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sas_lk's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
So incredibly good. So close to a 5 star, it just did not give me a 5 star feeling, but I absolutely loved it. Highly recommend this series, can't wait to start the 3rd book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: War, Miscarriage, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Slavery
jedore's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“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.”
Disclaimer: I’m not a fan of fantasies or series.
So, why would I read the second book in this series about medieval Russia that is a mix of fantasy and reality?
Because the main character is a witch, of course. And, because I liked the first book (The Bear and the Nightingale) well enough to read the second.
I don’t know what it was (or wasn’t) about this book…it was yet another one that had all the elements I usually love (history, a strong female lead, good writing), but I just couldn’t get into it. My theory is that Russian history and culture just isn’t my thing. It might also be that I find it annoying when the main character is immature and constantly messes shit up. 😆
Honestly, if all things Russian and pagan float your boat, I’d recommend this to you!
Now that I’ve read two of the three books in the series, of course, I have to read the third…after some time passes, so my attitude improves 😄
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Violence, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Pregnancy
basil_touche's review against another edition
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
4.0
I'd say that this is even better than the first book. No word is wasted here, yet it paints such a vivid and clear story of a girl fighting for her freedom in a period that denies her that, while also trying to keep what family she has left in Moscow safe from those who seek to use her to gain power.
Also learned some things about Medieval Russia, the whole narrative feels very well researched in that regard.
It was also quite neat to see more of the mythical beings of Russian Folklore in this, but I feel that they don't appear as much as in the first novel. However, with this story leaving certain threads unanswered, I feel that the last book of the trilogy will feature more of them while also revealing what has been hidden under the surface the last two books. I eagerly anticipate reading it.
Also learned some things about Medieval Russia, the whole narrative feels very well researched in that regard.
It was also quite neat to see more of the mythical beings of Russian Folklore in this, but I feel that they don't appear as much as in the first novel. However, with this story leaving certain threads unanswered, I feel that the last book of the trilogy will feature more of them while also revealing what has been hidden under the surface the last two books. I eagerly anticipate reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and War
Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, and Self harm
Minor: Slavery
briarcrawford's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Sexism, and Classism
chefpeaches's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Violence
paulina_laukova's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Blood, Sexism, Child death, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit and Confinement
kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars rounded up!
I liked this sequel, and I liked that we saw some failure from Vasya. She seemed to miraculously know most things last book, so seeing her have to put pieces together and realize that everything won’t be handed to her added more depth to her than she had before. She makes hasty choices and they have consequences, and seeing her deal with that made her feel much more real.
I was not into how much this book leaned on assault and objectification to strike fear into Vasya; bodily harm (because yknow, war & magic battles) without rape threat and violent misogyny would’ve been sufficient. Staying historically accurate doesn’t require focusing in on details like that. The Game of Thrones school of dealing with misogyny in history should be burned to the ground, but I digress
I was afraid this book would bore me because it verged on political intrigue, but honestly those parts were easy to gloss over to get to the magic bits. I love the balance the author found there. I don’t care about palace life beyond how it directly impacts our characters, and I don’t enjoy reading about political machinations. This book gave me just enough context to continue making its point about gender & power dynamics in this time period
Overall fun, but I’ll be honest in saying that I hope the next book is far from a palace. I also find myself ready for a conclusion, so I’m glad this is a trilogy.
I liked this sequel, and I liked that we saw some failure from Vasya. She seemed to miraculously know most things last book, so seeing her have to put pieces together and realize that everything won’t be handed to her added more depth to her than she had before. She makes hasty choices and they have consequences, and seeing her deal with that made her feel much more real.
I was not into how much this book leaned on assault and objectification to strike fear into Vasya; bodily harm (because yknow, war & magic battles) without rape threat and violent misogyny would’ve been sufficient. Staying historically accurate doesn’t require focusing in on details like that. The Game of Thrones school of dealing with misogyny in history should be burned to the ground, but I digress
I was afraid this book would bore me because it verged on political intrigue, but honestly those parts were easy to gloss over to get to the magic bits. I love the balance the author found there. I don’t care about palace life beyond how it directly impacts our characters, and I don’t enjoy reading about political machinations. This book gave me just enough context to continue making its point about gender & power dynamics in this time period
Overall fun, but I’ll be honest in saying that I hope the next book is far from a palace. I also find myself ready for a conclusion, so I’m glad this is a trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, and War
Moderate: Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, and Pregnancy
justjo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I have really mixed feeling on this whole series. The overall plot is good, the climax/last 25% is a fun ride, and the relationships of the characters nicely resemble that complicated family love/hate. But the characters have no depth themselves.
I let it slide with the Bear and the Nightingale, reading it more as a prequel to Vasya as a character. I held out hope that she, and the story would grow from there (and that we wouldn't have an immortal falling for a 16 year old). But that didn't happen. Vasya remains a very naive and reactive protagonist. She doesn't ask a lot of questions about things around her, and seems to simply stumble into the plot all the time. She doesn't change a lot by the end, I feel, outside seeing the very simple "my actions=these consequences". I think in 9/10 of the scenarios where she could learn to grow, she would most likely make the same mistakes over and over again.
On top of that, the author just keeps hitting you over the head with "this world sees women as practically subhuman", but uses it more as a driving plot device without much more thought. It's easier to write what seems like a headstrong character in a world that is cruel for cruelty sake, and not have to address the society itself. I understand it's based on midevil Moscow, but everytime there's a choice between creating nuanced, deep scenes/characters or just screaming "witch" and having random side characters assault girls, the author chooses to assault girls. For the plot. Which I think has turned me off of finishing the series
I will look up a summary of the third book because throughout both of the books so far, there's the mystery of the grandmother and why Vasya (and potentially other) have this sight and magic. We get a small insight, but it's left more as a cliffhanger to pull you into the next book.
I let it slide with the Bear and the Nightingale, reading it more as a prequel to Vasya as a character. I held out hope that she, and the story would grow from there (and that we wouldn't have an immortal falling for a 16 year old). But that didn't happen. Vasya remains a very naive and reactive protagonist. She doesn't ask a lot of questions about things around her, and seems to simply stumble into the plot all the time. She doesn't change a lot by the end, I feel, outside seeing the very simple "my actions=these consequences". I think in 9/10 of the scenarios where she could learn to grow, she would most likely make the same mistakes over and over again.
On top of that, the author just keeps hitting you over the head with "this world sees women as practically subhuman", but uses it more as a driving plot device without much more thought. It's easier to write what seems like a headstrong character in a world that is cruel for cruelty sake, and not have to address the society itself. I understand it's based on midevil Moscow, but everytime there's a choice between creating nuanced, deep scenes/characters or just screaming "witch" and having random side characters assault girls, the author chooses to assault girls. For the plot. Which I think has turned me off of finishing the series
I will look up a summary of the third book because throughout both of the books so far, there's the mystery of the grandmother and why Vasya (and potentially other) have this sight and magic. We get a small insight, but it's left more as a cliffhanger to pull you into the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexism
toriffic's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Sexism, and Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, War, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Self harm
olma's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? No
3.0
I gave this a 3 because, while I liked it, I didn’t find it as wonderful as the first, which I gave a 4. The city life combined with the living as a boy trope wasn’t as magical as the first story was, and I didn’t love the naked humiliation of the main character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Sexism