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andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
After the events of the 1st #book, Vasya made a life-changing decision on how she wants to live her life. In this installment, we get to see soo much more of medieval Russia, and I can only say that was what I needed all along!☺️
CW : death, slavery, horror (supernatural), extreme discrepancy between genders, traumatic birth, loss of children, violent and humiliating outing of a person
This time I'll try to be more concise with my thoughts as this is a sequel.
In terms of setting and atmosphere, Katherine Arden does a fantastic job in transporting you in that era. You can feel the winter's harshest snow storm, see the forests alongside Vasya and the others, the frozen rivers used for travel and, definitely, you are walking Moscow 's dirt streets between horses, carts and merchants while women and children stay out of harm's way.
Now...themes and action : the story follows the footsteps left by the author in the first book...we get to see a heavier accent on customs, gender and society, how important was religion in those times and what role it took when people are faced with hard times, and lastly, the complex political playground that was Russia then.
I'm very happy to say that the political aspect drives A LOT of this book while always being weaved with Vasya's struggle to find herself and what she wants.
Perfect transition engaged😙👉 my favorite characters continue to be Vasya, and members of her family! A close second to our MC is Morozko!🥰 I absolutely loved their scenes full of meaning both towards their relationship and us! I feel like I come to learn peace with them🧐
Kasyan...now...this was an interesting character...his story balanced political, mythical and day to day aspects☺️...I was very happy to especially see the role he played in Vasya journey to accept her role in her family.
Sasha and Maryam were great, I both understood and got frustrated with Olya..not to mention...grieved with her, and, finally, I was left unsatisfied with Konstantin's involvement...don't get me wrong...what happened felt just right...only I wanted more.
That's it! 👉 go read the book!
Graphic: Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Torture, Misogyny, Child death, Slavery, Violence, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Hate crime, Murder, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gore, and Sexism
aksmith92's review against another edition
- 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
The setup: ~Trying not to spoil anything from the first book ~ Vasilisa, AKA Vasya, is set to travel the world after defeating many challenges in her hometown, the frontier country of Rus', in the last book. Ousted from her community and deemed a witch, she is ready to find solitude in the great outdoors with her beautiful horse, Solovey. That Solitude lasts about a day when she stumbles upon villages that have been burned and their young girls taken. Dressed as a boy, since it is still medieval Russia and the time is not kind to adventurous girls and women, she sets on a quest to find the girls and help the villages outside of Moscow.
During her adventure, she links up with family and soon finds her way to Moscow, where she becomes comfortable in her boyhood. But darker and grimmer things await her. Throw in Morozko, the frost demon straight out of fairy tales, and you also have a sprinkle of a love story without taking too much away from the plot.
What I loved: This was an atmospheric book with beautiful prose. The vocabulary was a bit different, just like in the first one, because Arden did her best to try to stick with the medieval Russia (Rus') theme in a historical context. However, it was pretty poetic yet readable. I had a blast.
Additionally, each character was developed and layered in their own way, especially Vasya and the frost demon. And, I must admit, I couldn't help but love a talking horse (only to Vasya, though). Plus, unlike the first novel, this book had more profound plot points and action scenes, which I thought was a nice touch.
Lastly, there was something quite beautiful about Vasya's development in this book. For context, this book was deeply misogynistic, just like I would imagine medieval anywhere to be. Vasya, as someone who diverts from the typical girl-to-woman tracks, was not regularly rewarded or applauded. Therefore, a lot of this book was saddening and sometimes even uncomfortable to read. Vasya had to deal with choices that focused on being herself or possibly getting herself into real trouble and, worse, getting loved ones in trouble because of her actions. Because of this, I would imagine some people reading this might become frustrated with Vasya and her decision-making, but to me, it was about Vasya trying so hard to be herself in a world that didn't allow it.
Any critique? I gave this book five stars - my first of the year! Therefore, I have minimal criticism. From maybe another reader's perspective, I will say that I'm not sure how much the plot flows from the first to the second one, meaning that the plot didn't seem to be 100% connected other than throwing in fairy tale elements. Some characters were the same, and their stories continued to be connected, but the plot differed slightly from the first book. I loved it anyway because I felt like each book focuses more on one piece of the fairy tale.
I loved this book and cannot wait to read the trilogy's final installment!
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Child death, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Animal death
Sexual assault is giving and forced touching.basil_touche's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
toriffic's review against another edition
- 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
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
saintyeehaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, and Religious bigotry
sarahaf712's review against another edition
Graphic: Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Slavery, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Sexual harassment
Content warning: birth; stillbirthleilapeach's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Violence, and War
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexism, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault
mscalls's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence
beholderess's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Slavery, Self harm, and Kidnapping
the_chaotic_witch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I did not review the first book in this series for personal reasons, and when I reread it - which I indeed will at some point - I will review it properly, suffice it to say that I absolutely loved it!
For the sequel, I headed in shortly after finishing the first book, already loving the writing style, the world-building, the plot development. I will not summarize here, as this is a sequel, but I highly recommend it, anyway.
An issue that for Me continued from the first book and will draw into the last (and that is not actually an issue with the book or the plot) is that I am a character-driven reader. And this is a plot-driven book. Of course, the characters here are still developed, deep and multi-dimensional, and I dearly love them, but they are not the story's focus.
As for the story and the plot itself, I highly enjoyed it. I had no idea what to expect from this book since the first felt so very complete for Me. And I still have that sentiment. I still think the second needn't have been there, but I am glad it is.
I am not only deeply in love with the characters and their multitudes in opinion, motivation, background, and character traits, but in their relationship to one another and their environment.
While it is sometimes painful to read this due to the historical accuracy of how people (probably) thought and acted back, then I would consider this a comfort read still.
Here I would like to state clear trigger warnings:
- sexual assault
- violence
- blood
- transphobia? (if it can be counted as that)
- misogyny!!
- sexism!!
- talk of rape
- emotional abuse
- child trafficking
- fire
- mentions of vomit
The strategic elements never cease to amaze Me, the thoughtfulness and coherence of the plot as well. While this is set in an entirely different culture and time-period from my own, I still felt like I understood the people and their customs, fell in love with their magical world, and cared deeply about how the story would end. I can't say anything about the accuracy of their displays, but I can say that the text drew Me in and, I am sure, kept a piece of Me when I finished reading.
A fairy-tale of the cold, Russian winter, full of magic, political intrigue, and strong relationships. What more could you ask for?
This is Me signing off. Be kind, especially to yourselves. Bye ♥
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit