The Girl in the Tower

So.. I didn't hate this one. But I didn't love it. Everything that made [b:The Bear and the Nightingale 25489134 The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1) Katherine Arden https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470731420s/25489134.jpg 45268929] amazing for me was stripped out of the second in the trilogy. Which doesn't meant to say Vasya's story doesn't follow the natural progression, in the way that fairy tales do, but there was not enough of my particular boat-floating, and I probably won't be picking up the final (although, if it goes where I think it will/should, it will be a great finish to Vasya's character arc).Katherine Arden does provide a reading list for Medieval Russia at the end, though, which has definitely been added to my wishlist.

In a time that's among the freest and safest for women there's ever been, women still don't have true equality with men and are frequently at risk for violence. So it's no wonder that Vasya, heroine of Katherine Arden's The Girl in the Tower, finds herself forced into disguise as a man in order to move through her medieval Russian world. The book picks up more or less right where The Bear and the Nightingale left off...Vasya has fled the rural village she grew up in after her father was killed and she herself was labeled a witch. Knowing full well what that means for her life expectancy, she sets out to explore the world, ignoring the advice of frost demon Morozko who warns her that the world is not kind to young women alone. She discovers very quickly that he is correct, and presents herself thereafter as a boy...it helps that her nickname, Vasya, like many Russian nicknames, is gender neutral and could therefore stand for Vasily as well as Vasilisa.

In pursuit of a mysterious group of bandits that has been stealing children, Vasya finds herself unexpectedly reunited with her brother Sasha and the Crown Prince of Moscow to whom he is sworn in service, Dmitrii. When she gets back to Moscow with them, she's also reconnected with her older sister Olga, now the wife of an important nobleman, and meets Olga's daughter, Marya, who seems to share Vasya's unusual ability of seeing things beyond the ordinary. Vasya's trying to keep her masculine identity intact until she can get on her way while also enjoying the ability to express her naturally bold personality...and then, of course, disaster strikes and the family finds themselves fighting supernatural forces to stay alive.

The Bear and the Nightingale was one of my favorite reads of 2017, and this sequel (the second in a trilogy) did not disappoint. I will say that I'd recommend reading it shortly after the first book, or while it's still relatively fresh in your mind...there's very little of the kind of “catching the reader up” exposition that many sequels have, and I wish I'd known that going in because I'd read the first nearly a year prior so the details were a little fuzzy. But the magic is still there! Arden's prose and storytelling remain deft, she expands further into the realm of Slavic folklore, and I love how she grows the seeds of romance she planted in The Bear and The Nightingale between Vasya and Morozko. I found myself rooting for them even though Arden never lets you forget the inherent power imbalance between an immortal creature and a teenage girl. It's refreshing to see a romantic plotline with a young woman who won't apologize for her desire to finish becoming herself.

While there are many books I read that I enjoy, it's pretty rare that something really grabs me and keeps me up late at night and makes me want to buy extra copies to give to people and force them to read it (honestly, I have a really hard time recommending books to people in real life because so much about whether a person will enjoy a book depends on taste). This series makes it into that group, for me. They're just flat-out great storytelling. I'd highly recommend this and the other Winternight books to all readers!

Schitterende en waardige opvolger van [b:The Bear and the Nightingale|33797941|The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1)|Katherine Arden|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1497612172l/33797941.SY75.jpg|45268929]The Bear and the Nightingale.

“Every time you take one path, you must live with the memory of the other: of a life left unchosen. Decide as seems best, one course or the other; each way will have its bitter with its sweet.”

Alle sprookjesachtige en magische winterse elementen die het vorige boek zo geliefd maakten zijn ook hier weer sterk aanwezig. Bovendien worden ze aangevuld met avontuur, intrige, actie en dreiging.

“That which you call magic is simply not allowing the world to be other than as you will it.”

Dit boek geeft antwoorden op elementen die in het eerst boek nog niet helemaal werden uitgespit, terwijl het tegelijkertijd de wereld verder uitdiept en nieuwe sprookjeselementen zijn eigen plek geeft in de opgebouwde mythologie. Deze mix zorgt ervoor dat er opnieuw een verhaal wordt verteld dat enerzijds enorm vertrouwd aanvoelt als een oud traditioneel sprookje vol atmosfeer en magie, en anderzijds volledig nieuw, eigen en uniek is.

“Witch. The word drifted across his mind. We call such women so, because we have no other name.”

Ik ben enorme fan van het hoofdpersonage Vasya en het is echt geweldig om haar als personage te zien groeien. Ja, ze maakt soms fouten en domme keuzes, maar hoe ze daar mee om gaat is wat haar zo echt en dierbaar maakt.

The Girl in the Tower is spannend en meeslepend, geschreven in lyrische en levendige taal, zodat je als lezer volledig wordt ondergedompeld in de Russische folklore. Ik ben enorm benieuwd naar het laatste boek.