Note: I was provided an ARC of this book by the publisher, in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

At long last, we've come to the end of the road for Vasya Petrovna, a young woman in medieval Russia gifted with the ability to see the spirits of hearth and forest that are slowly dying out.  Arden works her narrative magic in this immensely satisfying conclusion, bringing to a close the story of Vasya's struggle to find a balance between the changes coming to the land of Rus and the old ways that protected her people for so long.  To do so, she must find a way to placate powerful spirits threatened by the humans - including the mercurial winter king.  If you haven't started this series yet, I highly recommend you pick up THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE and dive in!

THE WINTER OF THE WITCH begins just hours after the climactic battle of THE GIRL IN THE TOWER, when the Grand Prince was nearly overthrown and Vasya inadvertently created a great fire in Muscovy.  Although Vasya was able to eventually quell the fire with the help of the winter king, the entire town is on edge.   Eventually, roused to anger by Vasya's bitter enemy Father Konstantin, the townspeople storm the palace and drag Vasya to the forest to be burned at the stake as a witch.  Vasya escapes only through bargains struck by those who believe that she can be a new power in the war that is coming to Rus - bargains that loose a great darkness on the land and send Vasya to a hidden country she will have to learn to navigate if she is to return home and save her people.

Readers of the previous entries in this series will be pleased to know that, once again, Arden's elegant writing style is at full force.  THE WINTER OF THE WITCH is a Russian folktale in long form, with princes and spirits and great armies, and one singularly powerful woman at the center of it all.  The prose invokes the aura of a storyteller in front of  a fire on a winter's night.  But though the language is simple, the characters are not.  There are no easy decisions, no relationships that are untested or foregone conclusions. Even the central romance is complicated, twisted as it has been around scheming and maneuverings  by both parties involved.  And that's what makes this tale supreme, that it can straddle the line and be fantastical and grounded at the same time.

Of course, this story doesn't work without Vasya.  This is a heroine who wins through her quiet inner strength.  She's been through a lot over the trilogy, and while she was never exactly timid, she is officially done letting men or spirits dictate terms to her.  Vasya is a woman who will stand in front of a flooding river, demand it abate, and expect to be obeyed.  She has magic, yes, but it is her sheer force of will that allows her to be a worthy adversary. She is still flawed, given sometimes to strong emotions that overrule her better judgement.  But through it all, this is a woman moved by kindness. Her devotion to her family, the respect she gives to the spirits of the forest, allow her to unite the lands of Rus in a way that no one else ever has.  She's a heroine you want to root for, and cheer for with every success.

THE WINTER OF THE WITCH is an impressive end to this fairy tale trilogy. I'm still amazed at how well seeds were planted in THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE, story points that were not that important to book one but which blossomed into key arcs in subsequent books.  Even Konstantin, villain that he is, has the kind of tragic journey you can empathize with.  Vasya is a heroine that will live on long in my heart, long past the ending of this Russian winter.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Winter of the Witch in exchange for a review. And it is with pleasure that I do so!

Having an interest in old Russian and Slavic tales I eagerly read the first in this series, The Bear and the Nightingale, a few years ago. I was absorbed by the adventures of Vasilisa as she navigates the changes in her family and the rigid mores of her isolated village. The fairy tale aspects of the story were compelling but, for me, slightly hard to follow.

Then the second volume, The Girl in the Tower, arrived and I found myself really drawn in to the political plots involving the slimy and terrifying monk Konstintin, Vasilisa's sister and niece- plus, of course, a demon or two. This book read even better than the first and I wanted to follow where the life of the city that is not yet quite Moscow, burnt down and on the edge of war, might go.

It was perfect and gratifying to have this final book of the trilogy begin just as the embers are dying in the city, as the village people are looking for the cause of the destruction of their homes and Konstintin points his finger at Vasilisa as a witch. Really the whole book satisfyingly ties up many threads that I won't list at risk of spoilers except to say the Winter King, the Bear and even Baba Yaga make important appearances throughout the story. Read and enjoy!

