#Secret good grishaverse adaptation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

greensaplinggrace · 3 years

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honestly THANK YOU for saying all that abt baghra bc i thought i was going crazy from not liking her??? bc i haven't read the books and only summaries of them on wiki and like. i dunno why ppl like her actually even in the show bc this guy, her son, is like "i wanna make the world better for us grisha" and she's just like "no." even tho he sees that she's MAKING HERSELF SICK from suppressing her powers! she's literally like in bed coughing in the flashback yet seem much healthier at the little palace. also like after everything, after her disapproval, after the fold, after centuries of waiting for the sun summoner.. he never abandons her. he makes sure she's cares for. he doesn't harm her. and i have to wonder if baghra has ever thanks him for that, for just not leaving her alone. like i dunno how im suppose ro believe aleks is a heartless villain when he still cares for his abusive mom like this. like has baghra even told her she loved him (honestly she reminds me of a classic emotionally unavailable asian parent but maybe that's just me). also im wondering if baghra ever told aleks that he had an aunt.. bc like.. now that u bring up her isolating him it's like hmmmm...

not at me being like alina... why do u trust the bitter old woman who literally beats u with a stick and verbally abuses u every chance she gets.. just bc she showed a bad painting... like.. pls use two braincells to see that who u figured out as his mother... is also using his protection..

like baghra could've upped and left with alina. but no. she stayed bc she knew she was safe under aleks's protection.

alsoim just impressed that after his first friend tried to drown him and harvest his bones... he didn't go into hiding???? he still wanted to make a safe heaven for grisha!!! HE STILL WANTED TO PROTECT GRISHA EVEN AFTER HIS GRISHA FRIEND TRIED TO KILL HIM FOR HIS FUCKEN BONES. like... this is the guy im suppose to believe is the villain???

honestly i feel like part of the reason why LB's plotlines seem so bad and disconnected (and sometimes outright racist but that's another rant) and why darkles is disproportionately more violent and villainous in the later books is bc she didn't expect the darkling to be so popular and wanted to stick with her guns of making him the villain. but also wanted the money from aleks's popularity. but like you can't have ur cake and eat it too.

Well thank you for sending this ask! It's very sweet and very passionate. I'm glad you liked my post! I didn't put as much thought into it as some of my others lol. I kind of just talked. But it was nice to be able to finally talk about some of the problems I have with both her character and the fandom/author's perception of her.

HERE is the post this is referring to, in case anyone's wondering.

👀👀 You've hit the nail on the head for so many things, here!

Baghra is extremely emotionally unavailable, basically to the point of neglect. She's also verbally and physically abusive, traits which I doubt were only reserved for her students and not her son. Baghra claims she would do anything to protect him, but I've known a lot of parents who have that mindset and yet still harm their children because they think it's "good for them".

Aleksander stays at Baghra's side for years, and even when they're opposing each other she's never too far away from him. Idk if you've read the books but he does eventually hurt her. And as much as I don't like Baghra, I think his actions were horrid. But I'm also honestly kind of surprised it took him so long lmao.

Yeah I mean, in terms of isolation, let's not forget that she never wanted to introduce him to his father, either. Baghra's sense of eternity clouds a lot of her judgments on relationships, which means she views most people as dust and therefore teaches her son to as well. The problem with that is that he's a growing child, and he needs those social and emotional attachments for healthy development.

I would bet quite a bit of money that Baghra has either never told him she loves him or she has told him so few times it's practically forgettable.

And everything becomes more complicated because so many of Baghra's actions are understandable because of her life and her history, but the impacts they have on the people around her, especially Aleksander, are permanently damaging. And the fact that that's never gone over in critical depth in the books or how it's glossed over in fandom is just very disconcerting. Like, acknowledging Baghra's failings doesn't mean we're excusing Aleksander's actions, it just means we're holding Baghra liable for her own. Which the fandom should be doing, considering she's the epitome of an abusive parental figure.

And Alina trusting Baghra over Aleksander is even more confusing! Especially in the show!! This is the woman who beat her and abused her and tortured her friends when they tiny little children (and who probably still does so now that they're adults). This is the woman who mocks you and harasses you and insults you on a regular basis. Why does Baghra revealing she's Aleksander's mother make Alina change her mind?! Like fuck, I'd just feel bad for Aleksander. No wonder he kept it a secret, I would too! And that painting is enough evidence?! Really?! A random painting shown to you by this abusive mentor that's been making your life hell. That's what you're going to betray your new lover over?

The friends trying to harvest his bones thing is a good point, too. I think Aleksander, especially show Aleksander, is incredibly idealistic. I think he cares too much for others - those he's deemed worth his care (a sentiment given to him by Baghra). Despite everything she's tried to teach him about hiding and abandoning others and never caring and never doing anything to help or reach out or connect with people, Aleksander still continues to do so. It's likely because he never got it from Baghra growing up, and so is desperate for those emotional needs to be fulfilled elsewhere.

His turning point, when Baghra tells him it was understandable that those kids tried to kill him because the world is such a hard place for them - that's crucial. And the reason it's possible as a motivating factor is because of that idealism and that desire to help and that desire to be everything his mother isn't. Baghra tells him this trauma he just experienced was because of the oppression of his people, and instead of following her lead and accepting that, going into hiding and abandoning everybody to their misery, he goes I can do something about that. I can make it so this never happens again. Which is usually how trauma like that combines with one's core personality traits at a young age, especially when there's none of the essential support systems in place to aid in recovery (ie, the role Baghra should have been filling but wasn't, because she decided to exacerbate the problem instead).

And yeah, one of my biggest problems with the ham-fisted "beating you over the head with a sledgehammer of evil deeds" look-how-bad-this-character-is! portrayal of the Darkling in the later books comes from the impression I get that Bardugo doesn't trust her readers. She's so desperate to have us hate this character and think him an irredeemable villain, not trusting any of her readers to engage critically with a morally gray character, that it feels quite a bit like condescending fucking bullshit. Which ew, I know how to engage with literature, thanks.

She really does seem to look down on a large part of her fandom, and imo, the infantilization of the female characters in her books seems to carry over to her impression of most of her female readers as well. Which is why the Darkling's character arc gets fucking destroyed. But he's still a good cash grab, of course, so she'll shake his dead corpse in front of the fandom for money every time she wants something from it.

Also! Another reason I think her plotlines feel disconnected (I'm sorry Bardugo I respect you as a person, but shit-) is because the writing in SaB is just bad. I mean, nevermind the absolutely nauseating implications of the way she portrays the Grisha as a persecuted group who's situation is never actually fully addressed as it should be, considering Grisha rights is what her main villain is fighting for (imo for a series called the Grishaverse, LB seems to be pretty anti Grisha), but her characters and story alone are just wrong for each other. They don't fit together.

And the ending is one of the main pieces of evidence in that regard! You can’t say the ending where Alina isn’t Grisha anymore is her “going back to where she started” when she’s always been Grisha. She just didn’t know she was Grisha because she denied that part of herself that she was born with.

Alina is reluctant to move forward or change, she struggles with adapting, and she’s very set on the things she’s grown attached to throughout her life. She also has some latent prejudices against the Grisha, and so denies the possibility of being Grisha for those reasons as well.

Alina’s lack of powers in the beginning of her life because she willfully doesn’t learn about them to avoid change versus her lack of powers at the end of the book when she’s accepted them and then they’re stripped away from her by outer forces are two entirely separate circumstances. You can’t make a parallel about lost powers and lack of Grisha status bringing her back to the start when she was always Grisha and she always had powers and she simply refused to come to terms with it because of personal reasons.

The first situation is an internal conflict that indicates a story about growth and a journey of self acceptance. Denying herself the opportunity to learn about her heritage and to find acceptance with a group of people like her because she’s tied to the past and because of the way she was raised is the setup for a narrative that tackles unlearning prejudice and learning how to connect with a part of her identity that was denied her and learning how to grow independent and self assured. It’s the setup for a different story entirely. The second situation is an external conflict that centers around the ‘corrupting influence of power’... for some reason.

In a world where Grisha do not have social, political, or economic power and they are hunted, centering your heroine’s journey of self acceptance and growth around an external conflict about... the corrupting influence of power (in a group of people that don’t actually have any power?!) just doesn’t work. It is literally impossible to connect the two stories Bardugo is trying to push in Shadow and Bone without seriously damaging the main character’s developmental arc.

The only way a narrative like this would work, claiming that she has gone back to where she started, is either a) if the Grisha weren’t actually a persecuted group and instead were apart of the upper class, or b) if the one bad connection between the two instances is acknowledged - that Alina denied a part of herself crucial to self acceptance and growing up, and that losing her powers at the end has also denied her. It is a tragedy, not a happy ending.

Alina suffered because she didn’t use her powers. She grew sick. It was bad for her. This was not a resistance to 'the corruption of power and the burden of greed', it was her suffering because she couldn’t fully accept herself.

Framing the ending as a return to the beginning can’t be done if you don’t address how bad the beginning was for your main character. You brought her back to a bad point in her life. You regressed her. This should be a low point in her arc. It should be a problem that’s solved so she can finish developing organically or it should be something that is acknowledged as a tragedy in it’s own right, for the future the world (the writing) denied her.

This is a ramble and it makes no sense and I’m really sorry, but my point is that Bardugo put the wrong characters in the wrong story. The character arc required for organic development doesn’t match the story and intended message at all. The narrative doesn’t fit the cast. She's got two clashing stories attempting to work in tandem and she ends up with both conflicting messages that fans still can’t comprehend in her writing and an ending that doesn’t suit her main character to such an impossible degree that it’s almost laughable.

So yeah, there's a few reasons why I think the story and the plot feels so bad and disconnected. I hope you don't mind me making this answer so long! 😅 I was not expecting to write this much.

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haunted-medievalist · 3 years

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tag game time!

i was tagged by the lovely @contre-qui, with the aim of tagging nine people to learn about their interests - i'm unlikely to find that many people myself but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it! going under the cut because this is a pretty long(ish) one.

music!

fave genre a little bit of everything but right now especially medieval folk & pop rock

fave artist a strange mixture of måneskin, kraftklub, siames, cavetown, and rainbow kitten surprise

fave song hard choice, but probably 'brothers' by siames & eddy capparelli

most listened to song recently either 'coraline' by måneskin or 'king orfeo' from the child ballads

song currently stuck in your head 'happy pills' by weathers

five fave lyrics oh boy, this is gonna take some thought.

