Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Das Mädchen und der Winterkönig by Katherine Arden

48 reviews

emtees'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

4.25

Vasya is done with her fairytale.  After her symbolic marriage to the Winter King Morozko helped defeat his arch enemy the Bear and save her people, Vasya is meant to take Morozko’s dowry and use it to marry a human man.  That’s how the story always ends.  But Vasya has no desire to marry, and with her people whispering that she’s a witch, she decides to take the dowry and use it to fund a new life as a world traveler, disguised as a boy and alone with just her magical horse Solovey.  But it’s not as easy to leave her old life behind as she thought.  On the road, Vasya finds herself embroiled in a threat to the reign of the Grand Prince of Moscow - Tartar bandits have been kidnapping girls from peasant villages, and there seems to be something supernatural about the way they’ve evaded pursuit.  When Vasya attempts to rescue some of the girls, she winds up entangled with the Grand Prince’s court, which includes her brother Sasha, the famous warrior monk, and her sister Olga, the Princess of Serpukhov.  Sasha and Olga know who she is, but to everyone else she is a boy, and the reveal of her identity could have devastating consequences for all of them.  

I enjoyed this one even more than the last book in the series, The Bear and the Nightingale.  Like the first book, The Girl in the Tower is heavily based on Russian folklore and fairy tales.  It’s not an area I’m very familiar with, but Arden sprinkles the plot with just enough background to understand the various mythological and archetypal figures and story arcs in play.  The folklore isn’t just there for flavor or set dressing; Arden is speaking to the heart of these stories and questioning the truths they tell and the lessons they purport to teach.  This book also expands the setting of the story from Vasya’s remote forest home to Moscow, bringing in the real history of the 14th century Rus.  The rich but restrictive culture of Christian Moscow is set against the whimsy and danger of the pagan woods, which adds a lot of depth to Vasya’s story.  Vasya has followed the path of many fairy tale heroines before her, but there is a lot about both their fate and the expected life of a proper Christian noblewoman that this independent and restless young woman doesn’t want, and the question of how much room she has to forge her own path is a big one. 

Vasya continues to be a likeable heroine, but I appreciated that in this story we see her more out of her depth.  She was comfortable and confident in her own terrain, but out on the road, and then among the court of Moscow, she is in over her head and that means mistakes and poor decisions.  I liked that this wasn’t the kind of story where, because the young hero was strong and had done impressive things, she was able to accomplish just anything.  In fact, Vasya’s confidence in her own abilities gets in her way at times; she gets complacent and makes mistakes that get her and the people around her in trouble.  The story simultaneously understands Vasya’s desire for freedom and anger at the restrictions placed on her by her sexist society and questions the cost of her freedom to the people around her.  Vasya’s relationships with her siblings were great: messy and full of misunderstandings and resentments, but also deeply loyal and loving.

The fantasy elements of this world continue to be intriguing.  The main plot of this book is a largely stand-alone adventure, but there is a lot of background building up, presumably to be explored in the last book of the trilogy.  Both the mysteries of Vasya’s family heritage and her complex relationship with the Winter King Morozko get a lot of page time.  After not caring very much about Morozko in the first book, I enjoyed his relationship with Vasya in this one a lot more.  Arden humanized him and therefore his interactions with Vasya in a way that made me feel for him.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexism and Sexual harassment

Sexism, misogyny, and the threat of forced marriages or other restrictions on women are a major theme. There is a graphic birth scene in which

the main character is forced to choose between letting the mother die or letting the child die. She makes the choice against the mother’s own wishes.

bethlynch's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Sexism, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

mnerd63's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery and Pregnancy

lisa_m's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book even more than the first one in the series! If the 3rd installment can keep up this might become one of my favourite series!

I started to love Vasya as the main character even more. I feel like she had so much more personality and drive in this book. Also I generally really love the 'girl dresses up as a boy in order to be taken seriously' trope - especially when she then comments on the things that come so easy to her just because of that small change, as well as all the things she would never have been allowed to do otherwise.
The end was a great conclusion to the story of this book. I realised that even though the story is a continuation of the first book, every book could really stand on it's own as well. They are clearly connected and part of a series, but they all tell their own stories that just happen to the same cast of charaters. I am really excited for 'The Winter of the Witch' and I really hope Katherine Arden will write more mythology retellings because she is truly doing such an amazing job!

I really like reading the Glossary at the end as well as her own reflecton upon the book. In this one she even gives secondary sources for further research into the base myths and storys of the books. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous

5.0

Wow, 5 stars for sure. I adored the way this built on book one and all the revisited characters! Vasya and Morozko have my heart. I love the vibes, the magic, SOLOVEY, girl-in-disguise, just everything.

CW: same "it's set in the 14th century, so" as book one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent

riccii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

WOW. This book should come with some hefty warnings but the payoff at the end?? Wow. Just. Wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, and Outing

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Slavery and Pregnancy

itisnatal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual harassment

kenzielireads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infertility

fatherprozac's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

This was kind of a slog to get through from the beginning to middle, but once it started picking up toward the end I was hooked into the series once again so I will continue to the final book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tmickey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent