*Sigh* Leigh Bardugo has always been hit or miss for me. While I thoroughly enjoyed Six of Crows, Language of Thorns just left me a little bored.
Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.
Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid’s voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy’s bidding but only for a terrible price.
Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love.
Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans, these tales will transport you to lands both familiar and strange—to a fully realized world of dangerous magic that millions have visited through the novels of the Grishaverse.
This collection of six stories includes three brand-new tales, all of them lavishly illustrated with art that changes with each turn of the page, culminating in six stunning full-spread illustrations as rich in detail as the stories themselves. -goodreads.com summary
I must begin by saying how much I LOVE these illustrations. 90% of why I wanted to pick up The Language of Thorns, was due to the illustrations and page design. I’d give this one a recommendation because the illustrations alone are worth marveling over.
With that said, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the stories inside the novel. I think this Grisha universe is a very interesting world that I can’t wait to read more about, but I just couldn’t care about what was happening in these tales. Folk tales can be such an interesting way to expand a world (I’m surprised more authors haven’t done it), but their simplistic and repetitive story structure just didn’t make an engrossing read for me.
I wish I had connected more to these stories and characters— I really wanted to love these stories… but Language of Thorns just didn’t work for me. As I said before, I do think it is worth at least taking a peak at the illustrations because they are truly amazing. If you’ve a hardcore Leigh Bardugo, then you’ll probably enjoy this, and I’d say to check it out. But if you weren’t a fan of her other books, then I’d give this one a pass.
A few years back, I noticed a big trend towards a lot of Fairy tale retellings in YA. I saw this trend the most with Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series. I remember putting off reading those books because… well I don’t really know why (I think it had something to do with the fact that I didn’t like Cinder’s cover). I waited probably a year before finally picking up Cinder and enjoying it. Now, years later, I (sadly) still haven’t finished that series, but hopefully I can one day.
This makes me wonder, why have retellings become so popular in YA? While this trend has been slipping in popularity, was it a single book blowing up that caused the beginning of the trend, or was it a lot of books at once? (<- I actually don’t know the answer to that question… do tell me your theories
