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bookycnidaria's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
pitchblackkoi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Sexual content
olivia_piepmeier's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I had no idea where this book would go/how the series would end, I just wanted to know. While the other two felt very fitting to read IN winter, this one less so - so if that is holding you back from reading this at a particular time, don't let it! Perhaps because I didn't know what I was getting into, I felt impressed by the journeys almost every single character goes on within this book compared with the trilogy as a whole. The fairy tale aspect with little spirits of nature and the unnatural (like stoves, "the home," etc.) really spoke to the child inside, which is one reason why it felt very easy to root for Vasya throughout. I could easily see picking up the whole series again in a few years.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Religious bigotry
aksmith92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you, Katherine Arden, for writing a wintery and blustery book so I can sit in my warm house while it's cold and snowy outside and read my little heart out.
The setup: Vasya needs to go into hiding. The Girl in the Tower, the second book in the series, left off with those in Moscow in a rage after a fire nearly destroyed their home, and they believe a witch to be the culprit. Vasya is now left with one goal only: to care for her family. Her brother Sasha, her sister Olga, and Olga's daughter Marya are all in Moscow, piecing together what happened the night before with Vasya, the frost demon, and Kaschei.
However, those in Moscow want someone accountable for their suffering, and Vasya is an easy target. We follow Vasya as she faces many obstacles, including an angry mob, a vengeful demon, and a forgetful ally. She feels the weight of not only Moscow on her shoulders but all of Rus' and her beloved chyerti - the spirits she has called family her whole life. Can she bring together her people of Rus' - those who vehemently believe in the one God, and those of the spirit world, who seem to fade the more people forget about them and move on to another religion? Can she keep her family safe from the Tatars, those trying to take the rule of Rus'? The world seems to weigh heavy on Vasya's shoulders with these questions, and we watch her continuously battle for peace, not only for those in her country but for herself.
What I loved: Katherine Arden is a phenomenal writer to me - her work is unique, poetic, and her version of atmospheric. She takes 14th-century historical Rus' customs and somehow integrates them into her writing, both from a prose perspective and a literal historical take (one battle scene near the end is essentially a retelling of an actual battle in 1380 Rus' - read the author's note at the end, it's pretty lovely!). The intersection between fantasy and historical fiction continues to amaze me, and it is one of the most vital reasons why I can't help but feel this book is so fantastic.
As typical in this series, I loved Vasya and her strength, resilience, and grit. While the poor thing went through it in this book (even more so than the others), she was incredible. She was strong, powerful, and intelligent. Yet, she was imperfect and flawed. She had to continue making incredibly challenging decisions and understood that only some things would always work out. I think that is what I loved most about this book: Vasya learned from those around her, her environment, and herself to make better decisions in the future instead of just ~always knowing~ what to do, like other fantasy books I have read. I loved her character and what she tried to do for both the spirit world and Rus'.
I also thoroughly enjoyed many of the other characters - Sasha, Olga, Morozko (I'm glad we dove a little bit deeper into his character on this one, albeit I was still itching for more!), the Grand Prince Dmitrii, and I just loved Polunochnitsa (Lady Midnight) and the Bear. I had no intention of laughing during this book because it seemed so bleak and dark, but Polunochnitsa and the Bear truly helped provide (very minimal) comedic relief and were much more layered than I had anticipated (especially the Bear). My favorite secondary character was Ded Grib, the chyerti, a lil mushroom. Konstantin continued to be a unique, morally grey character that I also learned to enjoy, even if he was the worst. He was complicated, and you couldn't help but empathize with him.
Somehow, Arden did a brilliant job of making all characters nuanced and beautiful while juggling two plots without losing anything. I was so impressed by how much Arden could put into this under-400-page book because it packed such a punch, but it wasn't overwhelming. I just loved it. And somehow, like the first two, I read this under some snowy skies - something I didn't think would happen in early March, and I read this through Libby.
