The Winter Of The Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) - Katherine Arden
My Review - 5 Stars
You know when you love a series and each book is better than the last and then the final book comes out and it’s impossibly perfect and you’re filled with a sense of completion and satisfaction and yes, a little bit of sadness it’s over, but mostly you’re in awe of your reading experience? Well, now you know how I feel about The Winter Of The Witch and the Winternight Trilogy.
Winter Of The Witch picks up where Girl In The Tower left off and it’s pretty much off to the races from the start. This book was INTENSE, in a good way, even if some parts made me very nervous.
This was action-packed and just when one arc would resolve, I’d realize there was more to come. But it was always in service of the plot and the characters. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!
Arden explored the theme of belonging in some really interesting ways. Morozco is winter—he is the Frost Demon, after all—and it is basically impossible for him to be with Vasya in other seasons. Vasya does not want to be reduced to a wife: she doesn’t want to belong to a man in their patriarchal world. Then there are the familial relationships between Vasya and her siblings and aunt and the ways they work in tandem and apart. I also really enjoyed all of the symbolism at play.
When I consider the whole of this trilogy, I marvel over where Vasya was when we started and where she winds up in the end. She’s grown in big ways but the heart of her character is the same. She sees herself as an agent of chaos, like Medved, only she’s trying to help people when trouble ensues, whereas he delights in wreaking havoc.
One of Vasya’s tasks is to recognize her monstrous sides without giving in to those impulses and saying connected to the light and to her family. Winter Of The Witch blurs the lines of good and evil, as we also see other sides of both the Frost Demon and the Bear.
Vasya does not belong to Morozco or Medved. This makes her powerful in her own right and I loved watching her really come in to her own. She’s her own person with her own wants and desires and she’s not there to take sides. She is their very literal balance. Or as she says, “born to be in between.” The way this came together was magnificent.
Lastly, there's Vasya and Morozco's relationship. Look. I don't know how many times I have to say it but if being in love with a Frost Demon is wrong, I don't want to be right. As such, I absolutely loved the new developments in their relationship and where things stood between them.
This was such a fitting end to the trilogy and cements the Winternight trilogy as one of my favorites. Highly recommended.
CW: death of a horse (this was hard to read but it does get a good resolution), violence, mob violence, threatened rape, war
Synopsis
Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.
Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.
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Disclosure: I received an advanced copy from Del Rey in exchange for an honest review. Affiliate links included in this post.
