The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

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I loved you when no other would, and you chose me for your queen. ... She would find herself atop a great white horse, clutching her beloved’s waist, whooping with joy as they sailed through the night, past the clouds, and into the lands beyond. ... She would try to smile at the drab world around her, though her cheeks were still warm with sunshine, though her tongue was still sweet with the taste of honey wine.(c)

The Soldier Prince Eh. I didn't like this one much I kepy waiting for it to end. I kind of just .... didn't care? And I found the whole doll/kid thing kinda creepy, which I know I've been praising the creepy stuff but this one I don't know I just didn't like it much. The only bit I really liked was the Rat King's appearance. Only gave this one 3 stars Bc we’re always getting these fantastical YA books about flawlessly chiseled heroines and perfectly crafted love interests and boi pleaseee that’s so 2015 The dwelling place of its kings and queens was distinguishable only by its six spires that rose like grasping fingers around a craggy plain. Those bony spires were layered with the scales of trench-dwelling creatures so that, in the daytime hours, they glowed with blue light like a captured moon, and at night their chambers and catacombs gleamed phosphorescent in the heavy dark. (c) The Too-Clever Fox” is a fun story with a pretty gnarly climax. I didn’t guess the plot twist until it was too late, and there were a couple of moments where my skin crawled. This nightmare-inducing collection is short but powerful, each tale as brilliant and absorbing as the one before... brilliant storytelling” — Romantic TimesBe still, my everything. This story. Lord, this story. This story gave me life. This short story was so perfectly crafted and the tale was so perfectly woven into a simple masterpiece. This was easily my favorite story in the entire collection. Also, this is the story that features one of the best characters ever written in modern day literature, the Darkling. This story surrounds two girls who live under the sea. One is ostracized for being different, and the other is forced to sing alongside her, but when they sing they’re more magical than any other singing group. After a turn of events, they are taken above the sea where magic grants them legs to walk among humans. But soon our main character, Ulla, realizes the heart of sea folk isn’t much different than the heart of men. And that pain and hatred can find a way inside of all of our hearts, if we let it. And I just am praying with all of my soul and with the entirety of who I am that we will cross paths with Ulla again in King of Scars. This is an easy choice for teens who enjoyed the Grisha Trilogy, Diviners, or any of the Shadowhunter books.” This is the problem with making a thing forbidden. It does nothing but build an ache in the heart.” Gorgeous, cruel and almost wistful windows onto the dreamscapes and hard lessons of Bardugo's] alternate universe ... fairy tales with all the darkness intact." -- NPR Book Review Im going to go scream into a viod bc this one was just unmatched and it made me want to die at the same time

I really enjoyed that one even though it kind of reminded me of a combination of “The Beauty and the Beast” and “Arabian Nights”. Well, if the beauty would have been a plain girl instead of a beauty and if the stories wouldn’t have had an ending. *lol* You can actually read this short story for free HERE thanks to Tor! And I can’t recommend you read it enough, because this short story actually shook my entire world. This is such a perfectly woven and absolutely haunting tale about a village who is mourning their lost girls, while also trying to endure very hard winters. And the ending of this story is beyond words, and turned me into a crying, melted, weeping, puddle on the floor. Also, this one should probably have a few trigger warnings for abuse (physical/sexual) and just violence in general, even though these things are very vague in the story they are still there, just woven in quietly. This collection features the different worlds that Bardugo creates, and these stories are filled with creepiness and intrigue. Each story conveys different messages which is totally different from the actual fairytales. Throughout the whole book, I was either mesmerized by Bardugo’s magical writing style, in awe of illustrations or just waiting to see what would happen next. The Language of Thorns is just an all-around beautiful book. Lushly designed and wonderfully rendered...Bardugo doesn’t twist familiar tales so much as rip them open." — Booklist, starred review But hope rises like water trapped by a dam, higher and higher, in increments that mean nothing until you face the flood. (c)

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I think we can all agree that this was some sort of “The Little Mermaid” retelling and the longest story out of those six. The relationship between Ulla and Signy was really interesting but if you ask me it was only friendship. I know some people thought they might have a relationship but I doubt it. They both just loved to sing and were connected through their magic and their love for music. The ending didn’t really surprise me and Roffe’s character and his intentions were obvious right from the start. The most interesting piece here was probably the apprentice, which apparently was the Darkling?! I dunno. He was a too little part of this story to actually make assumptions. If the apprentice was the Darkling then this would mean Ulla is his sister. So he’s related to a sea witch? And what about his mother?! I don’t see the connections here, but oh well, might be just me. Those who seem innocent are shown to be guilty, one-dimensional characters become more complicated, and mothers who once were absent are given presence and power." -- Mashable she’s so good at these that as much as i enjoy her longer books, if she decided to devote herself entirely to fleshing out her imaginary lands through folklore like this, i would applaud her choices without reservation. I think the idea for this Ravkan tale came from Hansel and Gretel.It follows Nadya as she finds out the secret of how girls went missing in Duva. The story definitely was the most disturbing and creepy ones for me. The ending has a big twist that I did not see coming a mile away, and it just made the story all that much better. she realized that in all the silent days and nights since she’d left the wood, she’d been storing up words to offer the king’s son. (c)

I'dd admit, I'm not a massive short story lover. I don't know why, it's nothing to do with leigh Bardugo. It's me. So anytime I read a short story collection, even from my faves, I'm expected to be left a little disappointed just because short stories and me don't .... we don't get along great. Why do you bring this beast to my door?” the king demanded to know. “I told you to return with his heart.”So Yeva’s father decides that he needs to marry her off when she’s about sixteen, and holds a contest with challenges for her suitors, because that’s what prideful aristocratic fathers get to do in these tales. It’s clearly not as much fun as it might sound for the girl. When her father returned to the palace and Yeva heard what he had done, she said, “Papa, forgive me, but what way is this to find a husband? Soon I will have a fine mirror, but will I have a good man?”Nor, as it turns out, is it fun for her father in this case. He assumes that his favored suitor, the prince, will be able to use his wealth and servants to win all the challenges, but there’s a poor Grisha Tidemaker, with magical power over water, who comes into town just as the first challenge is getting rolling. Seeing Yeva, he decides to throw his hat into the ring. With the invaluable help of a nearby river, which he calls Little Knife, he’s hard to beat. As for our returning champions, Ravkan folklore which had been published online for free before this collection, I present... I gave The Language of Thorns five stars overall, because out of a possible 30 stars (5 stars possible for each of the 6 stories) this collection accumulated 27 stars (90%). But, like, throw away all of those stars, because this book is one of the best things that 2017 has produced. It’s beautiful, detailed, thoughtful, whimsical, and every single thing I look for in good fairy tales. I can’t recommend this masterpiece enough. This Ravkan tale gathers all of the familiar elements from many old fairy tales: a competition for the hand of a beautiful maiden and a trio of impossible tasks .In this story, Grisha power of a Tidemaker was mentioned and used. It’s a good story with more lesson,like Too Clever Fox. Still it managed to surprise me at the ending like all the others. Author Leigh Bardugo channels the Brothers Grimm but from a feminist angle for this collection of six deliciously dark and dreamlike fairy tales set in her Grisha world. You know these succeed as fairy tales with that classic feel when you fall asleep reading them and wake up wondering what part you dreamed and what was actually a part of The Language of Thorns. And they succeed just as well for more modern readers who are less entranced by the idea that a prince will solve everything or the prettiest girl gets the best outcome. Girls need cunning and bravery -- not looks -- here. And the princes are either monsters or cads.