Early Review: THE WINTER OF THE WITCH by Katherine Arden
/18 Comments/by SuzanneAlso by this author: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
Series: Winternight Trilogy #3
Published by Del Rey Books on January 8, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW:
The Winter of the Witch is the final book in Katherine Arden’s captivating Winternight Trilogy. I always find it difficult to review books that come late in a series because it’s so hard to talk about them without giving away spoilers, but I’m going to give it my best shot here and hope that my words do it justice because filled with unforgettable characters, intricate worldbuilding, and creatures from Russian folklore, the Winternight Trilogy truly is one of the most beautifully crafted series I’ve ever read.
To give a bit of general context for those who have begun the series, The Winter of the Witch picks up right where the second book left off. Moscow is in ruins and its terrified citizens are looking for answers, and more specifically, for someone to blame. That someone, unfortunately, becomes our heroine Vasya, and the final book begins with her fleeing for her life from an angry mob who accuse her of being a witch and want to see her dead.
War is also brewing as the Grand Prince of Moscow looks to go after those who threaten his kingdom. While the Grand Prince prepares for war, the priest Konstantin has troubles of his own. Although he may be a powerful religious figure, Konstantin is a weak man, easily manipulated by those stronger than he is. In Konstantin’s case, he finds himself the puppet of a vengeful demon named the Bear. The Bear feeds off of chaos, fear, and war so he uses Konstantin to fan the flames of hatred and distrust to create chaos everywhere.
This chaos and turmoil affects not just the humans, but also the magical creatures. Vasya finds herself with the weight of both worlds on her shoulders as she desperately tries to save both her Russian homeland and her beloved magical realm.
Can Vasya stop the Bear and Konstantin? Can she stop a war? And most importantly, is there any way that her magical pagan world can peacefully coexist with the human world? It’s a tall order, and Vasya isn’t sure she’s up to the task.
Vasya. As with the two prior books, Vasya is my favorite part about this story. We’ve watched her grow from a young girl to a young woman and there has just been such tremendous character growth throughout each book. That growth continues well into this final book and I can honestly say that Vasya is one of my all-time favorite book heroines. I love her big heart, her refusal to conform to what is expected of her, and most especially, I love her resilience. The final book presents Vasya with several heartbreaking, gut-wrenching moments – moments that probably would have crushed a lesser person – but no matter how low she is pushed down, she always picks herself back up and refuses to give up.
Worldbuilding. I honestly didn’t think Arden could improve upon the worldbuilding from the first two books, but she proved me wrong with the Winter of the Witch. Again, I don’t want to say much because of spoilers, but into her world of Russian inspired folklore, she introduces what she calls the Road to Midnight and for me, it’s one of the most memorable and unique parts of the story. Vasya finds herself journeying on this road as she desperately seeks help from the Frost Demon and the journey she takes is truly magical, so much so that it almost defies explanation. It’s kind of like time traveling but so much more. You really have to experience it for yourself to get a feel for how wild a ride it really is.
Wonderful Secondary Characters. Some like Solovey, Vasya’s horse, and Morozko, the Frost Demon, I adored. Others like the Bear and Konstantin, not so much. But whether I loved or hated them, this series has a fantastic and unforgettable cast of well-drawn characters. We also meet several more mythological creatures in this final book and their bond of mutual respect with Vasya adds so much richness to the story and really emphasizes how she is a bridge between the two worlds.
Creative Use of History. I didn’t realize this until I read the author’s note, but some of the characters and events in the series are based on real historical events, including a war. Arden has, of course, put her own personal and creative twist on them, but the historical fiction fan in me thought it was very cool to learn the story was based on not just Russian folklore but on actual Russian history as well.
It made me cry. This does not happen to me often when I read fantasy series, but The Winter of the Witch made me cry. Not just once or twice, but three times! I won’t say specifically why I cried, but I will say that two times, my tears were tears of sadness and one time, they were tears of joy. That’s how attached to these characters I got!
I dislike that the series is over because I’m going to miss these characters and this gorgeous world so much, but that’s really all I’ve got. For me, this series is about as close to perfection as it gets.
The Winternight Trilogy is, by far, one of the most unforgettable series I’ve ever read. I love that while it’s a wholly unique story inspired by Russian history and folklore, it’s also reminiscent of some of my favorite childhood fantasies like The Chronicles of Narnia because the strong element of whimsical magic and wonder that permeates it.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.
Reviewers called Katherine Arden’s novels The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower “lyrical,” “emotionally stirring,” and “utterly bewitching.” The Winternight Trilogy introduced an unforgettable heroine, Vasilisa Petrovna, a girl determined to forge her own path in a world that would rather lock her away. Her gifts and her courage have drawn the attention of Morozko, the winter-king, but it is too soon to know if this connection will prove a blessing or a curse.
Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.
About Katherine Arden
Born in Austin, Texas, Katherine Arden spent a year of high school in Rennes, France. Following her acceptance to Middlebury College in Vermont, she deferred enrollment for a year in order to live and study in Moscow. At Middlebury, she specialized in French and Russian literature. After receiving her BA, she moved to Maui, Hawaii, working every kind of odd job imaginable, from grant writing and making crêpes to guiding horse trips. Currently she lives in Vermont, but really, you never know.