The conclusion to this trilogy is epic and will give you all the feels. It will break your heart and heal it again. Vasilisa has seen some things but this book has her greatest trials and greatest growth. I really don’t know how to review this amazing book and trilogy. If you are looking for an epic high fantasy series that shows the dichotomy of several aspects of Russian life, interspersed with real history, this is definitely the series for you.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I had this for a while before I took the plunge: I was torn between charging ahead to finish one of my favorite series, and reluctance to end the series and find out what awful things Vasya would go through this time. Plus I was worried I’d set the bar too high for Katharine Arden - after the first two books, how could she top it?

I shouldn’t have worried.

I finished it in one sitting at 3am. I have only one regret, that it is finished. Actually, make that two ... I have to wait before I can talk to anyone else about the details and geek out in splendor. Take that as a warning, friends and family, I’ll be pestering you all until you finish so we can talk!

Arden is a master of weaving history and folklore in a way that is both natural and believable. Her characters are all well developed. Sick of books with “evil villains” that are two dimensional and have no motivation? Read these. These are some of the most believable characters, in the most realistic setting, even when they’ve managed to go into a world that is magic. The plot kept me guessing (and dreading in the best possible way) until the end.

I truly look forward to anything else Arden creates, though how she could top this, I don’t know. But then, I said that after book 2, so ... surprise me! Please! Thanks for giving me one of my favorite series to hand to just about anyone at the library looking for a recommendation!

I liked the first book a whole lot. I loved the second. I was let down by this conclusion, which begins directly after the second book ends, though I'm not sure whether this is due to the book or to me. Certainly I feel that maybe if I had read this book in a few long sittings, rather than spread out over several weeks, I might have felt more invested in it - but maybe the reason I kept finding excuses to put it back down over only a few chapters is that I didn't feel invested in it.

Not that I didn't like The Winter of the Witch. It really cranks the old-Rus mythology up to 11, with upyr (Slavic vampires) and the demon-goddesses of both Midnight and Midday, which was very cool. But I felt very distant from Vasilisa, and not as invested in her trials and tribulations as I was in the previous book - and her trials and tribulations meander a lot, here, as Arden brings together the over-arching thread of the fate of old-religion spirits in a Christianizing world, along with the political fate of Moscow with the Tatars at the door. The personal fates of the individual characters were less compelling to me, but unfortunately that's typically what drives my engagement with a novel.

This is an incredibly epic conclusion to this trilogy. I can’t believe I was lucky enough to get an advanced readers copy of this.This is much darker than the other two books and sometimes hard to read. It broke my heart and I actually teared up and a couple times said, “nooooooooo!!!!!!”
My husband was like, “what is going on?!”
Me, “Oh nothing, just having my heart ripped out.”

This book is a wonderful end to the series. It will make you cheer with relief, gasp in surprise, and probably weep with sadness.

I had to negotiate reading this with a friend who's also reading these books, promising not to breathe a word about what happens. Such enthusiasm is typical of readers of the series, which is overall built on a rich background of Russian-based folklore and myth. I found the background itself made the series worth reading, as we are (all-to?) familiar with fantasy based on Western-European, including Norse, mythology and folklore; however, Russian and Eastern-oriented fantasy is relatively scarce. I found the similarities and differences fascinating and as the author manages to draw on them, seeming to acknowledge that she has perhaps a new audience for these tropes yet not dwelling on explanations, and embroider upon them and the underlying history, her work draws the reader in on many levels.

This third volume has the difficult task of drawing to a conclusion the trilogy. As with most final volumes, there is a considerable amount of action to fit into the book in a short period of time. This results in some rushed plotting and forced resolutions. However, the the character development for the chief protagonists remains thoughtful. The description is well-done and effectively gives the atmosphere as well as the physical attributes of the space. In short, the author brings the reader along on this breathtaking ride and it is hard to put the book down.

I just finished The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden and I give it 5 stars. This is the third book in the Winternight Trilogy, and what a book to end the series! No spoilers here, but it definitely keeps the story going with the reader on the edge of their seats. I would say this was darker than the previous two books and leans more toward adult rather than young, since it’s considered YA. I love the blend of Russian history and Russian fairy tales, it was truly delightful, exciting, a little scary and altogether entertaining.
One thing I would want to mention is that demons/devils are talked about, but not in the way western culture views them.

