Reviews with content warning for Violence - De Winter van de Heks

A wonderful end to the series. Winter of the Witch delves straight into the action, without any of the slow build up to Vasya's main plot that the previous two books did. And it starts out intense, with Vasya nearly killed by a mob spurred on by the corrupted priest Konstantin. I did kind of miss the meticulous world-building, but this is probably the most focused of the series in terms of plot. But I forgive much because I loved the relationship between Morozko and Vasya getting the room to really grow. Also, Vasya's PTSD from the beginning of the book was rendered so vividly and painfully, and I liked seeing a protagonist struggle with doing what she had to do with that disorder. It just makes her feel all the more real and brave.

The only thing I didn't particularly love was that it felt that there were essentially two parts that felt like an ending-one part in the middle and the other was the actual end of the book. I don't want to spoil it, but I felt that after one of the major forces of antagonism in Vasya's life are defeated, there was a 50 ish page gap where the book felt like it sort of stalled. Overall, I didn't hate it and I get thematically why this split exists and the meaning behind showing that "defeating evil" is not enough for a victory in a complex world, but it felt odd in a book that's so action-focused to have this weird lull roughly 2/3rds of the way through.

Overall, extremely satisfied with this series and its ending, and good god

was it satisfying to see Konstantin die. Still not sure how I feel about Solovey being resurrected in the last 10 pages of the book, but it is a very fairy tale twist so I did appreciate it.

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cheesy_gordita_grack's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful tense

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

It's not always the case that the latter books in a series are better than the first ones. I had trouble with The Bear and the Nightingale because the snail's pace to start, and the overwhelming depth of the world-building. But that was all in service of the final books in the series. The Winter of the Witch was incredible, and I wish there were 10 more.

Overall, this series benefited from extremely well-developed characters and rich world-building. The combination of the Russian folklore-inspired world + ties to real historical events gave this book SO much dimension. And I loved all the characters, which never happens! Vasya is the toughest b*tch around. <3 And Arden's writing is really something: I will never get sick of reading about Vasya freezing to death in the Russian winter. I want 17 follow-up novellas following her adventures with Morozko, and her niece training with Baba Yaga, and Solovey hanging out with Miss Firebird lady. There was so much in this world left to be explored.

For this book in particular: You probably couldn't have asked for a better wrap-up. The author addressed so many loose ends, the scope and stakes felt appropriately BIG, and I like the way the romance was handled. Vasya is such a dope protagonist. For realz, Katherine Arden: pls write more.

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mscalls's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? No

3.5

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quietkristina's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Cross-posted from my blog: http://quietandbusy.blogspot.com

**This will contain spoilers for the two previous books in the Winternight Trilogy**

After finally finishing my last (very long) book, I decided it was time to pick up The Winter of the Witch and complete Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy. I've been slowly working my way through these Russian folklore-inspired fantasy novels over the past few months and have been mildly enjoying them--at least enough to be interested in finishing out the series. It's been a like-but-not-love situation with these books for me so far. As I headed into the last book, I was hoping to maybe feel a stronger connection to it than the previous ones.

The plot of this novel picks up right where the second book leaves off, with Moscow reeling from the massive fire Vasilisa accidentally caused when she released the Firebird from its captivity. Although she was able to stop the fire with Morozko's help, and defeat the evil sorcerer menacing the city, the townspeople still consider her to be a dangerous witch and they immediately call for her execution. As a violent mob begins to gather outside the gates of Vasilisa's terem, she decides to leave to protect the rest of her family. She is unable to simply disappear, however, as decisions are being made in Moscow that will lead the country into a war with the Tatars. The army of the Tatars is vast, and Vasilisa knows that Russia's entire existence is threatened by this approaching conflict. While she is very tempted to disappear into Morozko's eternal winter and lose herself in her romance, she can't ignore the needs of her country. She decides to help Russia win the war.

