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dragonaion's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
It is hard when you start a sequel to a good story; sometimes the time between each book makes the second start with a "jolt" and almost have to remember itself. This book is brilliantly connected to the first, it wove the end with the new beginning very well, and by page 30 I was leaving in my seat and excitedly turning each page.
It was heartwarming to see a story mentioned from my childhood and the mix of history, fantasy, romance, and adventure with political intrigue was beautifully woven and naturally fell together. I have to get the third book!
It was heartwarming to see a story mentioned from my childhood and the mix of history, fantasy, romance, and adventure with political intrigue was beautifully woven and naturally fell together. I have to get the third book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Rape
This is a historical fiction with a romance with an ambodiment of Death; the main character has to hide she is female is an extreme example of a patriarchal world.dijon_supply's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Outing, and War
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I didn't really enjoy this book as much as the first one, but I hope the next book in the series pays off. I think I was kind of expecting a book without Vasya as the protagonist and for the story to focus mostly on Olya but even though it didn't meet my expectations it wasn't bad.
What I liked:
What I liked:
- I liked Vasya's different relationships with everyone in Dmmitri's court and how it evolved the longer she decided to keep her true identity concealed.
- I liked Masha and I hope we get to see more of her in the next book
- I'm not a horse person by any means but I liked all of the horse related stuff in these books. I think Solovey was probably my favourite character overall because he was so full of life and personality.
What I didn't like
- The combination of different POVs (that kind of stopped after a while) and pacing made me struggle with the flow of the book. I don't know how to explain how I would improve it but I found myself skim-reading at times.
- Remember when I was like "yay no romance between Vasya and the Frost King!"? Yup, joke's on me, huh? 🤡
I just really didn't care for the romance, let alone the whole back and forth of whether it was better to be immortal or to be in love.It didn't really feel like it amounted to anything other than him quietly disappearing without much of a trace. I thought the firebird was disappointing, especially in comparison to the bear from the previous book. Although the latter didn't come until the latter half of the book, it felt like he was built up more to be the final boss and had (and still has) a lasting impact on Vasya and the plot. In this book, it's just like "oh by the way, this dude transfigured a firebird into a horse and now it's going to fly off and burn everything - bye!"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Slavery, Vomit, and Death of parent
cinnamontwisty's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Such a great book, it's a really continuation from the first book. There's so much character development, and each character is so complex and well written. The fantasy/folk tale setting is fascinating and dark. Can't recommend this enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence
aksmith92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
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
The second installment of Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy was an absolute delight. While it did veer to the Young Adult side of the spectrum, I still very much enjoyed this book and liked it even a bit more than the first one.
The setup: Trying not to spoil anything from the first book ~ Vasilisa, AKA Vasya, is set to travel the world after defeating many challenges in her hometown, the frontier country of Rus', in the last book. Ousted from her community and deemed a witch, she is ready to find solitude in the great outdoors with her beautiful horse, Solovey. That Solitude lasts about a day when she stumbles upon villages that have been burned and their young girls taken. Dressed as a boy, since it is still medieval Russia and the time is not kind to adventurous girls and women, she sets on a quest to find the girls and help the villages outside of Moscow.
During her adventure, she links up with family and soon finds her way to Moscow, where she becomes comfortable in her boyhood. But darker and grimmer things await her. Throw in Morozko, the frost demon straight out of fairy tales, and you also have a sprinkle of a love story without taking too much away from the plot.
What I loved: This was an atmospheric book with beautiful prose. The vocabulary was a bit different, just like in the first one, because Arden did her best to try to stick with the medieval Russia (Rus') theme in a historical context. However, it was pretty poetic yet readable. I had a blast.
Additionally, each character was developed and layered in their own way, especially Vasya and the frost demon. And, I must admit, I couldn't help but love a talking horse (only to Vasya, though). Plus, unlike the first novel, this book had more profound plot points and action scenes, which I thought was a nice touch.
Lastly, there was something quite beautiful about Vasya's development in this book. For context, this book was deeply misogynistic, just like I would imagine medieval anywhere to be. Vasya, as someone who diverts from the typical girl-to-woman tracks, was not regularly rewarded or applauded. Therefore, a lot of this book was saddening and sometimes even uncomfortable to read. Vasya had to deal with choices that focused on being herself or possibly getting herself into real trouble and, worse, getting loved ones in trouble because of her actions. Because of this, I would imagine some people reading this might become frustrated with Vasya and her decision-making, but to me, it was about Vasya trying so hard to be herself in a world that didn't allow it.
