I immediately fell in love with Katherine Arden's magical storytelling skills when I read The Bear and the Nightingale two years ago. The Girl in the Tower last year was also excellent, but it didn't move me the way the first book had. This one definitely moved me! I cried at least twice, and I was so sad to get to the end because I would happily read three more books about Vasya and the chyerti. A strong final book for this gorgeous trilogy.

I really liked the first two books in this series, but I absolutely loved the conclusion. What I loved the most is that you understand the tough choices the characters need to make, and understand their motivation for making those decisions. There's no right or wrong answer for most of these situations, but different opinions on what is best for themselves or the people they feel responsible for, and it's just great. The emotional moments hit hard (I cried just a little bit...twice, one of which was on a plane and a little awkward) and I think that the ending is just so satisfactory.

I really can't wait to see what else Arden comes out with!

I tend to find that series finales disappoint me to some degree – I mean, I hype these books up in my head and spend time thinking up possible endings. The Winter of the Witch was actually a VERY satisfying conclusion to Vasilisa Petrovna’s story and had a nice balance between melancholy and triumph.

At the end of The Girl in the Tower Moscow was set ablaze and it was partially Vasya’s doing. The events catch up with her and results in that possessed priest at the head of a mob hungry for blood and vengeance. Have I ever mentioned how much I can’t stand that character? He’s just awful! Vasya escapes into the land of Midnight and she slowly morphs INTO HER FINAL FORM. Nah, not quite that dramatic, but she eventually becomes who she’s always meant to be – a bridge between human and chyerti. I loved Vasya and her fierce bravery and the powerful beings like Morozko, Medved, and Polunochnitsa that swirl through her life. There’s an interesting give and take relationship between them that makes things feel balanced rather than the power being skewed to one side or the other.

This installment had some serious moments of sadness that were written so well – absolute jabs to heart. The setting was, as always, magical and memorable. I particularly like when Vasya travelled through Midnight – the idea that this realm was each and every midnight that every existed or would exist was like, the pinnacle of fairytale coolness. Oh, and if you fell asleep in a midnight that wasn’t yours, you wouldn’t be able to return home again. Plus there were mushroom-men, river spirits, and even the undead upyry (Russian vampires).

I loved The Winter of the Witch, though honestly I’m not sure which of the three books ended up being my favorite. I would say this one, but I think that’s just because it’s the one I read last. All three books in the trilogy were so well written and feel like the perfect books to be read aloud on a cold, firelight filled winter night. Katherine Arden has really written something special that could be our next modern classic.

This was an excellent conclusion to the series. Vasilisa Petrova matures over the series from an adventurous young girl in book one, to a headstrong young woman who fights for her family and her country in book three. Book three brings us back into the chaos that ended book two and it introduces us to some interesting new characters and brings back some favorite characters we've already met. The story still centers on the Vasya, with layers of Russian folklore wrapped around some Russian history. It was exciting and magical, and I loved every minute.

Vivid, magical and EPIC!! That was the best way to end this most amazing trilogy. My heart was racing all throughout this entire book.

Vasya is determined to save her country by uniting them and showing them that there is way to be together and allow everyone their own religious freedoms. When we thought she was strong in the previous books, this is nothing compared to those.

She lives up to the prophecy. She makes allies with those who wouldn’t normally work together. As it’s said in the book, she’s a bridge between men and chyerti. The magic is failing as those stop believing in spirits. I loved watching her. She has the power to change things and she does.

No spoilers but this book was probably 10 times as exciting as the first two books. I couldn’t put it down. As I type this out, I’m awaiting Urania’s excited reactions. It’s her influence that gave me the nudge to dive into these books. I owe her.

There is a smidgen more of romance in this one but it’s very much on the back burner. I actually find myself not even looking for it. It’s just a bonus. But love, familial or romantic, is definitely a strong motivator to get things accomplished. But I will say that I’ve had my eye on Morozko since the first book and I’m happy to see him live up to my expectations.

“Love is for those who know the griefs of time, for it goes hand in hand with loss. An eternity, so burdened, would be a torment.”

Let the book hangover begin…

Okay, I’m going to be honest: I found an unexpected gem in Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy. I thought I’ve sworn myself off of Young Adult fantasy adventures, but this series completely caught me off guard.

Book one, The Bear and the Nightingale was unlike anything I’ve ever read. I was pleasantly surprised by the lyrical prose, the way Arden told the story like how a fairy tale should sound.

