The Bear and The Nightingale: (Winternight Trilogy) (Winternight Trilogy, 1)

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Medieval Russia in this fantastical world continues to be depicted with its bitter cold. Winter of the Witch is a bold fairytale, and it is lush to the senses. This book has more of a warring focus, and my interest lagged a little during those bits, but the expected magical creatures are present to carry to the fulfilling ending for this amazing trilogy. Vasya [is] a clever, stalwart girl determined to forge her own path in a time when women had few choices.”—The Christian Science Monitor I believe most fans of this series will like how the trilogy ends. I like that Vasya made her own decisions and stood by them. She remained a strong female character throughout the series and ended strong.

I need a frost-demon of my own. I think I'll make it my life goal to find one. Besides, I live in a country where winter lasts up to 5 months, so I might wander in the forest sometime, and look for the hero of my story. Inside the Kremlin walls in Moscow. I’m lowkey jealous that Katherine Arden got to spend a whole year in this amazing city, while my friend and I rushed around trying to see everything during one weekend (and nearly froze to death in the process since we hadn’t been expecting hailstorms in September…) EXCLUSIVE COVERS: Completely redesigned covers created by @micaelaalcainodesign for all three books.I gave this book a big, loving, emotionally exhausted hug when it was over. The ending was perfect and that is a rare thing so it probably shouldn’t be tampered with. BUT. I love these characters so damn much, my heart is crying for more more more of their adventures. KA: Maybe. I would much rather have people be passionate about the book in some way rather than just think it’s “okay.” It is fiction, in the end though. I tried to be as true to the spirit of the history and the fairy tales as I could, but at the end of the day, it is still a fantasy novel. I’m not writing a historical novel, so I don’t think I have that duty to get it completely accurate.

You know that feeling when you find a book that speaks to some deep part of your soul and you just want to shout: Beware the forest,” she added, following Vasya to the door. “It does not take kindly to strangers.” Only Sasha, a priest with a warrior's training, recognises this 'boy' as his younger sister, thought to be dead or a witch by her village. But when Vasya proves herself in battle, riding with remarkable skill and inexplicable power, Sasha realises he must keep her secret as she may be the only way to save the city from threats both human and fantastical. . . Me at a monastery just outside Великий Новгород. As a woman, you are only allowed to enter Orthodox churches with your head covered, and I decided I needed to document my abysmal head-scarf-wrapping skills. Still – wouldn’t it have been so much easier if people had sent Konstantin to a monastery instead of Lesnaya Zemlya?This is going to be a very weird review. While this is one of the best books I have read in the past couple of years, I think I’ll spend half the review criticizing things I didn’t like (and then I’ll spend the other half talking about mushrooms, but I’ll get to that later).

Doubtless, The Winter of the Witch is the most fascinating book of the trilogy. You know why? Because it is filled to the brim with fairy-tale creatures, frost-demons, firebirds and nature. The kind of nature where mysterious magical things happen, the ones you want to be a witness to. And you don't have to be Russian to feel them. You just have to keep your eyes open. i don't want to get into too many details, because it's book 3 of a thing, but i need to shout-out that l'il mushroom ded grib as my favorite new character. i'm sure this series will be turned into a show or film at some point, and i'm gonna want some ded grib merch. to play with my baby yoda merch. because i am grown. All too often, stories featuring sexual violence reduce it to a plot device or as motivation for a vengeful man (*side eyes* Game of Thrones), but that isn’t the case here. Both assaults are framed with the female victims’ emotional impact as the focal point. We see these assaults to understand what it’s like to be a woman in a world as patriarchal as medieval Russia. Each victim responds very differently to their assaults, but neither response is valued as any better or worse than the other. Every woman in this world exists on a spectrum of sexual violence and subjugation, even brave, bold Vasya. I did not read these incidents as exploitative, but as moments where each woman defined herself, either by carving out a life in a place that didn’t want her or by plotting her revenge. YMMV, of course. So, the Winter King, her biggest ally and the guy she loves, can't do anything without basically melting like Frosty the Snowman.Consistent in this novel, also, is the way Arden insists on Vasya’s agency without disallowing her the space and opportunity to experience and navigate first love, vulnerability, romance and intimacy. Instead of avoiding or undermining the unbalanced nature of the power dynamics between Vasya and Morozko, Arden throws that unbalance into sharp relief. Morozko wants to protect Vasya from the world, even (perhaps especially) the part of it that he represents, but Vasya is clear that she does not need coddling, that they are both past the line where his power might be able to help her. Invoking Medved, Morozko's brother, who wants to use Vasya's powers like a lighthouse lens that amplifies the intensity of his own gifts, Vasya implies that subordination to Medved is no different than unthinking deference to Morozko, no matter how different their intentions are: “If I am mad, I will not be yours. And dead I will not be his.” Vasya's refusal to be beholden to anyone's will, be it an ally or an enemy, is a vibrant thread throughout this series. But just as consistent (and constant) is Vasya's longing to belong. The two, insists the novel, are not mutually incompatible. I loved Vasya and Morozko’s relationship. My wizened, hardened heart fractured at the knowledge that they are each other’s person, a safe place for each of them to land. I waited two books and a half for the stolen fugitive moments they shared in shadowed places, where they were free to kiss and touch and drown and live and burn. Chapter 17, in particular, had me aahh-ing and ooh-ing and sending texts in all caps to a dear friend. I was LIVING. The Winternight Trilogy is romantic in every sense of the word. Arden weaves a fireside tale full of heartless lies, political schemes, and winter magic. It’s a haunting, heady series, cold but not lifeless story set in a land frozen by snow and oppression. The characters are vividly drawn and intriguing. Fans of Russian folklore will recognize most of the players, but the story is straightforward enough for those wholly unfamiliar. Even with all the contextual issues noted above, I still loved The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower. They burrowed under my skin in a way few books have. If you’re looking for a book to read on a rainy day with a cuppa and a blanket, the Winternight Trilogy is just the thing. There are no monsters in the world, and no saints. Only infinite shades woven into the same tapestry, light and dark. One man's monster is another man's beloved. The wise know that." This wintery trilogy has become exactly that for me - reminding me of all the reasons why I love literature.