Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Witch of Duva: A Tor.Com Original (THE GRISHA)

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Queen B

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2019

I remember this story being a part of The Language of Thorns...after buying it again.

I am happy to buy it again though. I love Bardugo's dark, twisted fairytales, where bad people get what they deserve and even the happiest ending is...at least teaching a real lesson.

The Witch of Duva puts a great twist on Hansel & Gretel, ish. I still don't know what exactly the murderer was doing to those girls but it made me feel unsettled

Love. Read these if you like fairy tales. Read them if you like the Grishaverse. Read them❤

4 people found this helpful

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Kayla's Reads and Reviews

3.5 stars

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2014

Actual rating: 3.5 stars. This was my second time trying to read The Witch of Duva. The first time, I gave up a few pages in because I was so confused. Even though Goodreads says this is part of The Grisha trilogy, it has nothing to do with The Grisha trilogy. That's what confused me. I tried rereading it about a year later. Once I was able to disconnect this story from The Grisha trilogy, I ended up really liking it.

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Queen B

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2019

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Incredibly well done dark fairy tale short story

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2013

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This is a short story set in the same world as Bardugo's Grisha series. This story is set in Ravka but it is a prequel (timeline wise) it also follows different characters and is more of a folktale than anything else. The story has a very traditional dark folklore tale feel to it and was absolutely engrossing. I was amazed at what a great story Bardugo wove in such a small space. The characters were absolutely engaging and the story just sucked me right in.

The woods outside of Duva are said to eat girls, at least that has what Nadya has been raised believing. She gets to test the tale when her evil stepmom forces her out of the house at night and she finds herself at the door of the Witch of Duva herself.

Bardugo has said that Hansel and Gretel influenced this folktale, and you can definitely see the influences here...although this tale kind of turns Hansel and Gretel on its head.

Nadya is an excellent heroine, she is so easy to sympathize with. She's a young girl with an okay life, but then as circumstances change and her father marries another woman and things get worse and worse for her. She is forced into a desperate situation where she must flee into the forest and confront the very thing that has always haunted her.

I was surprised at how engaging and entertaining all of the characters in this story were. They are so well developed and really came alive for me even though this was a very short story.

The suspense behind who/what the witch of Duva is and around the strange case of the disappearing girls is absolutely engrossing. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time trying to figure out and predict what was going on.

There are a lot of twists and turns and by the end of the story no one is who you thought they would be and everyone is different from what you initially expected. The ending totally caught me by surprise, but then when I stopped to think about it I realized that there were a lot of carefully hidden hints throughout the story that supported the surprise ending. It takes a very masterful writter to mislead the reader so deftly and pull such a huge twist that is completely surprising but totally seamless with the rest of the story.

This is a dark and twisted folk tale and echoes many of the original Grimm fairy tales. Children are eaten and disappear, and dark things hunt the woods of Duva. Humanity follows a much harsher code and is much crueler than what we typically see in our day to day life now.

Overall an absolutely outstanding short story, I absolutely loved it. I immediately went out and bought The Too Clever Fox for my Kindle as well and can't wait to read that. It is amazing that Bardugo can write not only spectacular novels but also spectacular short stories. In my opinion really well done short stories are very hard to write because you have to set up the world, characters, and plot is such a short amount of space. I highly recommend this short story to fans of the Grisha series and to fans of dark and grimm fairy tales.

7 people found this helpful

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Jessica B.

Beautiful and dark fairy tale

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2015

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The Short Version

The Witch of Duva is a beautifully written fairy tale that feels close to our own fairy tales but it messes with your expectations by twisting the story around in new ways. This prequel novella reminded me of Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling. The Witch of Duva, like Tales of Beedle the Bard, is a fairy tale set in the same world that doesn't necessarily advance the story but functions to flesh out the world and add a little more magic to it. I couldn't find more of a connection between The Witch of Duva and Shadow and Bone other than they are both set in the same world. I actually prefer this kind of novella to one that tells some back story of a character. I feel like the fairy tale is something fun that lets me stay in that world a little longer. When I've read novellas that try to continue the narrative, I found myself bored. This fairy tale was beautiful and engaging and I highly recommend it.

The Jessica Thinks Too Much Version

There were just too many awesome and juicy details that I couldn't skip discussing them. I will talk about the details of the book and the foreshadowing that I saw, but I won't tell how it ends.

The Witch of Duva reminds me of Hansel and Gretel. Like Hansel and Gretel, there is a witch in the woods that eats girls. Nadya, the main character, talks about how her mother becomes sick and the only thing that comforts her is sweet cakes from Karina. I love the theme of food in this fairy tale - especially sweet food - that ties it into our fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. One theory of why the girls go missing is that they smell food in the forrest and wander off.