"called to the devil and the devil said / hey! why you been calling this late? / it's like 2a.m. and the bars all close at ten in hell, that's a rule i made / anyway, you say you're too busy saving everybody else to save yourself / and you don't want no help, oh well / that's the story to tell" ('it's called: freefall' by rainbow kitten surprise)

"today i coo, today i caw / i have a pistol party and i kill 'em all / i think i might be scared / of the man and the men with their hands inside / and the women, oh, the women all they do is cry / and i, well i lose my mind" ('little pistol' by mother mother)

"so did you pack your bag, or did somebody pack it for you? / take me to the sad, sad party that you're bound to / whether you're a 'have-not' or a 'have', i got a question / are you living dead, or is this some kind of possession?' ('blast doors' by everything everything)

"but what if i run out of fertiliser? / what if the clouds run out of rain? what if lemon boy won't grow no longer? what if beaches dry of sugar cane?" ('lemon boy' by cavetown)

"now they tell you that you're their muse / yeah, they're so inspired / but where were they when they called your name / and they lit the fire? / when the voices came, you cut your hair / but you're stilled confused" ('joan of arc' by arcade fire)

books!

fave book genre fantasy all the way

fave writer bernardine evaristo, leigh bardugo, madeline miller

fave book oh dear, here we go. 'circe' by madeline miller, 'six of crows' and 'crooked kingdom' by leigh bardugo, 'girl, woman, other' by bernardine evaristo, 'good omens' by neil gaiman & terry pratchett, 'the raven cycle' series by maggie stiefvater, 'oranges are not the only fruit' by jeanette winterson, and a whole lot of old norse literature of dubious authorship (but especially 'gisla saga' and 'hrafnkels saga freysgoða', and pretty much all of the eddic poems in the volsung cycle)

fave book series it's a tie between leigh bardugo's grishaverse novels and maggie stiefvater's 'the raven cycle'

comfort book 'the secret kingdom' by jenny nimmo

rainy day book any of my norse books, sagas or poetry

fave characters nina zenik in the grishaverse, ronan lynch in 'the raven cycle', gisli in 'gisla saga' (not sure if that counts as a character or historical figure, dependent on perspective...?), and circe in, y'know, 'circe'

five quotes from your fave books?

"i thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but i see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands" ('circe' by madeline miller)

"'spreader of swords, it is your own sons' / corpse-bloody hearts you've chewed up with honey, / proud man, you've consumed dead men's meat, / eating it as ale-dainties, sending it to the high seat' [...] with the point of a blade she gave the bed a bloody drink, / with a hel-keen hand, and set the dogs free; / she woke the servants, and in front of the hall-door / she flung a burning brand: she paid them back for her brothers. / to the fire she gave everyone who was inside, / who'd come from myrkheim after murdering gunnar and his men; / the ancient timbers fell, the temples smoked, / the buildings burned of budli's kin, and the shield-maids inside; / their lives stemmed, sinking into hot flames." (gudrun avenges her brother in 'atlakviða', a poem in the old norse poetic and elder eddas)

"you aren't a flower, you're every blossom in the wood blooming at once. you are a tidal wave. you're a stampede. you are overwhelming." ('crooked kingdom' by leigh bardugo)

"from the passenger seat, ronan began to swear at adam. it was a long, involved swear, using every forbidden word possible, often in compound-word form. as adam stared at his lap, penitent, he mused that there was something musical about the ronan when he swore, a careful and loving precision to the way he fit the words together, a black-painted poetry. it was far less hateful sounding than when he didn't swear." ('the raven cycle' by maggie stiefvater)

"but where was god now, with heaven full of astronauts, and the lord overthrown? i miss god. i miss the company of someone utterly loyal. i still don't think of god as my betrayer. the servants of god, yes, but servants by their very nature betray. i miss god who was my friend. i don't even know if god exists, but i do know that if god is your emotional role model, very few human relationships will match up to it. i have an idea that one day it might be possible, i thought once it had become possible, and that glimpse has set me wandering, trying to find the balance between earth and sky. if the servants hadn't rushed in and parted us, i might have been disappointed, might have snatched off the white samite to find a bowl of soup." ('oranges are not the only fruit' by jeanette winterson)

tv and movies!

fave tv/movie genre fantasy, travel/road trip & comedy

fave movie the secret life of walter mitty, supernova, any and all ghibli films, scott pilgrim vs. the world, lord of the rings, the how to train your dragon trilogy

comfort movie the lion king (original), how to train your dragon, from up on poppy hill, kiki's delivery service

movie you watch every year elf, howl's moving castle, love simon

fave tv show she-ra and the princesses of power, skam, bee and puppycat (i guess more of a web series than a tv show?), adventure time, the it crowd

comfort tv show adventure time

most rewatched tv show skam, every october without fail

five favourite characters catra (she-ra and the princesses of power), sana (skam original), marceline (adventure time), moss (the it crowd), inej (shadow and bone netflix adaptation)

tagging (absolutely no pressure, this is a pretty long one!): @crowcaves, @the-obsidian-soul, @natscbi, @somehowmags, @gabrilearnelle, @clockwords, @starsspace... and that's it, that's as close to nine as i'm getting, but if anyone else just feels like doing it then feel free to consider yourself tagged!

#tag game #long post #tysm for the tag!!!!

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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BOOK | Grisha Trilogy (Leigh Bardugo)

Shadow and Bone (2012), Siege and Storm (2013), Ruin and Rising (2014)

I came to this world through the Netflix adaptation SHADOW AND BONE which came out earlier this year, and after, to my huge surprise, falling in love with these stories, I decided I would have to give these books a go as well. I've been aware of the Grishaverse for quite some time now but probably especially since SIX OF CROWS came out in 2016 and tumblr went completely batshit for one (1) Kaz Brekker. I am always kind of wary when it comes to entertainment that tumblr goes nuts for, especially when it is YA fiction, because I do not quite trust the general consensus (I was sorely disappointed by Donna Tartt's THE SECRET HISTORY which I found tremendously boring). So actually, I've been actively avoiding reading this book series until now. But then the Netflix adaptation happened and well—you can blame (or thank) Ben Barnes, because he is pretty much at fault for this alone. Anyway, enough preamble.

I've just recently finished reading the last book of the trilogy and I have to say, I have to my surprise really enjoyed these books! I've also read the short stories THE WITCH OF DUVA after the first book, and THE TAILOR and THE TOO-CLEVER FOX after the second, and will be reading LITTLE KNIFE and THE DEMON IN THE WOOD before I move on to the Crows duology. I am reading the short stories according to publication year and not specific date, so they might not be completely in release order.

Reading SHADOW AND BONE I was very much always thinking back and comparing to the plot of the show since that was my original basis for the story. I am not too fond of first person narratives as I prefer things to be written in third person, but I've found that it did not bother me all that much in these books. What I realised though, was that I liked the show a bit more than the book, because it goes beyond Alina's story and the information a reader gets through her focalisation. We get to see Mal's story instead of only hearing of some of it when he and Alina are finally reunited once she leaves the Little Palace, which to me also made the character a whole lot more likable and interesting than in the books. I've also found that I really enjoyed the integration of the Crows in the show because it made the time leading up to and including the Winter Fete that much more interesting. Generally, I really liked most of the changes they made to the story for the adaptation—Alina scheming to get on the skiff, the Darkling's claw ring instead of the knife, that Alina seems to ride the entire way to Os Alta with the Darkling, the explicit consent given at the Winter Fete, erasing the scar, the fact that Alina and Mal don't kiss during the search of the stag. I would have loved to see some of the early scenes like in the book though, especially Alina and Mal on the way to Kribirsk and nearly getting run over by the Grisha carriages. I am also not entirely sure what I want to think about the change of Morozova's collar. I thought it was super dope that it was actually mended into her collarbone, but I am uncertain about her being able to completely melt it into her body and have it disappear like that. But generally, I really liked this first book. I think it does a pretty good job of establishing the world through Alina's eyes and gearing up the plot of the three novels.

SIEGE AND STORM then, of course, gave me my first look into the Grishaverse that was not completely informed by the adaptation. I was super surprised how quick it became clear to them that the Darkling had survived the events in the Fold and for him to catch up with them. I loved the sequences on the Volkvolny with Sturmhond though. And although I was aware that there was a character called Nikolai in this universe, it took me forever to catch on that he was Sturmhond, and when that reveal came I was very much happily blown away. I am super excited to see that character translated to screen (when, not if, the show finally gets renewed for a second season). I really enjoyed the hunt for Rusalye, the introduction of Tamar and Tolya, and for the role Genya gets to play in that sequence. Also, when first getting into this universe, my immediate first thought was, why don't they just fly over the Fold. Do airborne crafts not exist in this world (yet)? No balloons or something like it? And then of course Sturmhond delivered which definitely helped solidify how much I like his character. I am an incredibly visual person, so I think my favourite bits of this book are all somehow related to how much I would like to see them brought to screen (it's either that, or just how much I want to see Ben and Jessie be brilliant in scenes together). The bond between Alina and the Darkling I really enjoyed a lot and also absolutely the scene in the chapel at the end with him believing that she has finally chosen his side, only for her to then try and kill him with their combined powers and merzost. An absolutely extraordinary scene and if Netflix does not renew this show and I never get to see Ben and Jessie fucking nail this scene, I might just riot.

I had to take a bit of a break in-between books two and three because of uni responsibilities, but I finally got around to reading RUIN AND RISING and finished it two days ago. I am very unsure if I liked the ending or not, but more on that later. I was very glad when they finally got out of the White Cathedral and back to the world above ground, because as cool as this undergound world is, the Apparat creeps me out and so does religious culty stuff. I loved the plotting and scheming though and the fact that Alina can control shadows to some extent. Very cool. Prince Nikolai to the rescue once more was also fantastic and the existence of the Spinning Wheel fascinates me to no end. That I definitely want to see translated on screen. Make me a beautiful observatory to fall in love with, Netflix, make me one! Loved the return of Baghra as well, and generally all of her moments at the Spinning Wheel. The Darkling's attack too was right up my alley, and nichevo'ya!Nikolai? Fucking dope, I love it. This novel especially makes for some great visuals that I can't wait to see on the show. Just gimme, all of it. I liked that the Firebird was not the third amplifier, and I find the idea of Mal being the amplifier instead quite intriguing. What I am not so sure about is the actual ending. I once again really loved the bond scenes between Alina and the Darkling, and I now absolutely see why some fans are upset about him giving up his real name so quickly in the show. I do wonder how that is going to play out eventually. I did like the Darkling's ending—his desperation at Alina losing her power, his plea to her that there will be no grave, and him asking for her to speak his name one last time. And I loved that, as horrible of a person he was, as much gruesome things he did, Alina still understood what drove him and still felt a certain kinship to that, and ultimately did also mourn him in a way. There is this echoing of that line from the show—"we could have had this, all of it"—if only he'd asked, and I absolutely love that. Their dynamic is just incredibly intriguing. The thing I am not sure about is Alina losing her power. Mal coming back to life, yeah okay maybe. The power of the Sun Summoner splitting and finding root in every otkazat'sya in the vicinity, that was amazing. But Alina completely losing her power? I don't know. I am not sure what I want to think about that. I see where it comes from but I don't think I like it.

