Book Title: The Witch of Duva
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha #0.5
Series: The Grisha #0.5
Date Started: June 29th 2013
Date Completed: July 1st 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: Four stars
Review:
I have to say I really liked this book - it went back to good old-fashioned fantasy stories about betrayal, tragedy etc. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on the whole time, but admittedly that was because when I read novellas they're more of a time-filler between the times I can't read the full novel I happen to be reading.
The Witch of Duva is about Nadya - a girl without a mother who lives with her father and brother. When Havel, her brother, decides he must leave in order to make a living for himself, Karina descends to take Nadya's dead mother's place in her father's heart. But Karina threatens Nadya to leave with her brother. When Nadya does not such thing, she's forced into a laborious life checking traps in the dead of night. Until she gets lost in the forest's shadows and finds herself at a little cottage in the middle of a clearing where an old woman lives...
I liked the writing. I don't really have much to say about it. It was really good, there were no problems with the flow of the text or anything like that. It was more that the places, feelings and characters didn't come alive to me. Luckily, since the story doesn't depend too much on the reader's reaction, it didn't matter that much.
I just found it a little unremarkable for a fantasy novel. Perhaps more detail in the locations would have helped this - in which case it may have been left out since this is a novella and not a full-blown novel.
I loved the story. Back to classic fairytales. Girl's mother dies and she's left with her father and evil stepmother. She gets lost in the wood whilst doing work to stumble upon a witch who looks after her. Despite the fact that this is your typical fairytale, I didn't get bored. I didn't predict what was going to happen, and I liked the way the audience don't quite know who to trust or what's right to do or wrong.
I have to admit, the end is depressing - like many traditional fairytales and I wonder if Nadya was really aware of what she was doing. I also liked the way we're left actually feeling sorry for the bad characters, but it's too late to do anything about it. I think that's a very clever fact about stories; sometimes the 'bad' character isn't bad, yet still gets the blame.
There aren't that many characters in this story. I think that's quite good considering the plot line; there aren't too many distractions and everything has a purpose.
Nadya wasn't a typical protagonist, because I didn't really felt I knew her. This didn't really affect the story, and I have a feeling it presents a worse picture than it actually is, but I need to say it anyway. I didn't really understood why she did all these things. Since this story is written in the 3rd person, I understand that it might be harder to incorporate a person's feelings - especially since she doesn't talk much. But other authors seem to manage it. (It might be that this was deliberately used in order to make us watch the events from our own point of view - I just don't really think it worked that well.)
I liked the witch. Again, we know basically nothing about her, and we learn very little. But I liked the way she wasn't really the stereotypical witch you find it in fairytales. Indeed, we don't know whether to trust her or not, but she was still a lot gentler than the typical witch. I thought this worked really well when the story comes to its climax; and leaves the reader wondering whether she was actually good after all, or not.
The father confused me. I think there was a reason why he started to neglect Nadya - one the reader is probably supposed to figure out themselves - but I didn't work it out. That might just be me being dim, but I couldn't think of why he would be acting exactly how he was.
I don't really have any comments on Karina.
I wish Nadya and Havel's relationship was shown to us a little more before he left - I think I might have sympathised with the characters a little more that way.
The pace was quite slow throughout the whole thing, even at the climax. Again, this didn't really affect the story that much, but it certainly stopped it from becoming a really good novella.
I just didn't feel as engaged with this book as much as with other books - and I think that's a really important thing. Even though everything's there in theory, it doesn't tie up too well when everything put together.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes original traditional fairy tales. The writing is a lot more modern than the typical fairytale, so some might find it easier to read.
It really is a good story, I just didn't feel involved in the story - but at the end of the day, that is the style of fairytales, and so makes a lot of sense actually.
Image Source: http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336644891l/13643163.jpg
I have to say I really liked this book - it went back to good old-fashioned fantasy stories about betrayal, tragedy etc. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on the whole time, but admittedly that was because when I read novellas they're more of a time-filler between the times I can't read the full novel I happen to be reading.
The Witch of Duva is about Nadya - a girl without a mother who lives with her father and brother. When Havel, her brother, decides he must leave in order to make a living for himself, Karina descends to take Nadya's dead mother's place in her father's heart. But Karina threatens Nadya to leave with her brother. When Nadya does not such thing, she's forced into a laborious life checking traps in the dead of night. Until she gets lost in the forest's shadows and finds herself at a little cottage in the middle of a clearing where an old woman lives...
I liked the writing. I don't really have much to say about it. It was really good, there were no problems with the flow of the text or anything like that. It was more that the places, feelings and characters didn't come alive to me. Luckily, since the story doesn't depend too much on the reader's reaction, it didn't matter that much.
I just found it a little unremarkable for a fantasy novel. Perhaps more detail in the locations would have helped this - in which case it may have been left out since this is a novella and not a full-blown novel.
I loved the story. Back to classic fairytales. Girl's mother dies and she's left with her father and evil stepmother. She gets lost in the wood whilst doing work to stumble upon a witch who looks after her. Despite the fact that this is your typical fairytale, I didn't get bored. I didn't predict what was going to happen, and I liked the way the audience don't quite know who to trust or what's right to do or wrong.
I have to admit, the end is depressing - like many traditional fairytales and I wonder if Nadya was really aware of what she was doing. I also liked the way we're left actually feeling sorry for the bad characters, but it's too late to do anything about it. I think that's a very clever fact about stories; sometimes the 'bad' character isn't bad, yet still gets the blame.
There aren't that many characters in this story. I think that's quite good considering the plot line; there aren't too many distractions and everything has a purpose.
Nadya wasn't a typical protagonist, because I didn't really felt I knew her. This didn't really affect the story, and I have a feeling it presents a worse picture than it actually is, but I need to say it anyway. I didn't really understood why she did all these things. Since this story is written in the 3rd person, I understand that it might be harder to incorporate a person's feelings - especially since she doesn't talk much. But other authors seem to manage it. (It might be that this was deliberately used in order to make us watch the events from our own point of view - I just don't really think it worked that well.)
I liked the witch. Again, we know basically nothing about her, and we learn very little. But I liked the way she wasn't really the stereotypical witch you find it in fairytales. Indeed, we don't know whether to trust her or not, but she was still a lot gentler than the typical witch. I thought this worked really well when the story comes to its climax; and leaves the reader wondering whether she was actually good after all, or not.
The father confused me. I think there was a reason why he started to neglect Nadya - one the reader is probably supposed to figure out themselves - but I didn't work it out. That might just be me being dim, but I couldn't think of why he would be acting exactly how he was.
I don't really have any comments on Karina.
I wish Nadya and Havel's relationship was shown to us a little more before he left - I think I might have sympathised with the characters a little more that way.
The pace was quite slow throughout the whole thing, even at the climax. Again, this didn't really affect the story that much, but it certainly stopped it from becoming a really good novella.
I just didn't feel as engaged with this book as much as with other books - and I think that's a really important thing. Even though everything's there in theory, it doesn't tie up too well when everything put together.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes original traditional fairy tales. The writing is a lot more modern than the typical fairytale, so some might find it easier to read.
It really is a good story, I just didn't feel involved in the story - but at the end of the day, that is the style of fairytales, and so makes a lot of sense actually.
Image Source: http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336644891l/13643163.jpg
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