Book two, The Girl In The Tower, found me wanting more of Vasya, the Winter King and Arden’s rich world-building.

The final book of the series, The Winter of the Witch, was the perfect end to this sweeping series.
Vasya, bless her impulsive soul, is caught between two wars— the impending battle between Rus and the advancing Horde, and the unseen clash between the Winter King and his evil twin, Medved.

She faces impossible choices, is pushed against the proverbial wall and is assailed from all sides. Just the way I like it.

The Winter of the Witch still contains Arden’s lyrical prose, but it’s less of a fairy tale and more of a coming-of-age story. No more afternoons in the woods for little Vasya, here. Arden’s imagined Rus’ is now darker, colder and with sharper teeth. This final installment starts out harsh, and it keeps this pace all throughout the book. There were times where I felt physically and emotionally exhausted for Vasya. The girl was dead on her feet for most of the book, but I loved how she just kept soldiering on.


A lot of character development happens in The Winter of The Witch, and I appreciate how much Vasya’s character grew, for better or for worse. She entertained, awed and annoyed me in equal measure.

Her relationship with Morozko is far from what you’d call ‘romantic’, but their dynamic works, nonetheless.

The book also delves deeper into the Russian folklore and Vasya’s heritage, which I enjoyed.

I have to admit that there were some parts where the pacing felt rather off and anti-climactic, but all loose strings were neatly tied in the end.

Overall, the Winter of the Witch was a satisfying end to this trilogy. The Bear and the Nightingale will always be my favorite among all three, but this one is a strong contender.

4.5 stars. 🙂

Loved it as much as the first two books. Taking fairy tales and making them new and exciting. Hope she keeps writing.

I loved this book, as well as the first two books in this trilogy. Having no prior knowledge of Russian fairytales, I found this book mesmerizing. The descriptions of the magical lands, chyerty, and the cold Russian winter, put me in the middle of the action. The story moved seamlessly between Moscow and a fantasy world with the heroine, Vasya, a powerful ‘Katniss Everdeen’ with magical abilities, leading the way. The only thing I would change would be the lengthy description of the battle. I was much more interested in the intervention by the chyerty and the outcome of the battle, than the battle itself. I’m sorry to see the story end, I want to know what happens next!

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I have read the first two books in this series and loved them. For me, this series has been so interesting, different and refreshing, and I have thoroughly enjoyed each book. Also, I don't know who designed the covers for this trilogy, but they have been GORGEOUS. They really draw the reader to the book and represent each book's story so well.  I found this book a bit easier to jump back into than the last, though it does still take a good amount of additional concentration compared to some of the other novels I've read recently. There are just so many characters to keep track of and they're all called multiple names/nicknames throughout the book. It can be daunting to keep track of at times, but it's definitely do-able. This book could possibly be classified as "wordy" - to be honest if it were any other book I would probably say it is - but with this book I found each word to be so necessary to the magic of the story, and I found myself going back over the pages because I didn't want to miss a single word. The author uses intense descriptions to draw the reader into the story and trap them in this Russian world of magic and wonder. And the narratives surrounding the fight scenes were so good that I felt like I was there, watching the sweat drip from the warriors' faces. 

This book really made the reader question the idea of right vs wrong and good vs evil. I love when books make us reevaluate our ideas of morality, and I thought this was a very interesting sub-layer to the story. One of my favorite quotes in the book was "monsters were for children," as Vasya learns that the truth is more complicated than simply being able to pick a side and call it the "right" side or the "good" side. All of us have the potential for goodness inside of us and all of us have the ability to make a difference in the world, even in unorthodox ways. I just loved delving into this concept within the story line amidst all of the action and magic that the book brought to life for me. I highly recommend reading this series and I can't wait to see what this author comes up with next!

The language in this books is very poetic and beautiful. I wasn't a huge fan of The Girl in the Tower, but the second book caught my attention more, and this third book solidified the series. It's a fulfilling conclusion.

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, trust me), violence, mob violence, threatened rape, war

…a stellar conclusion to the epic Winternight Trilogy!

It’s no secret I’m a fan (don’t let the four stars fool you as I rarely give five) and Katherine Arden and her characters, especially Vasya and Morozov, did not disappoint. This, the third and concluding, entry in the series was a dark and dangerous roller coaster ride that I could barely put down until the last page.