I'm a sucker for some political intrigue which was why I enjoyed the second book in this trilogy so much, but I liked this one even more because of the magical elements in it - less politics, more chyerti. I was impressed that Arden could do both so well.
Anything that could have made this a 6-star read? While I rated this a five because of Arden's beautiful ability to intertwine so many interesting plots and characters and the overall unique storytelling of Russia's history and Russian fairytales, this was imperfect, and others may have some criticism for it. For one, 90% of this book seemed to have no hope. Anything wrong that could happen seemed to have occurred, even if there were a few quick wins in the plot throughout the process. It was dreary. I swear that Vasya had eight broken ribs throughout this book and plenty of ample scars and concussions. It was hard to read because it just felt so BAD. Because of this constant dread, I felt the book read just a bit choppy, especially in the middle.
However, I had a blast with this and shed a few tears at the end. While sad, there was finally a dash of goodness and hope, and the ending was quite fitting. I look forward to reading more from Katherine Arden in the future!
The setup: Vasya needs to go into hiding. The Girl in the Tower, the second book in the series, left off with those in Moscow in a rage after a fire nearly destroyed their home, and they believe a witch to be the culprit. Vasya is now left with one goal only: to care for her family. Her brother Sasha, her sister Olga, and Olga's daughter Marya are all in Moscow, piecing together what happened the night before with Vasya, the frost demon, and Kaschei.
However, those in Moscow want someone accountable for their suffering, and Vasya is an easy target. We follow Vasya as she faces many obstacles, including an angry mob, a vengeful demon, and a forgetful ally. She feels the weight of not only Moscow on her shoulders but all of Rus' and her beloved chyerti - the spirits she has called family her whole life. Can she bring together her people of Rus' - those who vehemently believe in the one God, and those of the spirit world, who seem to fade the more people forget about them and move on to another religion? Can she keep her family safe from the Tatars, those trying to take the rule of Rus'? The world seems to weigh heavy on Vasya's shoulders with these questions, and we watch her continuously battle for peace, not only for those in her country but for herself.
What I loved: Katherine Arden is a phenomenal writer to me - her work is unique, poetic, and her version of atmospheric. She takes 14th-century historical Rus' customs and somehow integrates them into her writing, both from a prose perspective and a literal historical take (one battle scene near the end is essentially a retelling of an actual battle in 1380 Rus' - read the author's note at the end, it's pretty lovely!). The intersection between fantasy and historical fiction continues to amaze me, and it is one of the most vital reasons why I can't help but feel this book is so fantastic.
As typical in this series, I loved Vasya and her strength, resilience, and grit. While the poor thing went through it in this book (even more so than the others), she was incredible. She was strong, powerful, and intelligent. Yet, she was imperfect and flawed. She had to continue making incredibly challenging decisions and understood that only some things would always work out. I think that is what I loved most about this book: Vasya learned from those around her, her environment, and herself to make better decisions in the future instead of just ~always knowing~ what to do, like other fantasy books I have read. I loved her character and what she tried to do for both the spirit world and Rus'.
I also thoroughly enjoyed many of the other characters - Sasha, Olga, Morozko (I'm glad we dove a little bit deeper into his character on this one, albeit I was still itching for more!), the Grand Prince Dmitrii, and I just loved Polunochnitsa (Lady Midnight) and the Bear. I had no intention of laughing during this book because it seemed so bleak and dark, but Polunochnitsa and the Bear truly helped provide (very minimal) comedic relief and were much more layered than I had anticipated (especially the Bear). My favorite secondary character was Ded Grib, the chyerti, a lil mushroom. Konstantin continued to be a unique, morally grey character that I also learned to enjoy, even if he was the worst. He was complicated, and you couldn't help but empathize with him.
Somehow, Arden did a brilliant job of making all characters nuanced and beautiful while juggling two plots without losing anything. I was so impressed by how much Arden could put into this under-400-page book because it packed such a punch, but it wasn't overwhelming. I just loved it. And somehow, like the first two, I read this under some snowy skies - something I didn't think would happen in early March, and I read this through Libby.
