Shruti's Reviews > The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

“You see, some people are born with a piece of night inside, and that hollow place can never be filled – not with all the good food or sunshine in the world. That emptiness cannot be banished, and so some days we wake with the feeling of the wind blowing through, and we must simply endure it as the boy did.”

Beautiful. Haunting. Intriguing.

Bardugo can create such magic with her beautiful writing! This was exactly what I needed to restore my love for Bardugo's writing after I was disappointed in Shadow and Bone. This book is a collection of six fairytale-like illustrated stories set in the Grishaverse.

The highlights of these short stories are :

1. Reimagined fairytale retellings with dark themes
2. Unexpected plot twists
3. Stunning illustrations

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.

It is not necessary to read any of the Grishaverse books beforehand, although I think the tales will be more fun that way.


¤ Ayama and The Thorn Wood ⭐⭐⭐⭐. 5

“This goes to show you that sometimes the unseen is not to be feared and that those meant to love us most are not always the ones who do.”



This story is from Zemeni and is retelling of a sort of mix between Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, about a strong hearted ordinary girl and a beastly prince. This story breaks the stereotype of having a beautiful or handsome character as the main character of fairytales. I also loved how the characters in the story also told stories, so the book-within-a-book feeling was strong here. It was my second favourite in the collection.


¤ The Too-clever Fox ⭐⭐⭐. 5

“A lesser creature might have closed his eyes and prayed for nothing more than a quick death. But if Koja had words, then he had hope.”



It is a Ravkan tale about a little fox Koja who uses his wits to get him out of some dangerous situations. This almost has the feeling of a fable. There wasn’t as many twists in this story as in the previous one, the ending was still surprising.

P.S Bardugo confirmed that this story is our very own witty thief Kaz’s favourite!!!! <3


¤ The Witch of Duva ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Dark things have a way of slipping in through narrow spaces.”




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.


¤ The Little Knife ⭐⭐⭐. 5

“She never worried when her beauty faded, for in her reflection she always saw a free woman.”




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.


¤ The Soldier Prince ⭐⭐⭐

“Who are you when no one picks you up to hold you?” asked the Rat King. “When no one is looking at you, or whispering to you, who are you then?" 




This Kerch tale is a reimagined The Nutcracker retelling with Grisha Fabrikator magic and the spirit of a toy which comes alive. This was all about self-discovery and knowing the importance of making our own story. But I felt that the ending was very eerie and unsettling.


¤ When Water Sang Fire ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“This is the problem with making a thing forbidden. It does nothing but build an ache in the heart.”



This Fjerdan story is a retelling of The little mermaid, about a sildroher mermaid named Ulla who dreams of being able to use her singing magic as she chooses.It poses questions on the cost of magic, the sacrifices we make for our ambitions, and the price we pay to earn social acceptance. I loved every moment of this story and it was my most favorite from the whole collection.This was no doubt the perfect strong story to end the book.

P.S The Darkling made an appearance in this story!!
"The boy’s clothes were black, his hair blacker still, and he was looking directly at Ulla, the weight of his stare heavy ballast."



Overall there wasn’t a single story in this book that I didn’t liked or enjoyed reading. Every fairytale was just so well-thought-out. It is a treat for all the Bardugo fans. Even if you haven’t read any Bardugo books yet and if you're interested in dark twists in fairytales, then this one is perfect for you!