Title: The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: Grishaverse Folktales
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Imprint
Publication Date: September 26th, 2017
Edition: Kindle Edition, 290 pages
Source: Library
Synopsis:
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.
Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans, the tales in The Language of Thorns 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, each of them lavishly illustrated and culminating in stunning full-spread illustrations as rich in detail as the stories themselves.
Ayama and the Thorn Wood
The Too-Clever Fox
The Witch of Duva
Little Knife
The Soldier Prince
When Water Sang Fire
These stories are a wonderful addition to the Grishaverse. They are dark, engaging, and a little depressing at times. It's a little hard for me to review this as a whole since the stories aren't connected, other than being the fairytales of the Grishaverse. But I'll do what I can.
Ayama and The Thron Wood is the first new-to-me story set in the Grisha world. And I loved it. The magic of this story was just. so. good. Thinking back, it kind of has a Beauty and the Beast vibe. I love how this story was told the most, it has kind of an unexpected turn to it.
I'm not sure which fairy tale The Too-Clever Fox is inspired by though it has kind of a Red-riding hood vibe to it, The Witch of Duva has a Hansel and Gretel vibe, though honestly a little darker. And it's one of my favorites. I read The Too-Clever Fox and The Witch of Duva a couple years ago and loved them.
The Little Knife is another one that I am not sure what it's based/inspired by so it feels the most unique to me. The Soldier Prince is, interesting. It's kind of my least favorite, partly because I'm not really sure who this story is about. The toy, the little girl it belonged it, or the Fabrikator who made it.
When Water Sang Fire is another favorite. It took me until nearly the end of the story to figure out what this one was inspired by, and that might be why I loved it so much. And I kind of don't want to say what it's inspired by for that very reason.
This is the only one set in the Grishaverse that you don't have to read after reading any of the other books. It's very much a "standalone" in the rest of the Grishaverse books, and even if you didn't like the Grisha trilogy, or for some reason didn't like Six of Crows, you should read this.
Sorry that this review is rubbish, but I'm not very good at reviewing anthology books.
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