I'm a sucker for some political intrigue which was why I enjoyed the second book in this trilogy so much, but I liked this one even more because of the magical elements in it - less politics, more chyerti. I was impressed that Arden could do both so well.
Anything that could have made this a 6-star read? While I rated this a five because of Arden's beautiful ability to intertwine so many interesting plots and characters and the overall unique storytelling of Russia's history and Russian fairytales, this was imperfect, and others may have some criticism for it. For one, 90% of this book seemed to have no hope. Anything wrong that could happen seemed to have occurred, even if there were a few quick wins in the plot throughout the process. It was dreary. I swear that Vasya had eight broken ribs throughout this book and plenty of ample scars and concussions. It was hard to read because it just felt so BAD. Because of this constant dread, I felt the book read just a bit choppy, especially in the middle.
However, I had a blast with this and shed a few tears at the end. While sad, there was finally a dash of goodness and hope, and the ending was quite fitting. I look forward to reading more from Katherine Arden in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Death of parent
Child death/death of parent = mentioning previous books, not on page. Rape is not detailed or even implied, but there are threats of it. Sexual assault and harassment is on page but not heavily descriptive or long.mary_stormageddon's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This was so close to being a 5 star read for me. If it hadn't slowed down a bit about 2/3rds through, it would have been. This is the best book in the series, and I will be recommending it to any and everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
From me, The Winter of the Witch gets 5 stars!
This series encompasses everything I want in folklore inspired fantasy, and this final book...is just perfect 🥰
After the events in The Girl in the Tower, Moscow and it's people are looking for someone to blame...and this is all you need to dive into this #magicalworld again!
CW: witch hunting, mentions of slavery, war, death, horror elements, cruelty and death of animals, weaponized religion, extreme discrepancy between genders, plague, etc.
I won't try to dissect this final installment as I usually do...instead I'll let myself ramble about what comes to mind.
Obviously, my #rating reflects my belief that this book is close to perfect.
It opens with strong repercussions for our MC, and it goes to give you blow after blow of flawless writing, top notch atmosphere and amazing pacing!
I really felt that the pacing and atmosphere were just right for each scene. As most of the action takes place at midnight, I will poetically describe this novel as a dream of lost memories...
Coincidently, the background music for this series matches my description : Memories by @fludjy, creator of the yt channel EternalDepth...you're welcome and happy listening 😉
Back to our story : important parts are driven by individual character growth, powerful emotions, consequences, political repercussions, supernatural and human elements.
With this being said...my favorites are as follows : Vasya, Morozko, Konstantin, Sasha, Medved, Pozhar,Lady Midnight and Marya.
I love every part and every character, so...that list isn't complete...
Characters :
Say what you want about Konstantin...and yes, his greed and hate is awful..but I couldn't help myself and cried 😭...maybe that's why I love Medved as well...
Solovey...cried and eventually came to peace with it...
Morozko....perfect portretization of Winter...every time he was on the page I felt I the middle of a forest at midnight.
Sasha...great brother and man...now I'm obsessed with his real life counterpart 😅
Vasya...well...she grows with EVERY SINGLE PAGE 🥰...as she should!🥰...I'm soo happy I met her...that's all I have to say..
As I said above Medved came to be dear to me...maybe as I saw his connection with our MCs...and how lonely eternity is...chaos is life, as winter is eternity.
Let's switch it up and say a few words about the action : I really loved how Katherine Arden moulded her historical fantasy with Russian folklore and actual historical events...I was there at Kulikovo..and I cried 😅
Even if I didn't mention Dmitry Ivanovich as a favorite.. His role and the perspective he offered the reader completed this magical story with the necessary elements of the real world!
Favorite scenes: the pyre , everything up to the Lake and there🤭, Kulikovo, at the edge of the lands of winter, at the campfire..all of them😅🤷♀️🤭
This is it! Please read this trilogy and lose yourself in a winter Midnight😌...don't forget to stop by the Lake😉
This series encompasses everything I want in folklore inspired fantasy, and this final book...is just perfect 🥰
After the events in The Girl in the Tower, Moscow and it's people are looking for someone to blame...and this is all you need to dive into this #magicalworld again!
CW: witch hunting, mentions of slavery, war, death, horror elements, cruelty and death of animals, weaponized religion, extreme discrepancy between genders, plague, etc.
I won't try to dissect this final installment as I usually do...instead I'll let myself ramble about what comes to mind.
Obviously, my #rating reflects my belief that this book is close to perfect.
It opens with strong repercussions for our MC, and it goes to give you blow after blow of flawless writing, top notch atmosphere and amazing pacing!
I really felt that the pacing and atmosphere were just right for each scene. As most of the action takes place at midnight, I will poetically describe this novel as a dream of lost memories...
Coincidently, the background music for this series matches my description : Memories by @fludjy, creator of the yt channel EternalDepth...you're welcome and happy listening 😉
Back to our story : important parts are driven by individual character growth, powerful emotions, consequences, political repercussions, supernatural and human elements.
With this being said...my favorites are as follows : Vasya, Morozko, Konstantin, Sasha, Medved, Pozhar,Lady Midnight and Marya.
I love every part and every character, so...that list isn't complete...
Characters :
Say what you want about Konstantin...and yes, his greed and hate is awful..but I couldn't help myself and cried 😭...maybe that's why I love Medved as well...
Solovey...cried and eventually came to peace with it...
Morozko....perfect portretization of Winter...every time he was on the page I felt I the middle of a forest at midnight.
Sasha...great brother and man...now I'm obsessed with his real life counterpart 😅
Vasya...well...she grows with EVERY SINGLE PAGE 🥰...as she should!🥰...I'm soo happy I met her...that's all I have to say..
As I said above Medved came to be dear to me...maybe as I saw his connection with our MCs...and how lonely eternity is...chaos is life, as winter is eternity.
Let's switch it up and say a few words about the action : I really loved how Katherine Arden moulded her historical fantasy with Russian folklore and actual historical events...I was there at Kulikovo..and I cried 😅
Even if I didn't mention Dmitry Ivanovich as a favorite.. His role and the perspective he offered the reader completed this magical story with the necessary elements of the real world!
Favorite scenes: the pyre , everything up to the Lake and there🤭, Kulikovo, at the edge of the lands of winter, at the campfire..all of them😅🤷♀️🤭
This is it! Please read this trilogy and lose yourself in a winter Midnight😌...don't forget to stop by the Lake😉
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Slavery and War
ireadinbed's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A really solid end to the series. I cried and I smiled wide and I felt like I was on a great journey.
Yes the first book is still my favorite. I preferred the smaller, more intimate struggles and the hints of horror. But this book really brings all the themes full circle and doesn't pull punches.
Ded Grib was such a needed reminder of how Vasya started out. Chefs kiss.
My only real complaint is that it feels like it needed more denouement. It seemed like it cut off suddenly.
Yes the first book is still my favorite. I preferred the smaller, more intimate struggles and the hints of horror. But this book really brings all the themes full circle and doesn't pull punches.
Ded Grib was such a needed reminder of how Vasya started out. Chefs kiss.
My only real complaint is that it feels like it needed more denouement. It seemed like it cut off suddenly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Blood
Moderate: War
Minor: Sexual assault
beesknees's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This final installment of the Winternight trilogy brings all of Vasya’s journey and lessons together. This finale is pretty fast paced, compared to its predecessors. Arden intelligently weaves real pieces of Russian history into this story, while always honoring the magic and romance that has been present since book one. I cried at a specific scene near the end, and then cried again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
sas_lk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I just loved it, honestly. An amazing series. One of my favourites. The characters have my heart, I love them all so much and I just want to protect them forever. So glad this series came into my life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and War
Minor: Rape, Slavery, and Vomit
wordsofclover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, and War