The Witch of Duva
Ratings43
Average rating4
I looked at this GR listing and thought, “4.44 average rating, huh? I wonder if it's really that good.” IT IS.This was an obsessive read for me, in the best way. Every spare moment was devoted to reading/listening. This is right up there with [b:Circe 35959740 Circe Madeline Miller https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508879575s/35959740.jpg 53043399] and [b:Norse Mythology 37903770 Norse Mythology Neil Gaiman https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516128292s/37903770.jpg 51396954] for compulsively readable retellings of mythology. In fact, I think it's substantially more enchanting than Norse Mythology, because it was so surprising and inventive.Many of these fairy tales have echoes of some of Disney's Greatest Hits, but most often the touch is feather-light, and the borrowing from classic tales is used to subvert expectations. Every story has both emotionally compelling characters and a certain otherworldly, folktale vibe. And it's all packaged within the fictional Grishaverse, so Bardugo has plenty of room to play and go in novel directions.Super fun read I'll return to again soon!
《There was a time when the woods near Duva ate girls.》
OMG this was so fucking creepy!
It was such a good retelling of Hansel and Gretel, I can't even.
As you can see I'm sold, I want to start the Grisha trilogy ASAP.
Made my heart race at the end. Maybe not the best thing to have in your head before you sleep haha!
I really enjoyed this. The pacing towards the end could have been a little smoother, a question or two popped up that was a little distracted.
Loved the fairy tale feel.
I'm not sure how i feel about [b:The Witch of Duva 13643163 The Witch of Duva (Grishaverse, #0.5) Leigh Bardugo https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336644891l/13643163.SX50.jpg 19258458]. It is dark, haunting and beautiful and gave me extremely dark Hansel and Gretel vibes, however i did not like the story as much as I thought i would. Although the ending surprised me, I wasn't impressed with the overall story. (maybe it's just not for me)A few things that put me off were the pace and structure of the story. there was just way too much going on in the end and i struggled to keep up (the fact that i haven't read any folk or grimm's tales before or that i read this at 2 am didn't help either)However i do think it offers a lot for such a short story:) and [a:Leigh Bardugo 4575289 Leigh Bardugo https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1534446099p2/4575289.jpg]'s storytelling stands out, yet again.
Another Tor.com free to read short story set in a fictional place inspired by Russia.
Quick easy read, a dark folk tale.