Books In Art Bubbles: The Language of Thorns

Goodreads rating: 4,49

My reading experience: 5/5

The Language of Thorns is a bind up of six fairytales that take part in the Grishaverse, which is the same world as it is in her other novels. It is also the first book I have read by Bardugo and I can’t wait to get my hands on the special editions of “Shadow&Bone” and read them. I know that I could read “Six of Crows” without having read the other series but I just decided to do it that way. I can’t wait to meet Kaz since I’ve heard so many things about the books and particularly about Kaz and I can feel he is my type of character and we’ll get along well. Sassy has always been my favorite. And now about “The Language of Thorns” - I LOVED IT. It was cruel but nonetheless beautiful and original. Even though that the tales have an author and you could easily find out what the original tale was, Bardugo has changed them and made them her own. They’re not just another stories being told in a different voice, they’re different as a whole.

And now about the artwork. Sara Kipin's work was unbelievable. The artwork deserves a standalone review since they were unbelievably beautiful! There is a small detail appearing on every new page and at the end of the tale, they combine and make a whole picture. Amazing! I’ll post a picture for each story below.

Tale N1: "Ayama and the Thorn Wood" is I think my favorite from them all. It was so appealing and interesting and it kept me on my toes through every page. There are some things that remind you of Beauty and the Beast and since I love that movie, imagine how much I loved that story! Ayama was so brave even though that she hadn’t seen anything good in her whole life. She used to work as a servant for hew own family! And then they used her as bait to stop the beast. She is the hero in this story. And she deserves everything that happened to her afterwards.

"There is but one rule in my wood," he growled. "Speak truth."

Tale N2: "The Too-Clever Fox" is a tale that will make you think about a lot of stuff while reading it. There is a lesson to be learned. Never trust a pretty face with its beautiful words. And before you decide who the villain is, try to look at every detail from a different place, through different eyes and maybe then you will realise that it is not what it looks like. Anyways the fox was really witty and I had a lot of fun with him.

“Not so clever, are you, Koja? No one will have you to visit and you are covered in scabs. You are even uglier than before.”

Koja was untroubled. “I can bear ugliness,” he said. “I find the one thing I cannot live with is death.”

Tale N3: "The Witch of Duva" might remind you of "Hanzel and Gratel" in the beginning but it has nothing in common. The two tales seem to have the same villain, but you'll be surprised. The ending totally killed me. This was not what I expected. Although I was pretty sure who the villain was, I was not sure of his motive. Read it yourself and you will find out, too.

There was a time when the woods near Duva ate girls... or so the story goes. But it’s just possible that the danger may be a little bit closer to home.

Tale N4: "Little Knife" is a story I didn't really enjoy. First of all it was obvious. Second of all I couldn't get a closer look to the other characters. We basically knew nothing of Yeva except that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. I don't know. Maybe just that kind of story is not my type.

“She was terrifying in her beauty, bright like a devouring star.”

Tale N5: "The Soldier Prince" is basically the story about the Nutcracker. Ever since I was little, I've never enjoyed that story. Even when I was watching the Barbie movies that was my least favorite one. The tale that Bardugo wrote of course was not like the original. Nothing like it. But it still couldn't get to me like the rest of the tales.

"This is the problem with even lesser demons. They come to your doorstep in velvet coats and polished shoes. They tip their hats and smile and demonstrate good table manners. They never show you their tails"

Tale N6: "When water sang fire" is my second favorite tale. When I was a little kid I found those tv series about mermaids (H2O: just add water fans here?) and since then they have always taken a spot in my heart. Plus not to mention that it’s actually the story of how Ursula from Ariel became evil Ursula. (I totally loved that!!!) Not to mention that she actually did a noble thing and for that she got nothing more than loneliness and reclusion.

"Hope rises like water trapped by a dam, higher and higher, in increments that mean nothing until you face the flood."

In conclusion, even though I loved each tale in a different way, this book was so magical and full of surprises and unexpected turns that every person on the planet deserves to have it in his hands. Try it out! I'm sure you're not going to regret it!