The Winter of the Witch

essa é a edição do reino unido e para mim a mais bonita! o livro é um pouco mais duro e se não tiver cuidado pode acabar marcando a lombada, o livro é pequeno e com isso a letra também é pequena mas para mim não é um problema.

Trilogia bellissima per ambientazione, mitologia, caratterizzazione dei personaggi, ritmo degli sviluppi e parziale ricostruzione storica.

The Winter of the Witch is the third and final book by Katherine Arden in the Winternight trilogy. Continuing with the story of Vasya, we find that Moscow has been struck with disaster, and people need someone to blame. Vasya unfortunately finds herself to blame, branded a witch and is forced to flee Moscow. The Grand Prince is furious and makes several bad decisions, choosing allies which will lead him into a war that he cannot win. An evil demon returns intent on causing chaos. Vasya is on the middle of the human world and the magic world, and it falls to her to find a way to settle all the conflicts and bring peace and unity to both worlds. During a journey to be reunited with Morozko, Vasya discovers the truth about who and what she is. She finally tries to find a way to save Russia, Morozko, the magical world and herself.I really enjoyed this book, I loved how all the strands of the tale came together and how we learned the truth about Vasya. I really enjoyed her character development through the three books, no longer a naïve child, Vasya is now a woman with amazing strength and knowledge. Central to the trilogy is the relationship between Vasya and Morozko, and without giving anything away I liked how it concluded. I have enjoyed how Arden has interwoven the historical and the fictional together, the descriptions throughout the book have been very well written, the inclusion of the magical world was very well integrated. Arden has based much of the magical world on old Russian fairy tales, with just a few tweaks here and there. This book includes more of the magical world, I liked the Midnight roads, and who couldn’t help but love a magical mushroom spirit. I have so very much enjoyed reading the three books, I am only sorry that they have ended.

Une trilogie palpitante et complexe. Impossible de poser les livres une fois que l'on a commencé à lire. Cela faisait longtemps que je n'avais pas été aussi emportée par un livre. Une très bonne surprise.

As this is the third and the concluding novel in the Winternight trilogy, I might slip up and there might be some spoilers so keep that in mind going into this review.From the first book which was enchanting and absolutely magical to the second book which showed such strength and growth in Vasya to the concluding novel which saw Vasya truly coming into her own. It was such an amazing journey for me because Katherine Arden’s writing is simply brilliant.In this one, we see Vasya just barely surviving from the trauma of the previous book’s happenings, we see her enduring such grief and we also see her becoming a witch, owning up to her true powers. We also see a return of the brothers Medved and Morozko. After the events of The Bear and the Nightingale and the fiasco of The Girl in the Tower, Medved truly had a chance to shine in this one. The complex and cunning natuer of Medved was truly a treat to read.Then we come to Morozko. Oh, I have so many thoughts about this one. I really love Morozko as a character and to a certain extent, I even appreciated Vasya and Morozko’s relationship but it sometimes felt a bit unnecessary? Maybe it’s just me who wishes there was no need for the romance to be given as much importance as all that. I am sure many people will disagree with me on this point because for once the romance truly wasn’t the end all and be all of the story. You see why I have such mixed feelings on this one?Continuing from the second book, we see Moscow on fire, the dead are walking again and amidst all that, Vasya has been forced to go into Midnight. Midnight where she could take a break from her hardships, take a breath but soon Vasya learns that Midnight wasn’t without its own dangers. There she learns about her mother and her lineage and there she friends some allies as well.Despite wanting to stay there, Vasya knows that she was needed out in Moscow, if not for the people of Moscow then for her family. And so she left Midnight and set out to conquer her part of the world by coming into her own, by wrangling help on her own terms and trust me that was glorious to read.From themes of religion to having agency of her own in medieval Russia, The Winter of the Witch truly is a marvel. Even thought I cribbed about the romance, it is still done really well. I just really genuinely enjoy this series, okay? And I am sad that it’s over but absolutely happy at the way it ended.