[Review] The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

The Girl in The Tower by Katherine Arden

Series: Winternight Trilogy #2

Rating: 5 stars

Format: ARC Paperback

Published: December 5th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

I'd like to thank LibraryThing for providing me with an ARC of the book through their Early Reviewers giveaways.

Last year I was introduced to the wonderful storyteller of Russian fairytale retellings, Katherine Arden, and her debut, The Bear and the Nightingale. It was hauntingly beautiful. And its sequel, The Girl in the Tower, did not disappoint.


The Girl in the Tower focuses more so on the relationship between Vasya and her siblings, Olga and Sasha. Vasya is forced to disguise herself as a boy in order to remain in the Grand Prince's favor as she solves the mysteries of the burning villages and kidnapped girls. All while Morozko, the Winter King, follows and aids her from the shadows. Our mysterious character for the book is Kasyan, who intends to find out Vasya's secrets and take her as a bride.

This book is full of surprises. It's knee-deep in Russian folklore and spirits and Arden definitely did her research. It was just as immersive as the first, and it was so much fun to read Russian once again after a four-year stint from it. There's also a great balance of magical and historical that Arden tackles with ease. House guardians and It's so easy to think that this all really happened in old Kievan Rus'!

"Things are or they are not, Vasya," he interrupted. "if you want something, it means you do not have it, it means you do not believe it is there, which means it will never be there. The fire is or it is not. That which you call magic is simply not allowing the world to be other than as you will it."  

Plus, Vasya is once again the headstrong girl who cannot be tamed! She does a lot of things without thinking but it's often for the good of others. She's such a likable and fierce heroine. Her horse, Solovey, is just as outspoken and brave. It was interesting to see Vasya's interaction between her and her siblings, who only want the best for her. Both Sasha and Olga are strong in their own right, and the family dynamic between all three, as well as with Marya, Vasya's niece, was a very great addition to the story, given the clash of gender roles and magic vs. political vs. family issues that were involved. All plots were interwoven quite nicely, now that I  think about it.

Any of Vasya's scenes with Morozko... my heart. Ugh. He's a frost king but damn those scenes were fiery and passionate. I needed more of him! I hope we see some resolution to their on-off romance in the finale.

There's also so many lovely bits of writing that I wanted to include, but I will settle with this one.

"Every time you take one path, you must live with the memory of the other: a life left unchosen. Decide as seems best, one course or the other, each way will have its bitter with its sweet." 

I can't with this book. I'm left in pieces and feelings things. I'm anticipating The Winter of the Witch, the final book in the Winternight Trilogy, with open arms.