<i>The Winter of the Witch</i> picks up where <The Girl in the Tower</i> ends (so reading them in order is a must!) It’s difficult to summarize this complex and epic trilogy, however at its center is the brave and determined heroine, Vasya. We’ve followed her, first as a child who loved fairy tales to now as a strong and determined woman, as she perseveres on a remarkable journey as fairy tales become reality. The journey is filled with all the elements of fantasy and magic including all kinds of creatures from demons to fae folk; romance and heartbreak; fire and ice; religion and history, the struggle for power and, ultimately, death. Even though it is set in a magical world, it also has strong reflections of the traditions and culture of 14c Russia which Arden has so carefully described.

Since I live in “snow country” and am well acquainted with long winters, it was easy for me to imagine myself in the frozen setting so beautifully created by Katherine Arden. And, even though I was sad to have reached the end of this story, it came to a very satisfying conclusion which will stay with me.


FYI - I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the last part of the trilogy, and I enjoyed it very much, too. This time, it is Vasilisa and the demons again, but the happenings in the book are tied more to the historical events than to the folklore. Vasilisa and the demons are helping with the war effort against the Tatars.
There is a lot of action, and it reads fast. The language is beautiful, and I enjoyed the book a lot.

I received a free digital copy of the book from NetGalley

A rich and satisfying conclusion to an enchanting series. I was delighted to ride along with Vasya’s adventure one more time.

I have loved this whole series, and the Winter of the Witch is a fitting conclusion. Full of magic, wonder, demons, Russian folklore and history, medieval Russia is brought to life. Some sections are a little slow paced, but Vasya's world of sorrow, triumphs, magic and love is a world I am going to miss. And I'll always see Winter through a different eye, now. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine / Del Rey for the e-arc. Highly recommend! 4.5 stars!

One of the most anticipated releases of January 2019 was The Witch of Winter as the conclusion to the Winternight trilogy. If you have been waiting a while. It was certainly worth the wait. While I didn’t end up loving this book as much as I did the second, it is still a very worthy ending to the story.

One of the things that Katherine Arden masters at is weaving the Russian folklore and fairytales to one compelling and dark story that digs into its characters. It digs deep. Everything stands and falls with our characters, mainly of course Vasya. But also the Winter King, Father Konstantin, Sasha and so on. No matter how little their own point of views were in the story, Arden knows how to deepen out characters with only a few sentences.

It creates a very introspective book where Arden invites you to take a closer look at how we treat woman and our expectations of them. Even in this day and age this still stands. We may not arrange marriages for the majority of the population but there are other ways where we still try and keep woman and other marginalized groups from acting out of what society expects of them.

The relationship between the siblings has been strained and that has been very realistic. But now especially Vasya and her brother come together and it feels great to see how Sasha can give up his misconceptions regarding Vasya’s abilitie. She is a woman. She is his sister. She is a leader. She is a fighter.

It is a powerful book and a powerful series. So why didn’t I rate this book 5 stars, but 4 instead? The thing is, I have a smidge with the plot. We get to what we perceive is the ending but then Arden throws us to the side. I always enjoy that but here I felt a little disjointed once we hop into that side of the story. I will also say that Lady Midnight needs to stop acting as if Vasya can bloody read her mind. If you want something to happen than SAY IT. Biggest pet peeve of this whole book.

The Winter of the Witch begins just moments after the events of The Girl in the Tower. There is really no way to write about the plot of this book without giving a lot away about its predecessors. As usual, the story moves at a breakneck pace and Katherine Arden manages to include an incredible amount within the covers of this book.

Throughout these three books, Vasya is a woman torn between realities: she lives within the walls of Moscow, but yearns for the Russian countryside; she is committed to protecting her family, but also compelled to return to the frost demon Morozko; and she is pulled between the religious traditions she grew up with and the knowledge that magic is real and she has a powerful gift for it. All the threads from the previous two books come together here and it is impressive to see that no character or plot point was haphazard. In the midst of this, Arden introduces new characters and new facets to the magic we thought we understood, and it works beautifully.

Vasya has always been a compelling character. She is talented and committed, but she is not immune. In Winter of the Witch, we see that there is a cost to bravery and there are consequences for you and those you love when you run into danger instead of fleeing from it. She is determined to forge her own path, but she quickly learns that her understanding of both human politics and the history of magic are limited. It's a fascinating to watch Vasya realize her potential and then learn when to act on her own and when to ask for help.

