Review of The Winter of the Witch Katherine Arden
By: Luna Lupine

Before I get started, I want to thank the magazine's book reviewer for allowing me to step in and do a write up about a fun book that I read on Kindle, while I listened on Audible. I do feel that this approach to taking in a story is the most entertaining, at the moment anyway.

I got a five dollar off any book from Kindle, and downloaded the audio for free because I am an Amazon Prime member. Hint. Hint. For those who are not catching my drift.

So this time around, I am taking a look at Katherine Arden's book called, The Winter of the Witch. The lead protagonist, Vasilisa 'Vasya' Petrovna, story actually begins in the previous book (1st in the series) The Bear in the Nightingale, where she is brought into the other world a place that devils and Russian spirits, known as chyerti reside. In the 2nd book, The Girl in the Tower, she finds her self battling to stay alive, but also for the lives of the people located in Rus.

This closes as Vasya is able to bring people and devils together to save her country and its inhabitants. With every step leads to a decision which will be dangerous, I really loved how it laid the foundation that made her grow and evolve as a character.

Also I need to note that The Bear in the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower was filled with widespread killing, but, The Winter of the Witch brings the actual battle to the front line! As the Tatars have made their way to Russia's front gates, which comes to a head in an epic Battle of Kulikovo.

So what did the Battle of Kulikovo do? It created loss and change, as every single character is affected without feeling a toll. Also, to add another layer to everything that was happening thus far, there was also a skirmish of faiths between Christians and Pagans! And, Vasya finds herself in the heart of the feud between the Chyerti and Domovoi—the second world where fables and folklore exists.

Ok, I have said before that I'm not much for romance, but you could see that from the beginning there was a spark between Morozko and Vasya, but it was presented as rather complicated. Then it happened, and it was every thing that I was wanting to transpire, it just took too long to get there.

It took me five months to finally read this book, I had heard online that this was going to be the final part of the series. But everything was in alignment and the price was right, so I bit the bullet, as we know all good things must come to an end. As I sit here thinking about the conclusion, and the story as a whole and while I liked it, I feel that the end was lackluster. But, I do feel Katherine Arden is a fantastic writer, and as a whole I would give the entire Winternight Trilogy a solid and mythical four stars , maybe it's because I'm a bit salty about the series concluding with only three books. So with the final book in question, The Winter of the Witch I did enjoy it, and am awarding it three and a half stars , and while I think this genre is not for everyone I do suggest try giving it a read.

I will try and attempt the same thing with a mixture of Kindle and Audible, which allows me to finish a book much faster than I normally do. But, no guarantees, as my work schedule is jammed packed for June. I know that this isn't written in character, but time to get my thoughts out haven't been so generous to me of late—I hope you don't mind.

Keep reading!