Overall, I have to say, I really enjoyed this trilogy. I don't think I've read a YA series since the HP one which I grew up with. I am honestly very positively surprised by this fact. I am very excited to read on, especially since summer break has now officially started for me and I actually have the time to read. I know I mentioned some of the short stories in the beginning, but I think I will talk about those separately once I've read them all.

For now all that I can say is, damn you, Ben Barnes, for being this attractive as a bad guy, you alone are to blame that I am falling down this particular rabbit hole. Thanks so much.

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Shadow and Bone: Why Netflix Cast Its Fantasy Adaptation With Relative Unknowns

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

In the film and television industry, the idea of an “unknown” is extremely relative. Just because an actor isn’t one of the Hollywood Chrises doesn’t mean a media-literate viewer hasn’t seen them before. That being said, there is a difference between Chris Evans and an actor from a Doctor Who guest spot, and Netflix’s latest series—Shadow and Bone, an adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books—is mostly banking on the latter. While Ben Barnes, who you will probably recognize as Logan from Westworld or Prince Caspian from The Chronicles of Narnia series, will be playing the mysterious and enigmatic General Kirigan in Shadow & Bone, most of the young cast have only a few mainstream credits to their names—and, frankly, I think it’s really working for the fantasy adaptation.

“This is a story about young people who have been overlooked and who’ve never had the chance to show people what they can do, who have all this talent and all of this power,” Leigh Bardugo told Den of Geek, thematically connecting this cast of young actors getting the opportunity to demonstrate their talent with their characters’ own efforts to make their mark on the world. “So it made a lot of sense in terms of the soul of the books for us to have all these incredibly gifted young people that arrived on our doorstep, like a magical gift in the show.”

Particularly when bringing a fantasy world to life, casting relative unknowns can be an excellent strategy for creating a sense of otherworldly newness. When you’ve seen an actor in something before, there is a mental path to be pulled out of the narrative. If you have no prior associations with that actor, it can be a bit easier to believe in the wholeness of this rich fantasy world. That being said, the decision to go with relative unknowns for Shadow and Bone was also a financial one, as actors with fewer or no previous successful screen projects to their name tend to be paid less for their work.

“This is an area where philosophy and practicality merge with me,” showrunner Eric Heisserer told Den of Geek. “On the one hand, I tend to be more enamored with actors who step into a role and they aren’t branded with the fame of a role that I identify with them elsewhere. I don’t see them as so-and-so playing Jesper or Alina or whatever the case may be. And then I discovered that we didn’t have a lot of money. So honestly, this was a modest budget. Hopefully you see every kruge on the screen so it feels it’s a big show, but … it’s trying to make itself as big as possible. With that comes the fact that we got a chance to give some of these performers a break.”

Meet the young and talented cast of Shadow & Bone…

Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov

Netflix cast English actress Jessie Mei Li in Shadow and Bone‘s central role of Alina Starkov, the orphan mapmaker who may hold the power to destroying the Shadow Fold. While you may not know who Li is yet, she’s probably about to become a big star. Though the 25-year-old Chinese-British actress only has a few credits under her belt, they’re impressive ones. Li made her stage debut in 2019’s National Theatre Live production of All About Eve, starring Gillian Anderson and Lily James. Before filming Shadow and Bone, she filmed a supporting role in Edgar Wright’s upcoming Last Night in Soho, in which she will play Lara Chung.

Archie Renaux as Mal Oretsev

Archie Renaux plays Mal, aka Alina’s oldest friend, in Shadow and Bone. The 23-year-old British actor and model had a brief role in Amazon Prime’s Hanna (he played Feliciano in Season 1’s “Friend”) before appearing as Leo Day in 2019’s Gold Digger (alongside Shadow and Bone co-star Ben Barnes). In addition to Shadow and Bone, Renaux has upcoming film roles in Marvel’s Morbius and Neil Burger’s sci-fi film Voyagers.

Freddy Carter as Kaz Brekker

Freddy Carter stars as Kaz, one of the main characters from the Six of Crows duology, which is also being adapted as part of the Shadow and Bone Netflix series. Comics fans may recognize Carter from his three-episode turn as Jason Ripper in Pennyworth, but he got far more screen time in his main role in Netflix’s family-friendly horse drama series Free Rein, in which he played stable boy with a secret Pin Hawthorne.

Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa

Inej is played by Amita Suman, a 23-year-old Nepalese-born British actress who you may remember from her turn on Doctor Who. Suman gave a very memorable performance as the young version of Yaz’s grandmother Umbreen in Season 11 standout “Demons of the Punjab.” Suman has also recurred as Naya in Season 2 of The CW’s The Outpost.

Kit Young as Jesper Fahey

Kit Young, who plays sharpshooter Jesper in Shadow and Bone, graduated from RADA in 2017 and has mostly done stage work since then, including a role as Lysander in a 2019 National Theatre Live production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The 26-year-old actor of Scottish and Ugandan descent is set to appear in Netflix’s upcoming film adaptation of The School For Good and Evil, directed by Paul Feig and starring Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, and Michelle Yeoh.

Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik

Irish actress Danielle Galligan plays Heartrender Nina Zenik in Shadow and Bone. The 28-year-old actress has mostly done theater before this, but has snagged guest roles in Irish-based productions Game of Thrones (she played Sarra in Season 8’s “The Last of the Starks”) and Krypton (she played Enaj in two episodes).

Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar

Oh hey, an American! Wisconsin native Calahan Skogman plays Drüskelle Matthias in Shadow and Bone. To say that this is Skogman’s first screen role would not literally be true, but… it is basically true.

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Shadow & Bone premieres April 26th on Netflix.

The post Shadow and Bone: Why Netflix Cast Its Fantasy Adaptation With Relative Unknowns appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3r9AZ6d

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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dcwling · 3 years

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CHARACTER PARALLELS

Joan Holloway ( Mad Men ) , Inara Serra ( Firefly ) , Nina Zenik ( Six of Crows ) , Zoya Nazyalensky ( Grishaverse ) , Marisa Coulter ( His Dark Materials )

TIDBITS:

Age : 21 ( March 16th )

Born : Essex

Father : ???

Mother : Theresa

Dad : Billie

Brother : Markis

Brother : Arin

Sister : Petra

Dog : Aramis ( Golden Doodle )

SECOND-PERSON HISTORY BITS:

You were born in a small cottage just outside Kent, Essex. It was storming outside and the sound of thunder made it easy to muffle the screams of your mother - apparently, you were a right bitch that night. Your birth took several hours and your mother was convinced you clawed your way free. No father awaited you on the other side. But that was okay. Your mom was tougher than any man, and she proved it to you over and over and over again throughout your childhood.

You had two older brothers. Twins, they were. Markis and Arin. They were the product of your mom’s first and only marriage. Their father passed away and left Theresa all alone, both arms cradling a baby as tears fell down her cheeks. They said it was cancer. You never questioned it; after all, cancer seemed as good a reason as any to die. Your mother cuddled you in her arms and explained that she never wanted to remarry. She didn’t want to be stuck in a cage. And your father? He was just some man she met in a bar. Normally she would be judged for telling such stories to a baby, but you were too young to remember anyway.

And your mother rarely adhered to the common rules of society.

Hence your younger sister, Petra, being born only two years later. That situation was a little different, however, as Petra’s father continued to shower Theresa in gifts and declarations of love. They graduated Hogwarts together and he admitted to having been smitten with her all throughout their teen years. He remembered where she sat in class and he remembered the smell of her perfume. He also remembered the anonymous birthday gifts he bought her - birthday gifts she kept secret from everyone else.

Billie couldn’t let their romance only be a one night stand. He just couldn’t.

You didn’t remember the story very well, but you could always recognize the spark of love in Billie’s eyes whenever he looked at your mother. Despite never wanting to marry another man, your mother gave in. She would eventually admit to not having known what true love felt like until she met Billie. Sure, she adored her first husband, but nothing felt quite as right as cuddling with the man she would later call her other half. They were the perfect picture of romance, and it did nothing but warm your heart.

Billie treated you and your brothers as if you were his own children. He bought you presents, took you to dance classes, and taught you how to ride a broom. He might not have been your father, but he was most certainly your dad. He would read you stories when you had nightmares and he would hold your hand when you wanted to cross the street. He smelled like firewood and you adored burrowing yourself in the thick wool of his sweaters. You equated him to the word comfort. So when you left for your first year of Hogwarts, it made all the sense in the world that you stole one of his sweaters to sleep with.

You didn’t know this, but your parents actually watched you sneak into their room and rummage through their dressers. Billie could do nothing but smile proudly at his daughter - it was nice to be needed, he admitted to his wife.

You adapted to Hogwarts very well. It was almost as easy as breathing as you practically skipped over to the Ravenclaw table, immediately introducing yourself without being asked. You invited yourself to outings and you started conversations with people as if you’d known them your whole life. Your classmates and the older students were all impressed by your confidence, this made obvious by how they would go out of their way to say hi to you in the halls.

The majority of your Hogwarts experience could be described in the same light. You worked hard, got good grades, made lasting friendships - the works. And yes, you had your heart broken once or twice. What kind of teenager would you be if you hadn’t? Nothing hurt quite like seeing your fifth year ex-boyfriend snogging Alexandra Keats in the Hog’s Head. You were convinced the two of you belonged together. You thought he was your soulmate. It took several months for you to get over being dumped. At least you were done faking orgasms because of a tiny dick and a fear of cunnulingus.

It was especially fun when he saw you snogging Alexandra Keats in the Hog’s Head only three weeks later.

It wasn’t until you reached your sixth year that you realized you had no idea what you wanted to do with your life. It was easy to be confident when you were surrounded by the safety of a castle. Luckily, your impressive test scores and grades guaranteed you a spot in the auror training program upon graduation. Unluckily, you didn’t want the job - but your parents were so proud of the idea, so you kept your mouth shut. You kicked ass better than anyone. You played the good girl routine. You behaved. But behind the false auror dreams, you created a new one: The Hecate House.

