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

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

As other reviewers have said, this book was necessary to give Vasya an opportunity to grow. After saving some young girls from a mysterious group of thieves and bandits who no one can seem to trace, Vasya then goes to Moscow disguised as a boy to get a taste of freedom that she will never has a girl. However, this now puts her family in not only a risky spot, but great danger. Olga and Sasha are now wrapped up in the lie as naïve and hot blooded Vasya now gets to explore this huge city. However, despite having a great capacity for kindness and curiosity galore, she is also impetuous, selfish at times, stubborn, and competitive, which leads to a pickle, if we’re putting it lightly.

There was a lot of clever string pulling behind the scenes as the villain deftly pulls the strings behind the scenes and manipulates people to result in quite the climax of this book.

I loved how imperfect Vasya was, despite wanting to grab her shoulders and yell at her. Not only is she fighting against the constraints put on her simply because of her sex, but she is also fighting magical forces and evil that others cannot see and believe, which makes her struggle even more of an uphill battle.

Despite it all, I never felt like Vasya lost her inherent qualities, and she is now set up for a wallop of a third and final book in the trilogy.