The Bear and the Nightingale

Well, if that wasn't the perfect YA book than I don't know what could aspire to such title. Of course, it is just my personal opinion, but I'm a little bit in awe.

It is not a long book, but the story is stretched over 14 years. Can you imagine that? Not your usual YA novel. And I can only sing praises on how good it has been accomplished. The plot is rich with the details, but it is also fast-paced and gripping.

What's more, we get so many characters here. Some of them good. Some not so much. But all good written nonetheless. I really loved that we've got a point of view changed a few times in a chapter, it never let me get bored. But what I liked the most - all of them were reasonable. There wasn't hatred just for the hatred - they all had their reasons.

As for the main character, I'm just want to stand and applaud. Can you imagine the book, where a girl is truly not concerned what she looks like? Well, you don't need to imagine it anymore. Here is the book about such a girl. And even more. She is brave, but she is not stupidly brave. She has a brain and even knows how to use it. But you know what is even more surprising? She knows where it is better to stop talking.

One more good thing about this book - there wasn't a love triangle. To tell the truth, the romance is practically non-existent here, except for a tiny hint at it closer to the end of the book. However, I liked it that way as there were enough troubles without additional complications.

One more important thing in this book is the setting. The writer did a really great job of capturing the Russian folklore. Trust me, that's a truly great feat for a foreigner as I've grown up with the stories of Morozko and other peculiarities of Slavic tales.

By the way, there is no cliffhanger at the end of the first book (or almost not a cliffhanger), so it is more or less complete story. However, I have no idea if the second book ends in the same way. Therefore, I will not start the next installment in the trilogy right now. I prefer to wait until the last book will come out.