Students needed help and you were there. You were the saving grace they truly needed: for a price. With a guaranteed way of acquiring items outside the castle walls, you started your own business. People always wanted something, and teenagers, the greedy bastards, more so than anyone else. And they were all too willing to toss their family’s fortune their way for a cluster of booze or a pack of cigarettes. Hell, you and your girls have even started taking bets for the upcoming Quidditch matches.

Now don’t be a child. The war was happening every day. Crime was happening every day. The Hecate House treated all of her customers with unparalleled respect and attention. Now you agreed with this motto. However, secretly a supporter of blood equality, you started to shift the rules. You showed favoritism to familiar faces, giving certain members the best possible care and protection.

When involved with the Hecate House, Death Eaters and members of the Order were just people. They were in neutral territory and were therefore forbidden from attacking each other, lest they lose your business and their grip on the outside world. Their wands are handed off until the witch or wizard it belonged to was ready to leave. If someone refused to give up their wand, they were denied business. It was as simple as that.

Eventually the Hecate House became your child. You took care of her. You fed her and taught her and gave her the best of the best. You were the brilliance behind its success.

PERSONALITY

She is quite the badass bureaucrat. She is the brains behind the Hecate House’s success. She is the reason it runs perfectly. She has a full understanding of what society expects of women - especially those who are young and beautiful. She constantly struggles to wade through the muddy waters of patriarchy, proving herself as an asset in spite of her ass and breasts (while simultaneously showing the powers they allow her to possess).

Unashamed, Immy is not above using her sexuality to gain momentum. If she is to be judged for her gender and looks, she should also be able to use them as a form of currency. She objectifies herself and uses sex as a form of manipulation, religiously succeeding in getting whatever she wants. Men are weak and she chooses to exploit those weaknesses. She exercises an erotic power over men and it is clear by her position with the Hecate House that this method is effective. It gets to the point where witches and wizards enter business deals for no other reason than to see Immy.

When Immy walks somewhere, anywhere, she wants to make sure at least one person is watching her.

She has a mastery over her appearance and her professional domain. While she takes great pride in her image, she is first and foremost a woman of academia. Her intellectual substance emerges when she is within the company of people whom she respects. She holds herself high and discusses politics, medicine, and the aspects of war with enough confidence to intimidate even the most burly of men. She is a prime example of sex and intelligence not being mutually exclusive, but being an effective combination.

She may walk the line between empowered and cruel, but she is not emotionally shallow. She is still controlled by ideals and beliefs instilled by morally good people. Everything she does is for a purpose, and every purpose she has is, in one way or another, stemming from a desire to right a wronged society. She simply wants to seek justice in the world. This is why she continues to work a morally questionable gig despite her beliefs. She is doing what needs to be done to help further her agenda.

#revelio.intro

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stressedoutteenager · 3 years

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with all the new info we got about the netflix adaption of the grishaverse, I felt more motivated to write something and recently wrote something about Kaz realizing - because Inej explains to him - that he should show more appreciation towards his friends, particularly Jesper

If you want to read on AO3: here’s the link

Say Thank You

“Would it kill you to say thank you for once, to let him know he’s appreciated?”, Inej says as soon as the door to Kaz’s office falls shut.

She hears Kaz wince quietly while she rummages through his desk drawers for anything that would help her clean his wounds. She’s been back from her latest voyage for almost a week. It had been a successful one and coming back to Ketterdam, she felt proud and accomplished.

Kaz could tell as soon as he saw her. She was glowing.

Several days passed peacefully, while she got to reconnect with her friends. They did all send letters but as correspondence is not regular when one is on the seas and at different coasts each day, catching up in person is much more fun and rewarding. Several peaceful days had passed, indeed, until somebody tried to break into Wylan and Jesper’s home. It is common knowledge that their home is constantly under security. And most people know not to mess with Dirty Hands, the Barrel Boss, and his associates. Some might even say his friends. Yet, somebody was stupid enough to do so. Maybe, stupid. Maybe, reckless. Maybe, brave.

Luckly, the intruders seemed to be only there to gather intel. They got scared off by Kaz and Inej arriving at their friends’ house. Instantly, the couple inside, that had not noticed anything going on outside, was interrogated about possible enemies. It could have been someone trying to break in to steal from their big fortune, but that thought was dismissed quickly. Doing that would be stupid and nothing else. However, this attempted break-in seemed to be only the start of it. Threats kept coming; break-ins at the Crow Club, vandalism at the Slat, cheating and brawls while gambling.

Kaz didn’t want his friends to be involved again, not after they left the Dregs behind - for the most part. Wylan is still in contact with Kaz for business and Jesper supports Kaz’s businesses in various ways when he can. But, they don’t interfere with the Dregs’ dirty business. Inej on the other hand… whenever she’s back in Ketterdam, she’ll share anything she finds valuable with Kaz. She would have never dreamed that she’d miss the dirty, crooked rooftops of Ketterdam and yet... she can never resist to jump from roof to roof like she’s flying. Those familiar, light steps of Inej’s always itched to be up above everyone else where she could blend into the shadows and listen. And listen she did. - An unknown but surprisingly quick and efficient working gang was targeting the Crows.

Kaz made a plan and his former crew members inserted themselves in it. Despite Kaz’s refusal at first, they did not relent.

But, things suddenly went south. Kaz was struck by a flying knife, none of his crew saw coming. Not even Inej, which she still feels horrible about. And then, chaos broke loose. It all happened so very fast, they were ambushed. Still, after all these years Kaz, Wylan, Jesper, and Inej can read each other’s expressions and can communicate wordlessly and accomplished to come out of the unplanned, unexpected brawl victorious.

Now, as Inej turns around, Kaz has rid himself of his jacket. His shirt is ripped, quite a big patch is red. Kaz only looks at Inej while crossing the room until he’s stood right next to her. Leaning on his desk, he takes the cotton ball from Inej’s hand.

“He didn’t have to join me.”, Kaz simply says.

Inej’s eyes wander over Kaz’s face, down his body to his torso. The red patch is still getting bigger. And Kaz is not doing anything about it. Inej steps closer, meets Kaz’s gaze and waits. A couple moments all he does is stare right back. His jaw set, eyes trained on the girl in front of him that didn’t think twice before exchanging her captain’s hat for her scaling shoes when she noticed it might be useful. Useful to Kaz.

Finally, he nods and she starts unbuttoning his shirt slowly. She takes care to not touch his skin, pulling the shirt away from him, towards herself, while taking one button at a time. When his shirt is finally completely open and pushed off his shoulders, the deep stab wound on his abdomen is on full display.

“Apply pressure.”, Inej instructs him as she hands him a towel and takes the cotton ball back. He doesn’t make a sound but Inej can feel his quick breath on her cheek. He's hurting. She does not want to make him more uncomfortable than he already is and pays attention to not touch him with her fingers. The cotton ball is now pinched between her fingers. “Neither of us had to. We wanted to. And if it weren’t for Jesper there, you’d be in much more pain than you are now.”, she lifts her head to look at Kaz and only when he meets her eyes, she adds, “Or dead.”

There’s no movement in his face. His eyes stay on Inej, when he says:“I can handle myself.”

“Sure. You’re the Bastard of the Barrel .”, Inej says through her teeth. She tells him to lift the towel and cleans as much of the blood as she can before taking a step back to get the bandages. She had seen them in the drawer at his desk. She goes back to stand in front of Kaz and cuts up the bandage into the right sizes.

“I know you’re trying. I can see it.”, she says, not meeting his gaze. They both know what she means. It is not a secret that Kaz goes to meet Jesper and Wylan regularly. Most people think it’s on business and yes, sometimes it is, but mainly, it is a pretense. Still having her eyes only on the bandages, she continues: “But sometimes it’s not enough. If Jesper weren’t there today, if he hadn’t used his power, you’d be injured so much worse.”

Positioning a bandage on his wound that is still bleeding, she continues to speak while applying more pressure than is needed: “And forget saying thank you, you barely glanced in his direction afterwards and gave Wylan the instructions on how to keep their home safe.”

“I..”, Kaz starts to talk but stops as soon as Inej leans closer to wrap a thin piece of towel to keep the bandage in place. She hovers so closely that he can smell the flowery smell in her hair, even through the dust and dirt of the brawl not even hours ago.

Inej mutters: “You can’t just always assume everyone around you knows what you think.”

She’s done with the big wound and steps back. To give him a break. And to be able to see his reactions to what she’s saying. Kaz smirks lightly when saying: “They are not supposed to.”, but that doesn’t impress Inej one bit.

“But your friend should. Your friend should know that you’re grateful for his help. That you appreciate them. Especially when they are this close to you and when they see you as family.”, Inej says, arms crossed over her chest but her tone of voice softer than before.

The adrenaline is only now wearing off and the fear that Kaz might be hurt badly is growing calmer.

Inej can see how much Jesper means to Kaz. And deep down, Jesper knows that, too. But he should not have to settle for only that.

Kaz does not say anything, does not show anything in his eyes. Inej shakes her head and turns around to put away everything she did not use and she can hear Kaz limping towards the trunk near the door, where he keeps spare clothes. While worrying about his stab wound, neither had thought about his leg. She hears Kaz wince before she even turns around and can see him struggling to put his shirt on. Inej closes the distance in quick, quiet steps and helps him wordlessly. She then continues to button it up.

“Thank you.”, Kaz says and Inej can feel his eyes on her. She doesn’t look up until she has buttoned up every button. That she can hide her small smile that way helps too. She is incredibly happy that he opens up more to her now than he ever did. Emotionally and physically, verbally or with his looks. She’s proud of his progress. And still, her point from before stands.

“You’re welcome.”, she says, finally looking at him and finds him looking at her with a small smile. She tries to school her features but it is too late. He saw the effect of that small smile. No matter how much older she is now and how many threats and problems she has faced by now with a straight face, Kaz still has the annoyingly exciting influence on her as if she’s still 16.

Kaz takes a deep breath without moving an inch away from Inej and says: “I have some immediate business to take care of. But in the morning I’ll go check up on Wylan and Jepser.”

“Good.”, Inej answers and allows herself to finally smile at him. His eyes focus on her lips drawn upwards; his hand itches to drag her closer. “I’ll accompany you.”

Kaz’s first instinct is to refuse. Out of habit. Even though he would like her to stay at the Slat with him. Even though they both know he might need a second pair of eyes when walking through Ketterdam the next morning. He bites his tongue and nods.

He takes out the key to his room from his pocket and hands it to her: “You’ll be least disturbed there. I’m going to send some of my people to take care of the remainder of today’s business.”

The next morning, a message boy arrives at the Slat, asking for a message to be given to Mr. Brekker, who had already left to go check up on the person who sent the message, inviting him to Breakfast.