This Russian Fairytale-like Winternight Trilogy has brought me such enjoyment the past three winters, I’m sad that it has come to an end! So much real Russian history with the added elements of demons and mythical creatures just took me over in The Bear and The Nightingale (my favorite)
The Girl in The Tower was also very enjoyable!

In this latest/last book, Vasya, Morozko, The Bear and many other magical/mythical creatures work together to save Russia. It was a little slower for me then the first two books with all the warring going on,but it still ended well.

3.5 rounded up for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing -Ballantine for the early copy of the book!

The effort Arden put into the third installment of this trilogy doesn't go to waste--The Winter of the Witch is clearly well-researched and well-written, and a natural extension of the excellent mythology laid out in books 1 and 2. (I actually wish we'd gotten more of this book's mythology sooner.) The trilogy ends on a satisfactory (and slightly predictable) note, but it just took this book FOREVER to get there.

The Winternight Trilogy has been one of my favorite series, so in many ways I’m sad to see it come to a conclusion. Not that feeling that way was enough to stop me from jumping at the chance to read The Winter of the Witch.
Reading this series has been a highly enjoyable experience for me. I loved so many of the details strewn about, and that I was given an opportunity to immerse myself in a culture I don’t know as much about as I’d like.
The Winter of the Witch concludes the epic tale of Vasya. There has been so much at stake for her this whole time, and she’s been carrying ever so much on her shoulders. Here we see her continue to learn about her heritage and her culture, while also trying to save those that won’t always be willing to listen.

Warnings first: There is some animal death in this novel. One of them is significant, and I’m not ashamed to say that it made me cry, and even forced me to put the book down for a day or two. You can see the scene coming though, so you can skip it if needed. However, be aware that they reference that moment several times, as it is very important to Vasya.
The Winter of the Witch was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. Words cannot properly convey how much I loved this novel. At a certain point I found myself dreading the end of the book – simply because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.
Vasya’s tale and the world she’s lived in has captivated me since day one. I love learning more about the beings that only she seems to be able to see. It’s been fascinating getting to see a bit more of Russian lore in this context.
Along with getting to read about Vasya’s varied friends, it was nice to see her again as well. I know this is said frequently, but Vasya has to be one of the strongest characters I’ve ever read about. She’s constantly being put up against these impossible odds, and instead of letting it break her she just takes it all in stride. More though, it seems like when she’s fighting for those she loves she can do so much more, and that’s a beautiful thing to be capable of.
The romantic dance that has been going on this whole series was finally giving the conclusion it deserves – and no, I refuse to say more than that. This is one of those things where you’re going to have to see it all in the moment, as the context is so very vital to it all.
The writing for the Winter of the Witch flowed beautifully. It felt at times like I was reading a longer ballad, especially when considering all the epic events and moments that this one novel alone carried within it.
I’m sad to have to say goodbye to The Winternight Trilogy, but honestly I’m looking forward to seeing what Katherine Arden will write about next. I know that whatever it is, I’ll be reading it.

The Winter of the Witch is the final book in Katherine Arden's The Winternight Trilogy. I read "The Bear and the Nightengale" and "The Girl in the Tower" so was thrilled to get an ARC. You definitely have to read the first two books to make any sense of this one - but please do. This is a unique, very well-written series.

Here we find Vasya Petrovka trying to escape Moscow after she caused the burning of the city by releasing the Firebird. The narcissistic priest, Konstatin Niconovich, whips the citizens into a frenzy that culminates in the capture and burning of the witch girl, Vasya. She is rescued and healed by various chyerti, (spirits of Russian folklore) and with their help she frees the winter god of death, Morozko. Morozko and Vasya have fallen in love over the course of the three books and their love is finally acknowledged. She needs his help to capture his twin, the Bear (god of chaos) who has been controlling the priest, Konstatin, and intends to raise an army of the dead to over take Moscow. No sooner do they succeed and say reluctant goodbyes then Vasya is compelled to help her brother, the monk Sasha, and her cousin, Prince Dimitri battle the Tatars for Russia's freedom using all the magic she has mastered and relying on the help of the Bear, Morozko, and the chyerti she befriended..