Weekly Recap #81: Week of 12/2 -12/8
/36 Comments/by Suzanne
It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
I’m really hoping this upcoming week is my last busy week of the year because I’m truly exhausted right now. I didn’t realize how tired I was until Saturday when I woke up at 6:40 a.m., decided I wanted to rest my eyes for just a few more minutes, and next woke up three hours later, lol. Oops! We’ve added after school band practices and Math Club to my son’s already busy schedule so I feel I like I spent half my week in the car chauffeuring him around and then scrambling around at home to make up for the time I’ve lost doing everything else that needs to be done. It’s all better than him sitting in front of the xBox for all of those hours so I try not to complain too much, but all that running around just makes me feel old and tired, lol. Thankfully the band concert is this Thursday so then those practices will stop and some downtime will open back up for me.
On the blog, even with the busy week, I did manage to do six posts, including a discussion post. My goal was to do at least 12 for the year and so far I’ve done 10. Hopefully I’ll make it. I do have a few other topics I’d like to write about, if I can find the time Yes, time, or lack thereof, is definitely the theme of this week’s post!
Speaking of the blog, does anyone else use WordPress? Specifically, did you update to WordPress 5.0? I updated last Thursday night and nearly had a heart attack when I went in to write my next post. They have totally revamped the editor and it looks NOTHING like it did before I updated. It’s all boxes now. You have to add boxes to type each paragraph of your post into. Lots of the formatting shortcuts I had been using now no longer work. It took three to four times longer than it usually does to write a post because everything was so hard to find and hard to use. I also usually write my reviews in Word and then just paste them into WordPress. Well, if I do that now, the formatting goes haywire and most of the words get pushed together so I have to re-proofread and reformat the entire post. After muddling through it long enough to get my Friday post up, I spent yesterday looking around to see if there was a way to undo the update. I found that WordPress has released an official Plugin that will restore the old editor. As much as I hate adding plugins to my site, the alternative, which is keeping a complicated new editor that I don’t have time to properly learn how to use right now, is even worse. For anyone else who is struggling with the new editor, here’s the plugin link — Classic Editor. I’m sure I’ll revisit the updated editor at some point after the holidays once I’ve watched some videos or something on how to use it, but damn, bad timing WordPress.
I didn’t get too much reading done this week with everything else that was going on, but I did manage to get through The Accidental Beauty Queen. I have to say this was a case of the right book at the right time because it’s such a sweet, fluffy, and fun read and it has so many of my favorite things in it. I won’t say much more since I’ll be reviewing it later this week, but it was just a perfect fit for me this week. I also started My Favorite Half-Night Stand yesterday and so far I’m really into it. Watching You is the last review book I need to get through before the end of the year so that’s on deck and then I hope to round out the year by finishing V.C. Schwab’s Villains duology. I haven’t even looked to see what ARCs I need to read in January, so this reading plan may change a bit once I get into the 2019 frame of mind and see what I have going on.
Oh well, that’s all I have. I hope everyone has a great week!
WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK
- [2 Dec] Weekly Recap #80: Week of 11/25 -12/1
- [3 Dec] Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield ★★★★½
- [4 Dec] Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Wintry Reads That Would Be Perfect to Read in Front of a Roaring Fire
- [5 Dec] Can’t Wait Wednesday – IMMORAL CODE by Lillian Clark
- [6 Dec] The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas ★★★★
- [7 Dec] Discussion Post: Are You a Scrooge When It Comes to Lending Your Books to Others?
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK
UPCOMING REVIEWS
STACKING THE SHELVES
TOTALLY RANDOM
Discussion Post: Are You a Scrooge When It Comes to Lending Your Books to Others?
/30 Comments/by SuzanneIn most aspects of my life, I like to think of myself as a pretty generous person. I frequently donate to good causes. I try to be as helpful as possible to my friends and family. And if anyone I cared about needed it, I’d lend them the shirt off my back.
What I wouldn’t lend them, however, is any of my books. That’s right. None of them, lol. When it comes to my books, I become downright Scrooge-like.
In my defense, I don’t do it to be mean. It’s just that my books are one of my most cherished possessions and I’ve been burned in the past by lending them out to people I thought I could trust to take care of them. What I got in return was either books that were never returned or books that were so severely damaged that they needed to be replaced. That said, my trust in others has become pretty much nonexistent when it comes to my books. In many cases, it was because I thought I could convert a non-reader into a reader and I have long since learned my lesson.
There are, of course, exceptions to my no-lending rule. My mother and sister are probably at the top of the list. They’re both avid readers who treasure books the same way I do so I will happily lend them any books from my collection and feel secure that they will come back to me in the same condition I lent them.
I also have a couple of close friends that I would be comfortable lending books to. Those friends have earned my utmost trust and I know they’ll take care of and return my babies intact, lol.
And then there are my blogger friends. Thus far, I’ve never actually loaned a book to a fellow book blogger but I could see myself being comfortable doing that if the opportunity ever arose because I know full well that book bloggers feel the same way about their books that I feel about mine.
* * * * *
So, what about you? Are you comfortable lending your books out to others or are you a Book Scrooge like me?