Any critique? I gave this book five stars - my first of the year! Therefore, I have minimal criticism. From maybe another reader's perspective, I will say that I'm not sure how much the plot flows from the first to the second one, meaning that the plot didn't seem to be 100% connected other than throwing in fairy tale elements. Some characters were the same, and their stories continued to be connected, but the plot differed slightly from the first book. I loved it anyway because I felt like each book focuses more on one piece of the fairy tale.
I loved this book and cannot wait to read the trilogy's final installment!
The setup: Trying not to spoil anything from the first book ~ Vasilisa, AKA Vasya, is set to travel the world after defeating many challenges in her hometown, the frontier country of Rus', in the last book. Ousted from her community and deemed a witch, she is ready to find solitude in the great outdoors with her beautiful horse, Solovey. That Solitude lasts about a day when she stumbles upon villages that have been burned and their young girls taken. Dressed as a boy, since it is still medieval Russia and the time is not kind to adventurous girls and women, she sets on a quest to find the girls and help the villages outside of Moscow.
During her adventure, she links up with family and soon finds her way to Moscow, where she becomes comfortable in her boyhood. But darker and grimmer things await her. Throw in Morozko, the frost demon straight out of fairy tales, and you also have a sprinkle of a love story without taking too much away from the plot.
What I loved: This was an atmospheric book with beautiful prose. The vocabulary was a bit different, just like in the first one, because Arden did her best to try to stick with the medieval Russia (Rus') theme in a historical context. However, it was pretty poetic yet readable. I had a blast.
Additionally, each character was developed and layered in their own way, especially Vasya and the frost demon. And, I must admit, I couldn't help but love a talking horse (only to Vasya, though). Plus, unlike the first novel, this book had more profound plot points and action scenes, which I thought was a nice touch.
Lastly, there was something quite beautiful about Vasya's development in this book. For context, this book was deeply misogynistic, just like I would imagine medieval anywhere to be. Vasya, as someone who diverts from the typical girl-to-woman tracks, was not regularly rewarded or applauded. Therefore, a lot of this book was saddening and sometimes even uncomfortable to read. Vasya had to deal with choices that focused on being herself or possibly getting herself into real trouble and, worse, getting loved ones in trouble because of her actions. Because of this, I would imagine some people reading this might become frustrated with Vasya and her decision-making, but to me, it was about Vasya trying so hard to be herself in a world that didn't allow it.
Any critique? I gave this book five stars - my first of the year! Therefore, I have minimal criticism. From maybe another reader's perspective, I will say that I'm not sure how much the plot flows from the first to the second one, meaning that the plot didn't seem to be 100% connected other than throwing in fairy tale elements. Some characters were the same, and their stories continued to be connected, but the plot differed slightly from the first book. I loved it anyway because I felt like each book focuses more on one piece of the fairy tale.
I loved this book and cannot wait to read the trilogy's final installment!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Animal death
Sexual assault is giving and forced touching.pnonikki's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Infertility
magicsarah's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Trafficking, and Death of parent
nightmarebees's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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
only got better after book one. medieval gender politics? old world pagan religion versus imperial christianity? and i’m such a sucker for an immortal slowly reverting to humanity when they catch feelings for a mortal. vasya has made it to my top 15 fave book protagonists and i have no idea what i’m in for on book three.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Miscarriage
Minor: Animal death
bethlynch's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Sexism, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
mmefish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
Witch. The word drifted across his mind. We call such women so, because we have no other name.
This one... isn't as great as "The Bear And the Nightingale".
I still love Katherine Arden's writing and the way she shapes her characters but this book feels way less... mature? The beginning is fine and the middle section is great (I was anxious the whole time) but the ending felt rushed, unnecessary and trope-ish.
What I mean by unnecessary is, for example, this:
-
-
-
And by tropes I mean: Vasya is special, "plain" (so many time it's mentioned that she's ugly and not a beauty, we get it), everyone falls in love with her; Vasya is good/better at whatever; lack of communication, specifically people starting telling something and just... deciding not to (I hate it so much); the "twist" (
It read a little bit too much like YA.
Also, I'm really sick of
Overall, "The Girl in the Tower" is definitely not terrible but still feels like a letdown after such a strong first book.
_______________
Edit: decided not to finish the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Rape, Slavery, and Vomit