Arden has taken actual events in Russian history and combined them with Russian folklore and a big helping of magic to spin a fabulous tale. It was at once compelling,suspenseful, entertaining and heartbreaking. I encourage readers to read the trilogy in order and to pick up "The Winter Witch" as soon as possible. The Russian names were confusing at first, but the author includes a explanation as well as a glossary. The story is so good you soon forget any difficulty you had in the beginning.

I was sad to say good by to these characters. I'd love to see them in other novels. I am very grateful for the ARC and the chance to share my love for the book.

I recieved this eArc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Arden captivated me with her novel, <i>The Bear and the Nightingale</i> and she managed to make me love her writing style even more with this finale to the trilogy.

<i>The Winter of the Witch</i> shows very little of the innocent child, Vasilisa, roaming through the forests of Rus' and happening upon spirits and demons that we saw in the first book. Vasya has seen the things wicked men do for power as well as the waning of the house spirits as Rus' forgets its pagan origins. Vasya takes it upon herself to try and merge the two worlds, to attempt to prevent the chertyi from vanishing while war is whispered among men.

She has many hurdles to cross over to try and accomplish her task; one being the fact that the priest, Konstatin, who used his gilded tongue to sway her village against her is in the capital city of Moskva , preaching the same words he had before. Only this time he has the shadow of the Bear, Medved, over his shoulder who feeds of chaos and fear. We left them in <i>The Girl in the Tower</i> facing the aftermath of the burnt city and Vasya's identity revealed that she was a girl instead of a young boy.

In the third book, Vasya manages to escape the mob carting her off to be burned as a witch and ventures into the Midnight roads. It is there that she finds pieces of her heritage and chertyi allies to help her survive. She must do things she never thought were possible to do in order to not only save the spirits, but to prevent Rus' from being conquered and destroyed--which would also lead to the destruction of the chertyi.

The novel is a roller coast of emotions and left me flying through the pages to see if Vasya would be victorious. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful series and I highly recommend the series to all who love fantasy.

At last, we reach the conclusion of this Slavic-folklore-inspired series. These books grew to mean a lot to me as a Russian-speaking Slavic emigrant, and I'm so thrilled that the conclusion remains just as wonderful!

The Winter of the Witch picks up right where The Girl in the Tower ended, dealing with the fall-out from that book's climax. (Vasya accidentally set Moscow on fire, remember?) The city's inhabitants, goaded by the priest Konstantin, crave bloody retribution. And Konstantin is not the only enemy: the Tatars must also be appeased, and Vasya's old foe Medved has reared his head... As both inner and outer tensions threaten Rus', Vasya must figure out how to bring peace to her land — and whether she even wants to.

All in all, I found this book more similar to the second than the first. There is again more emphasis on action and plot than atmosphere, although the prose of course remains as lovely as ever. My favourite prose passages this time around were about Rus' itself. The way the characters described their attachment to their homeland reminded me a lot of how it would be put in Russian, which I really loved.

On the other hand, similarly to the first book, the magical elements are once more at the heart of the story. The chyerti are back. There's the Big Guys of course, like Morozko and Lady Midnight, but I particularly enjoyed all the appearances of the house, tree, river, mushroom(!!), etc spirits. Vasya's powers, which have continued to blossom throughout the trilogy, also take centre stage. The magic here is my favourite type: wild and lacking complex rules, but with the looming threat of a heavy toll.

Another great aspect was Vasya's relationship with all her family: her siblings, her niece, her cousin, and others. It's pretty rare for a fantasy book to focus on (positive) family relationships rather than friendships! While romance plays a larger role than before, Vasya remains motivated just as much by her familial ties as her romantic ones. I got especially invested in Vasya and her siblings remaining on good terms even when they didn't fully understand or agree with each other's actions. (Also, her siblings' reaction to her romantic escapades was endlessly hilarious to me.)