Jesper is the one to open the door and is surprised at the speed at which his friends arrived but doesn’t comment on it. He lets them in and locks the door behind them. Inej greets her friend and continues towards the kitchen where an off-key singing Wylan can be heard. Jesper makes a move to join her but Kaz calls him back: “Jesper, a moment please.” Inej hears Kaz and knows she shouldn’t be as proud as she is. This should be a given. Still.

“Everything okay?”, Jesper asks, looking Kaz up and down.

Kaz sets his cane aside and nods. “Yes.”, and then does not know how to continue. Inej had said he should let his friends who see him as family know that he appreciates him. But that’s the problem. Jesper is like a brother to Kaz. It makes it harder to express his thoughts, not easier.

“Okay..”, Jesper says, a little suspicious.

“Just…”, Kaz continues and straightens his back and looks at Jesper properly. “Thank you… for your help yesterday.”

Jesper needs a moment to process what Kaz said, but then opts to play it off. He shrugs and waves it off: “Sure, no problem. It’s nothing.”

Kaz is tempted to let it go now. He said thank you. But he knows that once again Inej is right. “No, it’s not nothing. Without you there yesterday, I might have scarcely come out of the attack.”

He is looking Jesper in the eyes but is not showing anything more than his usual stoic gaze. And yet, Jesper knows Kaz means it. To that, he smiles and instantly wants to hug Kaz but knows better. Instead he nods, smiling, and tries not to beam.

They turn to go join the others in the kitchen, but Jesper’s step falters when Kaz adds: “But don’t ever put yourself in danger for me again.”

Kaz does not stop, he passes his friend and thinks, he does not want another brother dying before him.

#six of crows #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #crooked kingdom

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kyemeruth · 3 years

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Grishaview

(Grisha trilogy + review, :P)

Two-week break was spent lazing off the couch to watch shows and read books, then more sleep. I wanted to see Netflix's version of Shadow and Bone, especially because it will feature a crossover of the original Grisha trilogy and the Crows duology. But because I have time (haha), I bought a copy of the first book, read it, then watched the series. A good choice, I must say.

***

On paper. The first book explored Alina's powers and provided a set-up for conflicts that needed to be resolved towards the end of the story. The second book introduced a wonderful character-- Nikolai-- but the rest was a blur because what I remembered most was just Mal trying to come to terms with Alina's newfound power. The third book is interesting because it will tie loose ends, reveal some nice secrets, and finally defeat the Fold. Overall, I felt that the story is better suited for a duology-- the second book could have been just collapsed with the two others to come up with a stronger plotline.

I like the politics and the dissection of power and greed especially when contrasted between Alina and the Darkling. You get the idea that noble causes could always be corrupted by greed and personal ambition. The Darkling is a good archetype for a real-life dictator: manipulative and fond of gaslighting, charismatic and dangerous. I also appreciated how Bardugo did not try to do the usual good vs bad narrative. There were more allusions to pursuing fairness particularly on the social standing of Grisha in Ravka and the rest of the story's universe versus; how wars are not just economically destructive but also tears social and moral fabrics. Luchenko's line in Ruin and Rising perfectly encapsulates how wars and corrupt governments dulls our path for cooperation and citizenship, and ultimately alters our worldview and skews our choices towards mere survival:

"What has my country ever done for me, little girl? No land, no life, just a uniform and a gun. Doesn't matter if it's the Darkling on the throne or some useless Lantsov."

And we wonder why war-torn countries or those societies suffering from deep-seated corruption find it difficult to rise. The socio-political commentary is ok with me; but in terms of action and plot, it is relatively thin. The Darkling as a villain has very rich material, but I guess because this is a YA book, then we get more airtime for Mal's insecurities in showing his undying love for Alina. I did not even feel that in the first place-- they were both orphans with strong bonds as friends, but I guess Mal took her for granted. It was only after they got separated and a more powerful guy took interest that he realized Alina was a true north, whatever. But ok, sure, I get it. I liked the ending for Alina, although I would have preferred Nikolai over Mal. But a Zoya-Nikolai tandem wouldn't be so bad.

3.5 out of 5. The Crows duology was waaaayyy better. I'd have to read the Scars duology to finally complete the ranking.

***

On screen. Some friends were not particularly fond of the screen adaptation. I found it more enjoyable that the book because of the Crows crossover. Kaz and his motley gang are really wonderful characters and this "prequel" to Six of Crows makes it more exciting. It provides grit and depth to the original Grisha story. For the main storyline, it remains wholly faithful to the plot in the book. The alterations were justified to meet the quicker and more visual pace onscreen. This is better for me. Looking forward to more action in the second season.

4 out of 5. The crossover really got me hooked.

***

I might need a visit soon to Booksale to look for copies with the original covers, not those plastered with the Netflix mark. Hahaha! Also, Nikolai would have to wait for my next break so I can complete the whole Grishaverse story. I want a more satisfying end to all these. My friend says Ninth House is intriguing. One way to find out.

But for now, back to more serious reading. Tax policies are demanding attention. Mehh.

#grisha #grishaverse #shadow and bone #ruin and rising #siege and storm #book review #series review

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callunavulgari · 3 years

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YEAR-IN-BOOKS | 2020

So. Last year I read 112 books. The year before that I read 89. The year before that I read 39. This year I have (thus far) read 87 books out of my goal of 75 and will likely at least one or two more before the end of the year. So, click below if you want rambly book recs!

1. a book you loved?

This year has been rough. Like, I’m looking back at the books I read in January and am genuinely horrified to realize that I read them a scant twelve months ago when it feels like I read them at least three years ago. I’m glad I kept my limit lower this year, because enjoying anything this year has been harder than usual. I did read some decent books though, and I think the one I loved the most was Gideon the Ninth (and it’s sequel, Harrow the Ninth). They’re both fantastic books, and so deeply unexpected. Reading the first chapter or so of Gideon’s book is like getting whiplash. You go into it expecting angsty lady necromancers and get a crossdressing bee that secretes hallucinogenic substances and pulsates in time to the music in your head. Literally, Gideon’s dialogue is so out of left field that I spent half the book delightedly confused. But it is genuinely funny? And lesbian necromancers in space is just.. such an underutilized concept. Harrow’s book was a little harder - her head space is weird and everything is intentionally fucking with you so you really are confused for 90% of it, but I think the pay off was more than worth it.

2. a book you hated?

I was deeply, DEEPLY disappointed by The Secret Commonwealth. I finished it near the end of January and was just so fucking mad for days. Because the thing is, my expectations were not super high. I was excited for it, mostly because a grown up version of Lyra is something that I thought I would only ever experience in fanfiction. Now, I wish I’d only experienced her in fanfiction. Graphic attempted rape, retroactively confirming a rape happened in a previous book (one where it was implied that the victim got away in time), retroactively raping a character from the previous trilogy... like. I’m sorry. But fuck that noise. Fuck Philip Pullman. Fuck any douchebag asshole who thinks a woman has to be raped in order to write compelling fiction. I was riding the high of the new HBO series (which was good) and I guess I just... thought the author would have some goddamn integrity.

3. a book that made you cry?

We Are Okay was a really gorgeous, tender little book about grief that I read in one sitting in my bed when I really should have been sleeping. I read this book in March, when things only kind of hurt for me. When things were still largely okay. Before the bulk of covid hit my side of the world. Before self-isolation was an every day thing, not just something in books. Before Mal. Before getting covid. But ultimately, this was a book about healing. It aches, yes, but it also soothes.

4. a book that made you happy?

Both Beach Read and Written in the Stars made me pretty happy. Both romcoms done right, the first is a book about a romance writer falling in love with a thriller/mystery writer. They’re staying at neighboring beach houses and spend a summer getting themselves out of their comfort zones by challenging the other to write in the other person’s chosen genre. It’s sweet. It’s sexy. Over all, a really fun read, with enough depths to keep me engaged.

The second book is a meet-cute that involves astrology, fake dating, and lesbians. It’s written phenomenally well, and gave me a brief surge of happiness when I needed it most.

5. the best sequel?

Probably Harrow. The Dragon Republic is a great second choice though. Again, it’s a hard book, and I wouldn’t have been able to read it any later in the year than I did, because it is... not a happy book. But it is, in my opinion, a good one. And I am still excited about the third.

6. most anticipated release for the new year?

I am hoping to get the as of yet Untitled sequel to Ninth House in 2021. I am also hoping to actually be able to read The Rhythms of War in the new year, since I doubt I’ll get a chance in 2020. I’m looking forward to Mister Impossible, the second book in the Ronan trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater. I’m looking forward to the Hourglass Throne, which I think is coming in 2021? A Desolation Called Peace in March. The Thorn of Emberlain might actually be out in October, which will be wonderful it doesn’t get pushed back again. Rule of Wolves, the King of Scars Duology in the Grishaverse will also be March. One Last Stop by Casey McQuistion in May!!!!

7. favorite new author?

Defintely Tamsyn Muir. I will also be keeping an eye out for Alexandriua Bellefleur’s stuff...

8. favorite book to film adaptation?

Uh, can I say MDSZ/The Untamed without actually having read the original text? Well, I’ve read a few chapters, but damn.

9. the most surprising book?

Taproot. It’s this little graphic novel about a gardener who can see ghosts. And like. It still makes me warm to think about how tender it is.

10. the most interesting villain?

Does Loki: Where Mischief Lies count? Since Loki is technically a villain, even if he’s only villain adjacent in this book.

11. the best makeouts?

I... don’t know? I didn’t real read any of these books for makeouts. Not this year.

12. a book that was super frustrating?

Boyfriend Material. It has great ratings! It has fake dating! But the story was very so-so for me.

13. a book you texted about, and the text was IN CAPSLOCK?

I think I yelled at Nick a few times about how pissed I was at the Secret Commonwealth.

14. a book for the small children in your life?

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a book about a case worker at the department in charge of magical youth and he is charged with traveling to an island and making a very important decision about the children living there. It was adorable and I wish I’d had a book like it when I was young.

15. a book you learned from?

That is not the sort of book that I was reading in 2020.

16. a book you wouldn’t normally try?

I read a couple mysteries. Some were good. Most made me remember why I don’t read mysteries.

17. a book with something magical in it?

Call Down the Hawk, because all of Maggie’s books are at least a little bit magical. And while this definitely didn’t hit quite the same vibes that the Raven Cycle did, it was still very, very good.

18. the best clothes?

Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth have the best goth aesthetic I have ever seen in a book. Also, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, because Addie’s clothes always sounded cute and comfortable.

19. the most well-rounded characters?

