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A review by justjo
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
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