Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo *REVIEW*

 

Language of Thorns

By Leigh Bardugo

This one was kind of a weird on to review. It didn't feel connected to the Grishaverse at all, it felt more like dark retellings to our worlds fairytales.

Ayama and The Thorn Wood: This one wasn't too bad, it was giving cinderella and beauty and the beast vibes. I enjoyed the relationship between the monster prince and Ayama and the stories that she told with her interesting twist endings. I think her family was unfairly cruel to her and it seemed odd that her grandmother would just tell her to go get eaten by the monster. The ending to this one was however, interesting and unexpected. 3/5 stars

The Witch of Duva: This one reminded me of hansel and gretel and a little bit of the evil stepmother from sleeping beauty. I liked the vibes of this one and the sort of mystery of the missing girls in it. The witch ended up being my favourite character in this story and the end of the story was a bit of a shock to me. 3/5 stars

Little Knife: This one was just ok, it was the only one that actually felt like it was meant to be part of the Grishaverse, however I wasn't the biggest fan. The father kept setting too many tasks and the water spirit at the end wasn't what I was expecting for an ending either. 2/5 stars

The Soldier Prince: This one might have been the most disturbing in the collection in regards to how the soldier was created. The characters were fine but it just wasn't one of my favourites. 2/5 stars

When Water Sang Fire: I could not get through this one, it was a DNF for me. It was reminding me of the little mermaid but not enough to catch my attention and actually make me want to finish it.

Overall, this was a fine collection of stories but as I said, they felt more like retellings than stories that would be in the Grisha world.