I can see hints now of what happens at the end now that I'm reading it again. It describes the girls as "full-grown girls near old enough to marry." There's lots of misdirection to Karina since we are seeing the events through Nadya's eyes and she automatically doesn't like Karina trying to replace her mother.

Karina sends Nadya into the forrest to find the rabbit traps and Nadya follows the white stones that mark the path that were left by her brother, Havel. I'm geeking out over all the Hansel and Gretel references!! Nadya gets lost because the stones get covered in snow. I like how this changes the Hansel and Gretel version to fit into the Russian-like setting of Ravka.

Hungry, Nadya finds a house that smells like cooking sugar. The old woman that lives in the house feeds her. I love how Nadya even mentions that she feels like she's just being fattened up to be eaten later. But this is where the twists come in. The witch's house becomes a safe place for Nadya instead of the other way around. The witch helps people and even hides Nadya so rumors don't start that she kidnaps children. Haha! Oops too late.

I loved the elements that came from other fairy tales, too. There was a reference to the Gingerbread Man story. But again it's different than I thought it would be. The witch also asks Nadya all the time what she wants that reminded me a little of the original Beauty and the Beast.

I had a blast reading the fairy tale. I loved analyzing it and thinking about it and just getting lost in the world.

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Every Creature Counts

I love Leigh Bardugo's writing style

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2021

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Short but sweet, very unexpected ending. I couldn't put the story down and was disappointed it was so short, so I went ahead and bought the book (Language of Thorns) where this story came from. Leigh Bardugo writes with a sparse, direct-to-the-point style, every word, every letter counts. Love it! Did I say I love her? and love her stories?

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Kimball Dawes

The Witch of Duva: Gingerbread will never taste the same!

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2012

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At my daughter's urging, I made my first reading foray into a story by Leigh Bardugo, and what a deliciously, creepy tale she's woven! An Eastern European "flavor" permeates The Witch of Duva, making the story smack with authenticity. This flavor derives from the names of her characters and villages, most of which are Slavic. This real twist of originality appealed to me and is also why I gave it five stars. I also loved the taut writing style and imagery of The Witch of Duva.

Another twist to this whodunit is who actually did make so many young girls disappear! I never figured it out because of Bardugo's adroit skill at making the reader believe it could only be an obvious someone, whose motives and actions were apparently evil. By the way, the food and eating puns in this review are mostly unintentional!!

An added bonus to this short story are the first chapters from Shadow and Bone, a book that takes place in the world of The Witch of Duva as well.

I will most definitely read more of Bardugo's stories.

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KariW

A true old style Fairytale

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2013

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**4 Stars**

Talk about "Creepy"!!!! Wow. At first I thought it was going to be a like Hansel and Gretel, only without Hansel. But it wasn't. It is definitely on the lines of a Fairytale. This isn't a short fantasy story. No, it is a true Fairytale.

Leigh Bardugo did a fantastic job with The Witch of Duva. I honestly had no idea the outcome until it was happening. And again - creepy! Oh, and when I say Fairytale - I'm not talking one that you read to your kids at night. Nope, I am talking one of the true old style Fairytales where it gets gruesome and dark.

The only thing I don't get is why this is considered part of the Grisha series. I know it takes place in the same country, but it has nothing to do with the series and is written in a different style as well.

Great read. Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

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A Reading the Paranormal Review

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2013

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Okay. This? Was creepy perfect. Just... *shudders* yeah. Although no characters from book 1 put in an appearance, this story easily puts you back into the world of the Grisha. Come to think of it, no Grisha put in an appearance either. That's really beside the point. This world comes alive and pulls you in and twists you up in its mythology.

I do love the feel of this town on the brink of the forest. Food is scarce, the people watch their neighbors with cautious eyes as girls begin disappearing, and you know something dangerous is lurking around the edges but you can't quite put your finger on what's what.

Lovely, creepy, horrifying, and completely fascinating.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

6 people found this helpful

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A_0rtiz

For adults (or very mature YAs) imho

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2021

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Warning: abuse trigger in this story. Very adult theme in my opinion. It’s a Grimm-esque short story. Leigh Bardugo is an amazing writer and she unfolds the story in a hauntingly beautiful way.

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leslie tabor

Dark, and twisted fairytale!

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2016

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Dark, and captivating. High fantasy, fun but not for children much much darker than Harry Potter. I have not read her other books, yet. I just started listening to her "Six of Crows " on audible. Hopefully it's as good as this short story. I feel this book had it all. Plenty of angst, the underdog finds her way to get revenge. It's a bit twisted but I like twisted. All and all its a great short story, that might keep you up at night it's quite spooky!

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Pengi26

Oof

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2021

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That's a gorgeous and terrifying story. Exhausting and magical. Something to share over a fire while camping, hopefully not during winter.

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