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A review by tsunni
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book sent me on a roller coaster of emotions. Take the free spirited Vasya from the first book and set her against patriarchal Moscow, and what do you get?
I was angry at Vasya for quite a lot of the book, until I realized that anger was misplaced; she was just being herself, it was the society of her time that I was angry at. All she wants is to be free and speak her truth, and my dismay sparked every time she dug herself deeper into trouble; because all my instincts as a single woman in a male dominated industry and world, is to do the opposite of Vasya and play the system, suppress and don't speak what's on my mind unless the time is right. That's the role Olga, Vasya's sister plays in this story, as the counter to Vasya and an allegory to our experience in modern day. They may use other words now, but our society still finds ways to mark us as witches if we don't play the game right. Things are better now than in the old Moscow of the story, but there's too many familiar parallels here.
We should all get to be Vasyas instead of Olgas.
For getting me this worked up and doing so while retaining the amazing writing, fun plot, engaging characters, and plain ol' magic from the first book, this is a definite 5/5 for me.
I was angry at Vasya for quite a lot of the book, until I realized that anger was misplaced; she was just being herself, it was the society of her time that I was angry at. All she wants is to be free and speak her truth, and my dismay sparked every time she dug herself deeper into trouble; because all my instincts as a single woman in a male dominated industry and world, is to do the opposite of Vasya and play the system, suppress and don't speak what's on my mind unless the time is right. That's the role Olga, Vasya's sister plays in this story, as the counter to Vasya and an allegory to our experience in modern day. They may use other words now, but our society still finds ways to mark us as witches if we don't play the game right. Things are better now than in the old Moscow of the story, but there's too many familiar parallels here.
We should all get to be Vasyas instead of Olgas.
For getting me this worked up and doing so while retaining the amazing writing, fun plot, engaging characters, and plain ol' magic from the first book, this is a definite 5/5 for me.