Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

28 reviews

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: violence, rape mention, descriptions of blood and corpses, still birth

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden is the second book in the Winternight trilogy. I loved Vasya in the first book and I love her just as much in this one! This was also a perfect read for this cold snap we were having. This is a very winter atmospheric read. 

We started off a little slow by beginning with Vasya's older brother Sasha's pov. We pick up with him going to Moscow to tell his cousin the Grand Prince about the raids and kidnapping of girl children in the villages by Tartars. He stops by the Savra to rest when a boy on horseback demanded they open the gate and had three girl with her. 

Surprise! It was Vasya the while time. Then we find out what happened to Vasya. I love how fierce and independent she is and stubborn to boot. We get a bit more slow burn from her and Morozko, although we don't really get a happy ending. I still love the fairytale feel of this series and the Russian folklore. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't say more. I'll just say Solovey is one of my favorite characters. 

This is a very feminist take on a fairytale. Though there is a slow burn happening, it doesn't consume Vasya. She just wants to experience the world and be treated as she was when she was being Vasilii Petrovich instead of Vasalisa Petrovna. She doesn't want to get married. She just wants a horse farm of her own. 

Can't wait to get my hands on the last book and conclude this adventure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Child death

Moderate: Slavery, Blood, and Death

Minor: Rape

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

szuum's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

Would've enjoyed the book even more if it hadn't been for

the hot and cold attitude of Morozko, the comments about Vasya's appearance and how she's supposedly unattractive, and the awful romantic plotline with an immortal creep and a teenage girl.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Slavery

morganphoenix's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Violence

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Slavery

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

kestrel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Minor: Slavery

beholderess's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Absolutely adored the first book, but this one lost most of the magic, and the heroine is much less competent than she used to be

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Slavery, Self harm, and Kidnapping

wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Death, Child death, and Blood