The Bright & the Pale

By: Jessica Rubinkowski

Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan

Debut author Jessica Rubinkowski delivers the thrilling first book in an epic Russian folklore-inspired fantasy duology filled with pause-resisting romance, tragedy, magic, and monsters. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sara Raasch!

Seventeen-year-old Valeria is one of the only survivors of the freeze, a dark magical hold Knnot Mountain unleashed on her village. Everyone, including her family, is trapped in an unbreakable sheet of ice. Ever since, she’s been on the run from the czar, who has set out to imprison anyone who managed to escape.

Valeria finds refuge with the Thieves Guild, doing odd jobs with her best friend, Alik, the only piece of home she has left. That is, until he is brutally murdered.

A year later, she discovers Alik is alive and being held captive. To buy his freedom, she must lead a group of cutthroats and thieves on a perilous expedition to the very mountain that claimed her family.

Only something sinister slumbers in the heart of Knnot. And it has waited years for release.

©2021 Jessica Rubinkowski (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Enjoyable!

I have listened to this book twice. the story buold and I did not want it to end. enjoying the sequel now.

Amazing

It is an original story with new gods that really pulled into a frozen world. The author made me feel like I was in the mountain. The performer did a good job with the voice and portraying the tone of each scene. Overall a great listen and a great book.

Jessica Rubinkowski swings for the fences.

If I had to describe The Bright and The Pale in a single word, it would be this; Gripping. Thankfully, I'm not limited to a single word, so please indulge me as a gush about what is in my opinion, a home run of a debut novel.

Rubinkowski sets up and delivers a fast paced, engrossing narrative, with a diverse cast of characters each with their own hidden motivations that are drip-fed throughout the story- leaving you unsure of who exactly to trust and building ultimately to this tense and trembling climax. There will be characters that you love, characters that you hate, characters that you love to hate, and characters that you hate to love. Everyone feels believable and grounded within their own reality, and for me a character that I hated at first became the most tragic before that gripping final line.

The Bright and the Pale is not a story that I wanted to put down, at just over nine hours long, this is the first audiobook that has held my attention so perfectly that I listened to it in a single sitting, and as a fantasy genre fan, I found the setting to be remarkably refreshing. Heavily inspired by Slavic culture and mythology- the story felt new because it wasn't styling itself in the same cultures as hundreds of other fantasy novels and stories. While fans of the fantasy genre might be able to guess some of the later story beats- I guessed two of them -there are still plenty of surprises to be had.

My sole issue with this audiobook is sadly, the narration. Carlotta Brentan reads this tale with what to me sounds like a sad and desperate tone- which I feel doesn't correctly match the tone of the story itself. Further, for the first few hours of the performance, the different voices of the characters aren't completely distinct enough to differentiate themselves, and more than once in the first third of the story, I had to go back and relisten to understand who had said what during a dialog. This issue does sort itself out before the halfway mark, which I am so grateful for- as the latter half of Rubinkowski's debut novel is a thrilling tale to behold.

On the whole, The Bright and The Pale has given me the gift of being able to relive the grip of a good story not wanting to be put down- while listening to this story, I was reminded of my time with Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games and Veronica Roth's Divergent; desperately wanting to consume more of the story while simultaneously praying that the story wouldn't end. I for one, will be waiting eagerly for the sequel.

Thrilling!

I found this to be a compelling debut that left me eager to listen to the sequel. Well-developed characters with believable wants and needs. A unique world. A sprinkling of romance. A lot of action and excitement, particularly in the second half. Excellent, immersive narration. Definitely recommended if you're a fan of fantasy/YA!

loved it so much csnt wait to hear/read the next

loved it so much. Cant wait for the next one. Jessica is a life long friend and did an amazing job