{Release Day Review} The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) by Katherine Arden (@Arden_Katherine @DelReyBooks)

​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.
 
Reviewers called Katherine Arden’s novels The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower “lyrical,” “emotionally stirring,” and “utterly bewitching.” The Winternight Trilogy introduced an unforgettable heroine, Vasilisa Petrovna, a girl determined to forge her own path in a world that would rather lock her away. Her gifts and her courage have drawn the attention of Morozko, the winter-king, but it is too soon to know if this connection will prove a blessing or a curse.

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.

Vasya is just beginning to understand what she is truly capable of. She must quickly come to terms with her power to find a way to save her family and all of Russia from mortal men that have been seduced by evil. 
 
Branded as a witch by a mob stirred into a religious frenzy by Father Konstantin Nikonovich, she somehow survives a trial by fire but loses something far more precious to her than her own life.  Her unbearable sorrow gives her the strength to embark on what everyone tells her is an impossible quest - 
a journey straight through Midnight to find the only one who can help deliver them all.   

​“But -” the Bear went on. “My brother thinks that men and chyerti can share this world. These same men that are spreading like sickness, rattling their church-bells, forgetting us. My brother is a fool. If men are unchecked, one day there will be no chyerti, no road through Midnight, no wonder in the world at all.”

The winter-king has been imprisoned in a village far away and has lost his memory of both Vasya and their special bond. But in helping Morozko remember who he is, she surrenders both her body and soul.
​
Together, they travel through the seasons and prepare for a battle that they know is coming. With so much at stake – family and country, men and magic, love and loss – how can one brave girl stand between destiny and the devil?

​“Will you not tell me your secret?” he asked. 

“What secret?” retorted Vasya, laboring to keep her voice steady. His hands were motionless, but his glance still traced the lines of her body. “I already told you. My people have need of you.” 

He shook his head, raised his eyes to hers. “No, there is something more. Something there in your face every time you look at me.” 

As I could, I loved you. 

“My secrets are mine, Gosudar,” said Vasya sharply. “We sacrifices may take things to the grave as well as anyone else.” 
​
He lifted a brow. “I have never met a maiden who looked less like she meant to die.”

The Winter of the Witch is the kind of finale that I, as a devout fan of the Winternight Trilogy, have been dreaming about!  Once again, Katherine Arden’s signature poignant prose and vivid imagery held me spellbound from the very first page. But it is the surprising strength of Vasya that makes this book so unforgettable.
 
Both her steely determination through heartbreak and her ability to trust in her tender heart establish her as a heroine well deserving of such a title.  And her story will stay me for a long time to come…

Get The Winternight Trilogy!