The City We Became had some fantastic characters. It was really interesting to see Jemisin get out of her typical fantasy setting and this novel was so out of this world.

20. the best world-building?

Deeplight! It’s described as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets Frankenstein and that is pretty accurate. Old gods that traversed the sea tore each other apart and now the world tries to get a hold of their corpses for amazing powers. It was really, really cool and probably the best book I could have chosen to read at the beach.

21. the worst world-building?

Eh. Most of the books I hated I didn’t keep reading this year.

22. a book with a good sidekick?

I really like all of the characters in the Tarot Sequence. There are some solid characters, even if there’s basically no women. Also Graceling.

23. the most insufferable narrator?

I was not a fan of The Mysterious Benedict Society, mostly because of the narrator. It was so boring and I quit halfway through.

24. a book you were excited to read for months beforehand?

Return of the Thief. Which... was still mostly good. But the ending felt lackluster for me. I may go back and reread the series and see if it feels more genuine after I’ve read them all together.

25. a book you picked up on a whim?

I literally picked up Written in the Stars because the cover was pretty and it looked like the romance was between two girls. And it did nooooot fail me.

26. a book that should be read in a foreign country?

Shrug emoji.

27. a book cassian andor would like?

I still don’t know what to make of this question.

28. a book gina linetti would like?

Shrug emoji.

29. your favorite cover art?

Gideon and Harrow, honestly. I also really liked Under the Udala Trees.

30. a book you read in translation?

I genuinely don’t know.

31. a book from another century?

Teeeeechnically The Great Hunt?

32. a book you reread?

I reread the Diviners and the Captive Prince series near the beginning of the year. They were still delightful.

33. a book you’re dying to talk about, and why?

Into the Drowning Deep was fucking amazing. I love Mira Grant’s work anyway and there’s this scene where a character pilots a submersible into the Marianas Trench and experiences your first face-to-face encounters with the sirens and like. AHHHHHHHHHH. It was so spooky and beautiful and just genuinely amazing.

TLDR; 2020 sucked, most books still couldn’t pierce through the depression, but there were a few bangers.

#heather says what #new year's memes #2020 #books to read #recommendations #fuck yeah recs!!

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theorchardofcatnaps · 4 years

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Social distance: (not) touched from the very first time

Hello everyone!

I hope that you're all in good health in this daunting time; if not I suggest imagining Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, when he gets out of the pond with his 19th-century knickers – it’s a real amusement.

If you're not into that there are many other things you can do (or not do; it is okay to bum around, which honestly, I do most of my time during quarantine…while being at nervous breakdown of course) In this post I'm going to give some very peripheral yet leisurely activities to do during quarantine, that doesn’t cost a lot of money (especially if you're jobless and broke like I am) :

1. Take a nice-relaxing stroll around your block – put on your finest scarf or face-mask, take your dog or your guinea pig ( or whatever you have, and if you don’t have any house-pet – you can bring some animal-appropriate food to feed the wild animals at your block); take your headphones and put some epic-music (my all-time favorite is Abba and I'm not ashamed to say it), or even listen to some audiobooks – there are some free audiobooks on YouTube such as Daniel Redcliffe reading Harry Potter (Merlin's beard! yeah!), there is also Jennifer Ehle (pride and prejudice – 1995 - BBC addition) reading P&P on her YouTube channel and in her Instagram account (I was in total awe when I found out it is real) - @ehle_jennifer

2. Play board games or cards with your isolation party (in my case - my parents). I love a good and highly-competitive game (when I play, I truly become a Monica). If you're into long-lasting and strategy games, I highly recommend playing "Catan" – this game is based on trade and building settlements. It might sound capitalistic but it’s a really fun and intellectual game. I'm like the North Korea of Catan – I never bargain nor do I associate with the enemy. "Risk" is a headache-causing game (but in a fun-good way) as well as Catan. Monopoly is a classic. Backgammon and Checkers are also classic ones. In the cards section, I recommend this game called "shithead" – search it online; at first it sounds a bit complex, but it's absolutely brilliant and addictive. It might not be considered as a board game, but I must recommend the app game called "heads up!" – it's not very competitive but it's VERY amusing.

3. Books books books! Quarantine is the BEST time to catch with your reading. I have few books in mind that might get you interested: I will begin with YA fantasy-fiction books because I'm an addict – the GrishaVerse trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. It's basically a group of good-looking people who have a grip on different kinds of natural elements, that drinks tea from samovars! (samovar is a tea brewer, that is very popular in Russia and Eastern-Europe). besides, you better catch up with the book series before the Netflix show (called Shadow and Bone) is aired. Another great fantasy book (dystopian) that I read recently – Children of Blood and Bone, written by Tomi Adeyemi. The author built this marvelous-most-magical world inspired by African mythology, with amazing female protagonists and intoxicating plot. One last dystopian-fantasy series I recommend reading is "An Ember in the Ashes", by Sabaa Tahir. I genuinely couldn’t stop reading this book - it's full of jinn and magical creatures. BUT, if you're not into fantasy books there are these great heartwarming-jaunty-ones I read recently and especially liked: Close Enough to Touch (Colleen Oakley), Can You Keep a Secret? (Sophie Kinsella), and The Life List (Lori Nelson Spielman). Haven’t read yet but looking forward to – The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes and Loveless by Alice Oseman, which is out this summer.

4. Holy binge! Nowadays it is time to put on your Primark jimjams and eat cookies ceaselessly! (BTW I suggest the Gluten-Free Brownie Chocolate Cookies from -https://www.lilcookie.com/ ) while eating those heavenly-taste cookies, there are several tv series to watch: I love a good-romantic even a little tacky - South-Korean shows; such as Crash Landing on You (Netflix original), Love In The Moonlight (Netflix), Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, and Empress Ki. A warning in advance: they will definitely make you shed some tears, so grab your Kleenex. Now for some really good not-Korean shows: Derry Girls (hilarious-a bit dark humored series in 90's Ireland), Call My Agent (a witty French series), Never have I ever, and the most talked-about show – Normal People (I haven’t seen it yet, but I loved the novel and I heard some really good reviews on the BBC adaption).

I hope my activities guide helped in some way. If not, I hope you will manage to find a way to stay calm and both mentally and physically healthy.

With many love and social-distanced bisous,

Bar

#writeaway #post #personal blog #books #tv #korean drama #k drama #board game reviews #quarantine #mr darcy

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mellifera38 · 5 years

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Grishaverse on Netflix

So I’ve had some time today at work to come to terms with the fact that they are making a Six of Crows/Shadow and Bone Netflix series and these are my thoughts on it: No.

It would be one thing if it was a proper full series and it was just Six of Crows- I might hold out some hope because they’d have more than eight freaking episodes to flesh out the characters. Eight episodes for two different book series??? Especially one series that I didnt even like? I just don’t think they could do enough with that short a time frame to make anything I was satisfied with. You cant fit 5 books into eight episodes. You just cant. Unless they pull some seriously miraculous shit I don’t trust it. EDIT: I’ve been informed there may be multiple seasons. This has reduced my fear by a whopping 5%.

I’m not all that worried about the usual things- that they will cast Nina as a skinny girl or Inej as a white girl. Leigh has held out this long and I don’t think she’d accept a Movie/TV deal unless she had enough say in it to keep things like this from happening. There are a lot of ways they could screw this up just like they screw up almost every book series ever put on screen. The one thing that my mind kept wandering to though while I was digesting the big news, was one simple thing that is a deal-breaker for me. The thing that has made me NEVER actually want this series adapted to live action is that I don’t think it’s possible to adapt Kaz Brekker to screen. Or at the very least, what a fucking daunting prospect it would be. It’s one thing to cast him (and even fandom can’t agree on a damn fancast) and another to actually write him for television without it being a disaster.

I don’t think it can be done- not without being able to hear his inner voice. Who he is as a person and who he presents to the world are VASTLY different things- that’s like the point of him. No one ever knows what he’s actually thinking or secretly planning. He’s built up a specific image of himself in order to get the things he wants. If we cant hear his inner voice, what we are going to get on screen is either just his ‘persona’ as a sarcastic heartless criminal (who says a lot of weirdly poetic shit for a 17 year old btw- I’m sure that will translate well) or they are going to overshoot and end up with a flat “edgy dark brooding antihero with a tragic backstory” stereotype. He walks such a delicate line in the books to subvert this bad trope and Leigh Bardugo is a fucking genius in how she wrote him. I don’t trust any director to manage the same feat on screen. Hes going to end up an embarrassing badboy stereotype I fucking know it and I can’t fucking handle it haha. I’m also afraid they will “soften him up” or make him angsty to make him more likable as a protagonist (and make up for this lack of inner voice- which in the books is the only reason you can empathize with him). This is a gang leader and murderer who plucks people’s eyeballs out and threatens to kill people’s families/friends/dogs to get what he wants from them on a regular basis. He’s objectively a bad person and in any other series he’d be the damn villain and I don’t want them to shy away from that and make him something he’s not. He’s not an asshole with a secret heart of gold. Villains can fall in love and make friends too and they are still horrible people. The other big fear is of course that they will end it with him and Inej kissing (because on tv and movies the love interests always kiss at the end) which would be unfathomable for kaz due to his trauma. I don’t want him to be ‘cured by the power of love’ or some shit and If they try to turn him into fucking Angel from buffy I’m gonna set my hair on fire. I trust Netflix slightly more than the usual Hollywood asshats who love nothing more than to piss all over a good book series, but I don’t trust them that much. I’ll probably wait to see what other people have to say about it when it comes out before I watch. I can’t handle another ‘golden compass’ fiasco- I’d rather pretend it doesn’t fucking exist than be let down for the millionth time.

#six of crows #grishaverse #ok i got that out of my system #i really really really wish i could be excited for this #but im just scared #i love this series so goddamn much #im protective

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grumpyslav · 5 years

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Wicked Saints Review ★★★ 1/2

This is a Slavic inspired fantasy. I am Slavic. A perfect match, right?

Well, no. Not really. This book has some good themes but it takes itself too seriously for what ends up being a typical YA fantasy (and there was potential for much more!) But hey, it has a sexy villain love interest so I am sure it will be a great success.

Warning: this will be Long. I have Many Opinions.

Plot: Nadya is a cleric (magic user) in a Russia-inspired country, Kalyazin. Her power comes from gods: she can communicate with the entire pantheon of gods and they give her magical powers whenever she asks. (We are told that gods sometimes don’t listen or that Nadya has to behave in a certain way to be on gods’ good side but we never witness that in the story.) The country is at war with a Polish-inspired country Tranavia because of religious differences. The gods were banished from Tranavia and blood magic is used instead, which is considered heresy in Kalyazin. When her monastery is attacked by Tranavian high prince Serefin, Nadya has to run away. She stumbles upon a Tranavian blood mage Malachiasz and his two sidekicks, who offer help. At some point, it is decided that the best way to end the war and bring gods back to Tranavia is to assassinate Serefin’s father, the king of Tranavia. This is where the real plot kicks in. (Which I will not spoil at this moment.)

