and her history to want her to have her own book. The fact that the Darkling is rumoured to be the apprentice in this only makes me love it more. Perhaps what I really wish for is a Darkling origin story with appearances from Ulla, with whom he can make bargains with as she comes to do. Just a thought, and one that would make me really happy.