The Girl in the Tower

Remember that movie you loved that had 2 unnecessary, but still semi-ok sequels? That's what happened here.

What I loved about Book 1:
- Heavy on Fairy/folk tales
- Fast plot
- Unpredictable
- Tomboy heroine who could see the old gods/demons/etc
- Wasn't the classic beauty
- Not a perfect happy ending.

Book 2:
What happened?.... It's not a bad book, but the heart and soul of book 1 was entirely destroyed. This was not the same Vasilisa that I loved in book 1. It was as if Katherine Arden's publisher said “Wow, everyone liked your first book. You must make it into a series now and include all of these YA stereotypes!
- Stupid heroine who makes stupid decisions
- “ugly” heroine is now a beauty and multiple people start falling for her
- Unnecessary romance
- Heroine survives unrealistic battles
- SHOCKING enemy revealed to have been with them all along
- lovers quarrels
- Family drama
- Heroine acts like a whiney brat
- Heroine nearly kills everyone with her stupid decisions
- Heroine is super super super special and only she can save the day!

If I hadn't read the first book, I would consider it a solid YA novel. In fact, it's better than many. But this is nowhere near the level of Book 1. The first book haunted me all year. This book, I'll easily forget about and pretend doesn't really exist. It lost the heart of the original. The first 2/3 of the book barely acknowledge the folk/fairy tales that made book 1 so enjoyable. Aside from a few scenes, I would say it's not even worth re-reading that portion. The last 1/3 was excellent and carried the same heart as book 1. I'm still excited for Book 3, but am now wary. I hope it contains less of the YA character tropes and more of the fairy/folk references which made Book 1 so enjoyable.

TLDR: Publisher clearly got involved and said it needed more YA stereotypes. Bratty heroine, unnecessary romance, tons of Drama. Didn't carry the heart of Book 1.