Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Das Mädchen und der Winterkönig by Katherine Arden

47 reviews

simp_librarian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0


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bethlynch's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

5.0


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mnerd63's review against another edition

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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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lisa_m's review against another edition

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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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thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

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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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riccii's review against another edition

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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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ktkeps's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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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mandeeson's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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mmefish's review against another edition

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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:
-
did the traitor really need to be Koschei the Deathless? It didn't serve any purpose rather than to connect Vasya to him, which wasn't needed. His character was good enough as a human and his evilness became a little caricaturish as well.

-
what was the point of  incorporating Olga's pregnancy and killing her unborn baby? Just...why? I think Vasya had enough of courage and determination without it.

-
romance with Morozko. Not necessary and could easily be written as strong friendship/platonic relationship. She's about 16 years old and is often referred to as "child", so it's kinda icky.


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" (
"the villain was one of us all along"
), the easy escape at the very end,
teenage girl in love with ancient being
etc. 
It read a little bit too much like YA.

Also, I'm really sick of
Vasya getting sexually harassed/assaulted.
I understand why Katherine Arden writes it but I dislike it nonetheless. 

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.

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micallab's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

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