Her journey to help her country takes her into strange, otherworldly realms and awakens a magical ability in her. Her new, fragile magic, however, is not enough to defeat the Tatars on its own. Similarly, Morozko's powers aren't strong enough to turn the tide in their favor. While he can help, this is not his season and not his fight. So, in order to save Russia, Vasilisa must unite all of her people - the Christians, the Pagans, and the magical creatures hidden away across the land, and lead them to defend their country together. She must also decide whether or not to ally herself with an old enemy who could very well lead them to victory, or betray her and bring about certain defeat.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really liked this novel. Vasilisa's mission to unite her people against their common enemy allowed the text to explore worthy themes, and it felt appropriately epic. I thought that Vasilisa's growth as a character showed through clearly. She really comes into her own this novel and is brave, selfless, and powerful. When I think back to the beginning of the series, when she was a frightened child with strange abilities she didn't understand, I can truly appreciate how far she has come. Arden did a nice job transforming her across the series. I thought the romance between her and Morozko was well written here too. There was just enough of it that you felt invested in them being together, but not so much that it took away from the overall story about the war.

I enjoyed the feminist aspect of the novel as well. This story is set in medieval Russia. Women had few rights and were expected to be either wives or nuns in this time period. Vasilisa's independence, courage, and willingness to defy gender norms send a great "girl power" message throughout the text, even though they frequently get her into trouble. I also liked the theme of working together despite differences for a common good. This was my favorite book of the trilogy by far, and I was happy that the series ends here, on a high note for me.

I've read a few books based on Russian folklore over the years, and none of them have ended up being favorites for me. I think this trilogy is my favorite of these types of stories I've encountered so far, and that's really saying something, because I just don't love Baba Yaga as a character, and she was definitely present here. I still wish that I fell completely in love with Vasilisa, but I enjoyed the journey well enough and The Winter of the Witch was a satisfying ending. I'll be happy to donate all three of these books so that someone else out there will hopefully enjoy them a little bit more than I did.

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aseaoftomes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

This is the third and final installment in the Winternight trilogy and I still loved it.

This picks up right where Girl in the Tower left off with Vasya in Moscow after the events of the chaos of what happened. We continue to follow not only Vaysa, but her family members too - Olga and Sasha primarily. This book converges the two sides - in BitN we focused a lot on the pagan side of things, in GitT we focused more on the humanity and Christianity side and now it WotW we see the two come together and reach a place where both can coexist.

As with the two previous books, I loved the setting and atmosphere. Since we get to deal with both the human and the chyert sides, we get to see both human and chyert lands and I loved seeing the similarities and differences between them. I just love how Katherine Arden writes her worlds.

The writing was also fine. Of the three books, I think this is one of her strongest with regards to pacing and overall writing especially with regards to plot.

The plot was also great. Katherine Arden managed to fit a lot of different things in without it feeling disjointed or out of place. It's hard to explain much of the plot of this one because of spoilers, but I loved all of the conflict between the humans and the chyerti - that was such a huge part of the book. But also the politics and turmoil between the Rus' and the Tatars and then with Vasya and the chyerti. It was just all really interesting to watch and ultimately see how it all concluded.

Finally, the characters. I loved Vasya in this, probably the most out of the three. She really grew into her own and I feel like we got more internal conflict from her than previously. She felt more manifested in this than previously. I also really liked both Sasha and Olga's character arcs and their growth and how their relationship with Vasya was portrayed. And of course, as always, I love the chyerti - literally all of them. They add so much to the books and they're written so well. Once again we get to meet several new spirits and they were all delightful. Morozko remains my favorite (always) and I loved watching his relationship with Vasya in this book (I love them, but you probably know that already) and looking back on where they were in the first book to where they are now and I just loved it.

All in all, this is a really great conclusion to a great series, and I had a really great time rereading it. (As with all of the books, I read this in winter with snow outside because it adds an extra layer to the atmospheric element).

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lashette's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I cried. A beautiful ending to a beautiful series.

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bookreadreceipts's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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katiburd's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I feel lots of love for this book! I really enjoyed this final book in the Winternight Trilogy! I feel like Arden wrapped up everything in the best and the most bittersweet way - I loved that. I'm going to miss this trilogy and these characters!

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