The Language of Thorns -Fairy tales and Leigh Bardugo are a good idea

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
Published by Imprint ISBN: 9781250122537
on September 26th 2017
Genres: Action & Adventure, Short Stories, Fairy Tales & Folklore
Pages: 304
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis

Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love.

Enter the Grishaverse...

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.

The Language of Thorns was such an experience. I got it for two reasons:

• Major Leigh Bardugo fan
• The cover is stunning

As you can see, none of these include being particularly interested in short stories. They just have never grabbed my attention. You know all those anthologies sometimes are released for the holidays and Valentine’s day? I never get them. So I did make an exception with The Language of Thorns.

 

Stunning

This is obviously important. A book needs to be pretty, but as you may already know, this one goes above and beyond, both inside and out.

They could have just put the stories in there and call it a day, but the illustrations were as much part of this book as the text and it really added to it. As I read, I paid real close attention to how the illustrations changed as well with each page and kept matching image with text. It was a great experience.

 

Twisted

We were warned, several times. The Language of Thorns ain’t no Cinderella, and they were right. These stories really put a spin on everything we know about fairy tales. I appreciate fairy tales and do think there’s much to learn from them. I’d describe these ones as the grown up versions. While regular fairy tales teach lessons that can be summed up in one word, The Language of Thorns shows us a more complex world, where women are not always defenseless, the things in the woods aren’t always the monsters, and more.

 

True to the grishaverse

As someone who has read all the other books in the Grishaverse, this was something I noticed and that had me fangirling big time. This woman is amazing. The stories belong to different countries in the universe, and so they have different feels. The settings, the names… I would read the name of the story, check the country label, read the story and then go like ‘yep, that sounds about right’. It really does feel like these stories could exist in the world Leigh Bardugo created.

 

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I was honestly so delighted to see my copy was signed. It was a huge surprise. My mom shipped me this book from the US, and she must have just picked the first one she found that looked like the pic I sent her. A month after I received it, after several photos of the cover and illustrations, when I finally picked it up to read it, I discovered the signed page and I almost cried right then and there.

 

Are you a fan of short stories? Or books with illustrations? Which are your favorites?

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