Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

25 reviews

riccii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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

5.0

WOW. This book should come with some hefty warnings but the payoff at the end?? Wow. Just. Wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Blood, and Misogyny

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, and Confinement

Minor: Pregnancy and Slavery

saintyeehaw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

This was kind of a slog to get through from the beginning to middle, but once it started picking up toward the end I was hooked into the series once again so I will continue to the final book.

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Content Warnings

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

saoreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The deception and lies surrounding the novel's continued progression are indeed intriguing. The characters who play important roles in the story are introduced one by one in chronological order so that readers can focus on them. Not to be spiteful, but the way women are treated, with or without special circumstances, or simply as someone who is seen as insane, is baffling beyond measure to me. It's as if no personality can be bestowed upon a woman due to stereotypical beliefs and birthing machines alike, and addressing those issues was both frustrating and raging for some hopeful specks. That is how good this book is at evoking such emotions. I'm off to read the third one now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Blood, Miscarriage, Stalking, Confinement, War, and Gore

nebulasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Bullying, Grief, Trafficking, Death, Sexism, Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Pregnancy

sarahaf712's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

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; stillbirth

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Slavery

galactic_gigi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Following the first book in it‘s magical footsteps, this book delivered everything needed in a sequel. We get a heroine that is maturing throughout the book while facing human and magical dangers. Vasya‘s development during this book is incredible and I wished to protect this innocent child from all the cruel things her world has to offer. However, she masters the difficulties she faces wonderfully given the circumstances and I‘m still amazed how good of a heart she has. If I were faced with all this stuff, I would gladly stay in a not-quite-there-hut in the forest.
The slow-burn left me sighing more than once and at this point I can‘t wait to nearly die in a winter night just to be saved by a handsome frost-demon. Also: the YEARNING. From both of them! And he is always there for her. These are the things that keep the seasonal depression at bay!
Despite introducing a new villain in this book, I still can’t fathom the idea of how much hatred and rage a certain priest provokes in me. The pure entitlement this man feels towards Vasya leaves me with the most urgent need to introduce him to a wall. Of Brick. Repeatedly. Needless to say, Vasya is confronted with a lot of misogyny and sexism, as could be expected in a historical fantasy. However, the reveal in the end was a little bit obvious if you know some Russian folklore but it was executed really well and the betrayal left me aghast (somehow I managed to expect it but also denying myself so yeah, the shock was real).
The things I liked most were definitely the scenes with amoroso and the ones with her little niece. Also, as I mentioned: I really want an opportunity to train my right hook with this blond dude….

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Trafficking, Vomit, and War

leilapeach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

supermoon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Sexual assault

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark emotional 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 middle book of a trilogy often feels like the weakest, and usually takes me the longest to get through. Not so here. "The Girl in the Tower" picks up right where the first of the Winternight Trilogy leaves off, with Vasya riding towards Morozko and to a life away from the constraints of her small time village life. Then, we shift towards finding out how Olga and Sasha, Vasya's older siblings, are faring in Moscow, with a slow build towards bringing Vasya into the center action. It feels like that would be an off-putting start to a novel, but Arden's meticulous worldbuilding feels so necessary to creating the full story of Vasya and her family. 

Also, I have never hated a character as much as I have hated Konstantin. Every time he is on the page I want to scream. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Grief, Death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Body horror, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Vomit and Xenophobia