Magic system: An interesting idea, but the rules are never explained. That is probably one of the key problems with the story. We learn that Kalyazi clerics (Nadya is believed to be the last one) get magic powers from gods. Clerics can typically communicate with only one god, but Nadya can talk to all of them. (Why? Because she is the MC. We don’t know.) She calls the gods by pressing beads on her necklace. Based on the individual god’s power, Nadya can get strength, super speed, the ability to spy on her enemies, etc. A problem here is that we don’t know what is that gods can or cannot do; there are no limits to Nadya’s power. No rules are established so everything feels arbitrary (a key problem with the book’s magic system). This is a bad narrative choice, but in the second part of the book we learn that it is not so important what gods can do; all that is relevant is that they are the ones giving Nadya power.

Then we have Tranavians. They use blood magic: they always carry a book of spells and when they want to cast a spell, they tear a page from the book, cut themselves and bleed over the page. There are (presumably) many different spells that can do many different things, but just like with Kalyazi gods, we don’t have a clue what is possible and what is not. And just like Kalyazi gods, it turns out that it’s not so important what blood magic can do, it is important that this is blood magic.

All these things become relevant in the second part of the book, but by then it’s a bit late. The book starts adding exceptions and different approaches to magic but with no proper establishment and with no rules, we can’t judge this new stuff properly. Is it supposed to be scary? Is it supposed to be surprising? There are hints that some of it is new and never heard before, but it is never properly anchored. So you just go with the flow and take the author’s word that yes, this thing happening is Important.

Characters: Nadya is a solid character that gets betrayed by the narrative. She is realistic as a naive, sheltered young woman who tries to find her place in the world, who makes mistakes but tries her best. She does all she can to have agency and be proactive. Unfortunately, narrative doesn’t let her. Her whole existence is marked by her lack of agency, because she depends on gods’ powers. In the second part of the book she grows a little and starts discovering her own power, but it’s late because this is where Malachiasz takes over as the most important character and Nadya gets sidelined. Sucks to be you, Nadya, but we gotta make room for a bad boy.

Serefin is a solid character, although it is unclear why we spend almost half of the book in his head. There is no significant character development nor plot to warrant this. But he works as a character, so I have no major complaints. The only downside is that stuff such as his excessive drinking is used as a shorthand for characterization.

Malachiasz is, arguably, the main character in the book. Both in literal and in meta sense. Literal, because the whole story ends up being about him. In meta sense, because one’s enjoyment of the book largely depends on whether the reader likes this character or not. Clearly written to be the core of the story’s secrets and adored by the author, there is no much room for those who might dislike him. He is a love child of Darkling and Kylo Ren and, for some reason, this is portrayed as interesting or worthy to carry the whole book. ?

Points for not making excuses for the romance: Malachiasz is portrayed as terrifying and there are no excuses there, take it or leave it. What sucks is that a man being terrifying is portrayed as a good thing, so in the end you do get your typical YA abusive bad boy (will this trope die already?) But at least we are spared explanations on why Malachiasz is actually a cinnamon roll, so at least that’s something. (Okay, not really. We do need to talk why this type of a man is romanticized over and over again. It is a bad trope, a lazy, incorrect and dangerous trope. But it’s a rant for another day.)

Ending: The book ends on a high note but without major twists. I wouldn’t say the ending is predictable per se, but it’s more down to lack of rules in the magic system than clever writing. Still, a solid ending.

Representation: The author is clearly into Slavic folklore and it shows. For all the ways in which Wicked Saints resemble Grishaverse, I have to say that there is a clear effort to make setting respectably Slavic. Language aspects are good and certain things (in plot, aesthetics) are clearly inspired by Slavic cultures. At the same time, the story doesn’t feel Slavic at all. Duncan gets certain details right but misses the whole point and symbolism behind Slavic cultures and folklore. Which is unfortunate. Slavic folklore is highly symbolic and should not be taken literally. Wicked Saints is too literal to be Slavic, too gothic to be Slavic, to Western to be Slavic.

And there is the whole issue of real-life history between Russia and Poland (which is not on Westerners to adapt as they please), as well as the fact that, once more, we have an image of Slavic cultures as wild, violent, always at war with each other, persecuting anyone who disagrees with their beliefs, etc, etc. I am aware that trashing Slavic cultures was not author’s intent (nor is that the point of the book), but it remains that it follows typical Western views of Eastern Europe, which is not helpful.

When it comes to other types of diversity, there is an attempt but nothing of substance comes out of it. There are female characters in the position of power. Four POC characters (mainly sidekicks.) One female character who is into women (lesbian? bi? pan?) A few characters that could be understood as disabled (missing an eye, for example). That’s all I can think of.

Verdict: ★★★ ½ (Certain aspects deserve five stars, others fall to two)

A flip review: I’d say the focus on theology is the book’s strong point. More of that, please. Duncan opens a dialogue not commonly seen in YA books: about beliefs, religion, free will. All important, significant themes that so many authors don’t want to tackle in a complex manner. And points for doing research, particularly in linguistics. (If only Duncan didn’t want this to be so black metal we might have had a setting that does Slavic folklore justice.) But if we ignore real Slavic cultures and folklore, the whole thing does set itself apart in aesthetics from similar YA offerings. It also doesn’t shy away from confusing her readers, if need be. Duncan clearly knows what kind of a story she wants to tell and what kind of aesthetics she wants to achieve. With so many bland YA offerings, it is a refreshing thing to see.

#wicked saints #emily a duncan #grumpyslav #grumpyslavreads #young adult fantasy

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witchytonks-blog · 5 years

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Questions from @incorrecthpjo!

What’s your favourite book/books? Do you have a year for me to list them all? Um...forever-top-two are Neverending Story by Michael Ende and the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. The others rotate as I obsess over things. Right now, I am ALL ABOUT AND IMPLORE YOU TO READ --

Grishaverse/Six of Crows verse by Leigh Bardugo

Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi

Circe by Madeline Miller

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

What’s an ideal day to you? Rainy day outside with me cozy inside with the cats and a book.

What do you love about yourself most? I’m an amazing friend.

Are you good at keeping secrets? Yes.

What do you think about celebrating birthdays? Yay presents? But otherwise, I don’t like anything big about it.

What can you do today that you weren’t capable of a year ago? Say that I own my own home.

What is the worst injury you have had? I got a hairline fracture in my left ankle because I missed a step walking out of a trailer -- after watching a trailer...for the movie Gravity.

Any unpopular opinions? Probably plenty. Gimme a topic?

What did you want to be when you grew up? A writer.

If you could write a book, what would it be about? I have so many ideas...that don’t come to fruition.

If you could spend a day with someone who would it be and what would you do? Dead? Jane Austen or Shakespeare, and we’d hang out and go see adaptations of their things and I’d ask their opinions. Alive? Keanu Reeves. And we would do whatever he wanted to do.

My questions! (NGL. I’m stealing some of the questions, because I like them.)

1. What’s your favourite book(s)?

2. What do you love most about yourself?

3. What can you do today that you weren’t capable of a year ago?

4. Any unpopular opinions?

5. What’s your favourite video/computer game?

6. What piece of advice or words of encouragement would you give to your past self?

7. What’s your least favourite chore/required activity?

8. Name a place you would like to travel to.

9. Are you a knick-knack person or prefer more minimalist decoration?

10. What’s your favourite song and why?

Tagging -- @lycanthropyprofessor, @lyraxlestrange, @ofwarriorsmade and anyone else who would like to do this!

#ooc #mun things

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mordacitatis · 6 years

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Moonlit Bargains and Hungry Woods

So only read this if you enjoy research papers on The Language of Thorns by @lbardugo...I thought she might want to see it!

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo is a collection of literary fairy tales set within the fictional world of the Grishaverse. Each page is illustrated in a continuing development that mirrors the written tale, culminating in a beautiful two-page full color illustration. Working much like a flip book, the illustrations by Sarah Kipin build and flow into each other flawlessly. The author’s inspiration stems from “that note of trouble that [she thinks] many of us hear in familiar tales” and the dissatisfaction that sits with us at the end of our favorite stories (Bardugo 278). Rooted in her strong sense of feminism, all of Bardugo’s stories epitomize female empowerment. She seeks to “tell the true stories instead of the easy ones,” demonstrating important lessons in virtue, relationships, and love through a twisting of well-known motifs (Bardugo 48).

Laura Tosi examines the various ways that rewritings of fairy tales dialogue with the traditional tales. In her essay “Did They Live Happily Ever After? Rewriting Fairy Tales for a Contemporary Audience,” she discusses the three categories of modern literary fairy tales that she has found through analysis. The first classification is “morally correct” rewritings that overlay “a new ethics of justice and human compassion on traditional tales” (Tosi 372). The second classification is postmodern/metaphysical rewritings that include critical self-reflection of the conventions of traditional tales. Many of these tales are from the perspective of the villain or purposefully make fun of fairy tale patterns. The third classification is feminist tales. Tosi agrees that there is overlap in many retellings that places a story into all three categories. Bardugo’s tales are all primarily feminist but include elements of the other classifications to further the lessons of a feminist tale.

Ayama and the Thorn Wood

The first of Bardugo’s tales draws inspiration largely from “Beauty and the Beast,” though elements of “Arabian Nights,” and “Cinderella” are also apparent. Ayama and the Thorn Wood begins with a classical fairy tale opening, setting us in a time and place that is not quite exact. Two boys born to a royal family; one is branded a monster and locked in a great labyrinth under the castle, the other is lauded as the perfect prince. Simultaneously, two girls are born to paupers; one a kind and graceful beauty, the other failing by comparison and sent to serve in the kitchen.

When the Beast escapes to the woods, and the slaughter of livestock commences, the King’s hired mercenaries fail to subdue him. Ayama’s family sacrificially volunteers her to confront the monster on three separate occasions. She finds him in a magical thorn wood and he challenges her to spin stories that will not anger him. In return, he agrees not to kill her and to leave the townspeople alone. She succeeds each time by telling a story filled with harsh details and realistic endings and returns twice to servitude as her family enjoys rewards for her bravery. The third time, she realizes the Beast has been set up by the King and she agrees to join him by drinking from a magical stream and becoming a monster herself.

Together, Ayama and the Beast confront the King, and learn it was him killing the livestock and destroying the crops to scare his constituents into forgetting the losing war and riches that he had amassed in its name. The king is locked in the labyrinth that he built for his son. Ayama marries her monster prince, her sister marries his beautiful brother, and the people of the kingdom hope “that their children will be brave and clever and strong” and pray for “sons with red eyes and daughters with horns” (Bardugo 47).

There are a few important differences between Bardugo’s tale and the tales that we know. A big one is the characterization of Beauty’s family. Ayama’s sister is loving and tries her best to take care of her younger sister while the original tale has a cast of petty, jealous, deplorable sisters. Beauty volunteered to go to the Beast to save her father while Ayama was volunteered by her family to face the monster for their benefit. The largest difference, and arguably most potent, is that the monster doesn’t transform into a handsome prince. There is nothing wrong with who he is and no need for a transformation. In fact, it is Ayama who makes a transformation into a monster of equal power to the Beast.

In the original “Beauty and the Beast” tale, the heroine’s looks are such an integral part of who she is as a person that she has no name other than Beauty. Her virtues of kindness and intelligence are placed at the same level as her gorgeousness. Bardugo writes her Beauty in a way that corrects the perverted moral lesson that the original tale espouses. Ayama is not beautiful. She is brave, kind, smart, and witty; she teaches the Beast and the people mercy, not because she is a perfect virtuous lady who forgives everyone, but because it is the right thing to do. Ayama shows us that beauty isn’t the only virtue to be lauded and removes the “traditional equation between beauty and goodness,” between beauty and royalty (Tosi 381).

This ideal is exemplified through the postmodernist twist in the tale when Amaya’s grandmother tells her that “interesting things only happen to pretty girls” (Bardugo 9). The grandmother seems to step outside of the story and has a knowledge of fairy tale convention that she exploits. Terry Pratchett explores a similar idea in the Tiffany Aching series, positing that the blond-haired blue-eyed girls get stories of becoming princesses but brown-haired brown-eyed girls don’t get adventures (35). Because Tiffany knows this, she makes the decision to be a witch since she won’t see adventure any other way. The heroine of the next fairy tale makes a similar decision, for slightly different reasons.

The Witch of Duva

The “Hansel and Gretel” inspired tale by Bardugo is set in Ravka, a country based upon Russia and Eastern European cultures. “The Witch of Duva” starts by introducing the reader to Maxim, a well-respected carpenter and father to Havel and Nadya. When their mother dies, Maxim marries Karina, the neighbor who cooked for his ailing wife. Meanwhile, the list of young women who have disappeared into the mysterious woods and never returned grows longer every day.

Havel joins the army, but not before laying white stones in the woods so Nadya can find her way to check traps and return home. Karina plots to rid herself of competition for Maxim’s affection by sending Nadya to check traps in the snow. Nadya gets lost and ends up finding Magda, the Witch of Duva, who teaches her many things both practical and magical. She comes to respect and love Magda. When winter ends and Nadya can return home, Magda sends a magical replica of Nadya made of gingerbread and has her watch through the eyes of the crow.

The gingerbread girl arrives back home and Nadya’s father is overjoyed. Karina leaves the house and bids the crow to leave because “some things are better left unseen” (Bardugo 110). Nadya watches through the window anyway as her father devours the gingerbread girl. Realizing that her father was responsible for the missing girls, a child molester who killed his victims to escape detection, and that Karina knew all along, Nadya returns to Magda to learn witchcraft from the one person who loved her unconditionally.

This story is one of abandonment and separation anxiety. Bruno Bettelheim states that “Hansel and Gretel” has much to “offer to the young child ready to make his first steps out into the world” (“The Struggle for Meaning” 332). This particular adaptation has even more to offer, specifically for female readers. “The Witch of Duva” suggests to girls that their mothers will leave them, brothers meant to protect them will walk away with only a cryptic warning to “be careful,” and that the people you should most fear may not be the evil witches or stepmothers but the men closest to you.

The woods were never hungry for little girls, Nadya’s father was. Karina was never the evil stepmother, Magda was never the evil witch. Havel leaves his sister alone with no one to protect her. Nadya is strong in the home and saves herself in the woods. In these ways, it is quite obvious that this tale differs from “Hansel and Gretel.” However, there are more subtle differences as well. The gluttony that Bettelheim sees so deeply ingrained in “Hansel and Gretel” is no longer attributed to the children in Bardugo’s adaptation, though food continues to be the driving force of the story.

The story explicitly states that the mother’s sickness is undeniably connected to the father being unable to travel and work. There is an implication that she has somehow connected the dots on the mysterious disappearances of the young women in surrounding towns who always went missing when her husband was there. She likely told Karina of her suspicions and will only eat the cakes that Karina brings for her. Unable to prove anything, she wastes away from the secret. The father is then wrapped up in Karina, who brings food and sweets and whispers in his ear. Karina sends Nadya into the woods to check the traps for food. Nadya follows the scent of food in the forest. Her entire sojourn in the witch’s house is detailed by the food that she ate, each moment is steeped in flavor. But it is the father that demonstrates the “destructive aspects of orality” and the “dangers of unrestrained oral greed and dependence” (“Hansel and Gretel” 162). He has regressed psychosexually and has the control of a small child. He devours his daughter in his gluttonous greed, sobbing like a child and begging her to believe that he “tried to stop,” indicating his continued uncontrollable urges (Bardugo 111). While this example of a greedy father is most horrifying, he is not the only one found within the pages of The Language of Thorns.

Little Knife

There are many tales that could have inspired Little Knife, which falls quite heavily into the motif of ‘trials for the hand of the princess.’ This tale is also from Ravka and features a character reminiscent of Russia’s Baba Yaga, a greedy duke with a painfully beautiful daughter, a con man, and personified nature that prevails in the end.

Yeva, the duke’s daughter, is so beautiful that many men tried to steal her away and the sight of her caused riots. She is eventually confined to the castle for her safety and required to wear a veil so as not to distract the servants. Ignoring the objections of his daughter, the duke devises a series of tasks to win her hand that he is certain only a rich suitor can accomplish. What he isn’t expecting is Semyon, a magic wielder who commands the water and air, to complete the tasks by using the river to his own ends, something Semyon is warned against by the wise Baba Anezka.

To complete the last task, Semyon breaks the dam that is weakening the river and sets it free. Semyon and Yeva are to be married on the bank of the river, but before the ceremony can commence, the river takes the form of a great female spirit of the sea who had been trapped by the dam. The river explains that she completed all of the tasks for Yeva’s hand and invites her to go with the river and be “bride to nothing but the shore” (Bardugo 136). Yeva chooses freedom. Freedom from the desire of men and women; freedom from the role as a bargaining chip for more money. The river leaves the town, taking its source of industrial power and leaving it destitute. Yeva grows old and “never worried when her beauty faded, for in her reflection she always saw a free woman” (Bardugo 138).

The duke’s greed destroys his city but ignoring his daughter’s concerns is what truly causes him to lose everything. Yeva asks her father “what way is this to choose a husband” each time he creates another scheme, and each time Yeva finds that she “doubted that her father had answered her question” when he finishes extemporizing about the riches she will receive (Bardugo 122-3). She knows that random tasks are not the way to find a partner. Her father continues to perpetuate the idea that “female subordination [is] a romantically desirable [and] inescapable fate” (Rowe 342).

Karen Rowe discusses the issues that arise in fairy tales in her essay “Feminism and Fairy Tales.” She sees that classical tales “glorify passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice” as the important virtues for a woman to have (Rowe 344). But in the realm of rewritings, Bardugo transforms those ideals. Yeva is expected to sacrifice her happiness and safety to bring riches to her father. She asks her father why “[she] must be the one to hide” because she wants to be able to go outside again (Bardugo 120). He tells her that she should relish the power that she has over men while it is here, but Yeva knows that she should be free. She knows that it is not her job to control the gaze of others.

Yeva shows “an unusual degree of knowledge…of [her] own fictional status,” in that she knows that the way that things are going in this tale are not right (Tosi 378). She knows that creating tasks in the hope that the richest man will prevail is not the way to find a good husband. With the very real fears upon women to find a man with which one will be safe, it isn’t a surprise that she worries about the duke’s scheming. She is a part of a “new generation of smart princesses” that question the roles they have been placed in (Tosi 381). Her father on the other hand continues to ride the plot wave and Yeva eventually leaves him to reap the troubles that he sowed in greed.

This isn’t the only feminist perspective within the story. The river is shamelessly used by a man for his own ends and he berates her when she doesn’t immediately solve his problems for him. Semyon takes credit for the river’s ingenuity and hard work but the river does not allow passivity to keep her from claiming her due. In fact, the river seems to have manipulated Semyon into freeing her from the dam. The river frees herself and offers Yeva the same option. “The Little Knife” is a tale of freedom from the patriarchal society that controls women and keeps them from fulfilling their potential.

Conclusion

Every tale in Bardugo’s collection challenges the stereotypical depictions of women in fairy tales, giving her audience more options for how to shape their perceptions. Bruno Bettelheim believes that fairy tales “foster [children’s] personality development” (“The Struggle for Meaning” 331). If this is true, then the selection of tales that young women have been given to create their personality are lacking. There are few classical tales that demonstrate any kind of independent, self-sufficient woman. This is why modern feminist tales are so incredibly important for the development of children in our society. They make use of the “imaginative and subversive potential of fairy tales” to shape our youth (Tosi 384). They give women the inspiration to become their own heroes; free from the need to wait on a prince. With The Language of Thorns, Leigh Bardugo joins the ranks of feminist fairy tale authors such as Angela Carter, Tanith Lee, and Mary DeMorgan and fulfills her goal to fix the issues found in traditional tales.

Work Cited

Bardugo, Leigh. The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic. Imprint, 2017.

Bettelheim, Bruno. “The Struggle for Meaning.” Hallett and Karasek, pp.323-34.

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1976, pp. 159-66.

de Beaumont, Leprince, Mme. “Beauty and the Beast.” Hallett and Karasek, pp. 171-81.

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. “Hansel and Gretel.” Hallett and Karasek, pp. 142-7.

Hallett, Martin, and Barbara Karasek, editors. Folk & Fairy Tales. 4th ed., Broadview Press, 2009.

Pratchett, Terry. The Wee Free Men. HarperTempest, 2003.

Rowe, Karen. “Feminism and Fairy Tales.” Hallett and Karasek, pp. 342-58.

Tosi, Laura. “Did They Live Happily Ever After? Rewriting Fairy Tales for a Contemporary Audience.” Hallett and Karasek, pp. 367-86.

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