In this series, Katherine Arden has achieved something remarkable. Her characters are easy to love and readers will race through the pages to find out what happens next all the while lamenting that they are reaching the end of the story. Each of the books in this trilogy is teeming with Arden's love for magic and Russian folklore. I can see myself returning to Vasya's adventures each winter, happy to be reunited with these characters and the possibility that magic might be just beyond those trees in the dark, cold forest.

My reviews of The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower

The Winter of the Witch
Winternight Trilogy #3
By Katherine Arden
Del Ray January 2018
336 pages
Read via Netgalley

I had hoped to have my review of the last book in the Bear and the Nightingale trilogy on the day of release but it was not to be. The Winter of the Witch is a story to be savored not rushed through. Katherine Arden has combined history, fairy tale, country and family to create a spectacular fantasy. The final book was even better than I could imagine.

Wonderfully developed characters from a family that I had grown to love as if they were real people in a plot that is just as wonderfully developed. The fast, then slower, then speeding up to the final battle pacing of the story is not uneven as some might say but gives a realism to life for the third book. Any different or total action nonstop would give the book an unrealistic comic book feel. Instead it reads, as believable and true even though fiction. Amazing fiction, well-written, drawing the reader into Vasya struggles, hopes, goals and heartaches. Great victories, yes, but great loses too.

Start from the beginning of the series; fantasy readers and non-fantasy readers will not be disappointed. While I am not one especially drawn to Russian history, I loved this trilogy. Not since I discovered the Lord of the Rings 40+ years ago, have I been so deeply moved by a series of books.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a beautiful ending to this series. Although divided into many parts (almost like a play), the Winter of the Witch can really described in two sections. The first section/plotline, picks up after the second book with Vasya's release of the Zhar Ptista. Konstantin is mad with revenge and will stop at nothing to see Vasya burn. His mission is aided by Morozco's twin, the Medved, a demon of chaos and war. Medved manipulates and enhances the fears of humans, throwing all of Moscovy into rebellion. Vasya escapes near death through the magical realm but must face her foes to save Rus and her family. Along the way our heroine Vasya is put through hell and back. Her sense of right and wrong are tried and she is almost pushed to the brink. We learn more about her heritage and we gain some closure with her feelings for Morozco. The second plotline, speaks to the Tatar invasion of Rus and Dimitrii Ivanovich's struggle to maintain control of our beloved Rus.

As we saw with the first two books, Arden continues to bring to life the lush magic of Rus. Drawing from history and Russian folklore, she adds vivid color to Vasya’s quest to save her family and her country. Our favorite characters, Morosko and Sasha, play a pivotal role in the finale. And the antihero, Konstantin, is redeemed in the end to my great satisfaction.

This is such a wonderfully complex tale. While the focus is on adventure, there is no clear villain in the end. Sure, we hate Konstantin but he is acting out because of his fear and greed. Emotions most humans deal with at some point in their lives. And the Medved.. well destruction can also be creation as we learn more about the twins powers. And as the author describes in her final words, parallel to the battle for sovereignty is the battle of religion. Paganism vs. Christianity. And Arden did a splendid job of capturing this struggle.

5 stars for The Witch of Winter. I read this book cover-to-cover and would recommend it to fans of Naomi Novik's Uprooted and Spinning Silver, and S. Jae Jones' Wintersong.

Also for those who like history, take a peak at the glossary in the back. Arden unpacks a lot of the Russian translations and her historical references.

This is how you end a trilogy! It is a fairy tale ending that is not sappy but bittersweet, in line with the tone of the previous volumes. I will miss Vasya, Morozko and all their companions, human and Chyerti alike. Ms. Arden makes them all so real, so complete and complex that they all just shine. The writing is flawless, at once poetic and approachable, with a steady rhythm that makes the book impossible to put down. The world-building is also fantastic, based somehow in reality (some of the characters are historical figures) it's not hard to believe that events happened as described here. There are extremely suspenseful battles (those scenes usually bore me, but Ms. Arden had me completely engrossed), love, hate, heartbreak and family ties. I've said it before but, if I didn't know better, I would have sworn that this was a masterpiece of Russian storytelling that had just been recovered from the vaults of the Kremlin. History buffs and lovers of cultural trivia will also be satisfied with all the details. This reader has fallen under Vasya's spell.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine!