Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

44 reviews

mary_stormageddon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

I didn't enjoy this one as much as Bear and the Nightingale. However, I still liked it and am excited for book 2

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jessversteeg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It’s very much like the previous book in its pace and story. It begins with Vasya’s sister, which might make it feel less interesting, but Vasya comes back into the story. Given the way it ends, I will certainly pick up the third!

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kellybarth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Vasya is back but this time she's far from home, a weary traveler headed toward the big city. Just like book 1, this book opens with a woman telling her family an old story. Once again, this story will be brought to life as the novel unfolds, but not in the way you expect. Book 2 has more adventure and a little less magic than Book 1, but it is still firmly in fantasy territory.

Don't miss the helpful resources at the end of the story, including a glossary and an explanation of the characters' many nicknames.

Vibe Check
This book is for you if you like:
  • Fantasy and Ghost Stories
  • Russian Folklore
  • Russian History (specifically from the 1300's)
  • Mulan vibes and strong underestimated women
  • Romance that isn't smut

Overall, I enjoyed the story. The Chyerti are sadly less prominent than in book 1, and I found the pace to move a little more slowly than the first, but overall I found this to be a great read (especially in snowy winter time!). If you're looking for a cozy winter read that isn't cheesy or cutesy you'll love The Winternight Trilogy.

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aksmith92's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

The second installment of Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy was an absolute delight. While it did veer to the Young Adult side of the spectrum, I still very much enjoyed this book and liked it even a bit more than the first one.

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! 

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sas_lk's review against another edition

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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.

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basil_touche's review against another edition

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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.

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nightmarebees's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.5

only got better after book one. medieval gender politics? old world pagan religion versus imperial christianity? and i’m such a sucker for an immortal slowly reverting to humanity when they catch feelings for a mortal. vasya has made it to my top 15 fave book protagonists and i have no idea what i’m in for on book three.

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southernreach's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75


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sierrainstitches's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

The first 3/4 of this was slower than I would have liked, but it really picked up in the end. CW for stillbirth.

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toriffic's review against another edition

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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


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