There's a lot of "I don't agree but I do understand" tensions in general. Everybody is doing what they think is best for their people, whether that's the chyerti and the priests, or Morozko and the Bear, or the Russians and the Tatars. This causes conflict, of course, but nobody is demonised for it. I really enjoyed Vasya, who's always been a bit of a hothead, having to figure out how to mediate between everyone.

My only quibbles with the book were very minor. As I said, I grew to care deeply for Vasya's family, and I think it's a real shame we didn't see some of them more! With the ending being a little abrupt, this series is just crying out for an extra short story "epilogue" (hint hint, pleeeease?). Also, I don't know whether this'll change for the final version, but the ARC's glossary has severe spoilers!! (Some of the spoilers are historical spoilers, by the way, so uh just don't Google any of the characters either.)

One final thing I'd like to touch on is "authenticity". The topic of authors writing outside of their culture is coming to be discussed more often. I personally am uncomfortable with the Winternight Trilogy being called either "very Russian" or "not Russian enough" (usually by non-Russians). What I can say, as a Russian speaker who grew up on these fairytales, is that I really, really appreciate the myriad "Easter eggs" Arden peppers in. To be honest, I cracked up a lot reading these books. In every chapter there'll be a reference to one of Pushkin's poems or some fairytale, or a translated saying or phrase. All of it feels like a friendly little nod between Arden and the subset of her readers who are In The Know. I don't know if this is "authenticity", but I do know that it made me exceedingly happy.

Altogether, I found Winter of the Witch an absolutely marvellous wintery read and I'm extremely excited for everyone else to read it too!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Now THAT is how you do a trilogy. Excellent work, Katherine Arden!

Arden has created a beautiful world, full of magic and men. She's brought historical Russia to life in the minds of readers, and she has given us a strong and amazing protagonist who gets things done, lives life on her own terms, and is chock full of character agency that other authors struggle to give but Arden does with panache.

This trilogy will lead you through the wild darkness of Midnight, the mystical land of the cheyrti, and the pastoral lands of old Rus'. It'll take you through the heights and depths of human experience, and show you the good and bad side of people and spirits.

Honestly, Arden's first trilogy is a masterpiece, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice as a reader to skip it. I had no interest in Russian folklore before reading these, and she's intrigued me with her depth of knowledge on the subject and her ability to incorporate those legends and myths into her stories so seamlessly.

Five stars. Top notch trilogy. Pick them up!!!!

Moscow is saved, but the actions Vasya took to achieve it have left the city in a state of panic, which her enemies are quick to use against her. Stripped of her allies and struggling to control burgeoning new abilities, Vasya must navigate perilous lands and treacherous alliances to save not only herself but also her people, both human and chyerti, the mythical race of spirits and beings that live on the edge of the human world.

Katherine Arden has done something masterful here: successfully written a conclusion to the Winternight trilogy which is both epic in scope, but does not lose itself or the strength of the previous books in overambitious set pieces or plot twists. Each of the hints and mysteries of the first two books comes to a satisfying resolution, often in ways that subvert or flip the expected resolution. Vasya continues to be a strong heroine, who never loses agency or is diminished by plot points, charging ahead in spite of dangers or consequences, but the narrative also allows space for her to be complicated and wrong, to explore the complicated morality of the situations, rarely reducing characters to flat one-dimensional renderings. Instead, Arden seems to delight in exploring all of the facets of her supporting characters, creating an interesting set of side characters with motives, histories, and complexities of their own. Her interweaving of Russian historical figures and battles was well done and sparked an interest in an area I may not have ever read up on otherwise.
Altogether, the most disappointing part was realizing that the trilogy was over. I am eager to see what Arden will do next!

This book, this series, is just so good.

It's almost hard to articulate how good this series is without spoiling anything, but I will do my best. Because I want anyone who likes well written interesting and unique books to read this. (so, everybody)

Vasya goes through hell, quite literally, in this book. She faced many hardships over the course of this series but this book is when her power is really tested. What she endures at the start of this book would make most people detest others, but she holds no grudge directly against the ones who hurt her but to the person who encouraged the action.

Kostantin, the priest, is somewhat of an antagonist for most of the book, while he is spurred on by The Bear, the decisions he makes are of his own free will. And in his desperate attempt to be his version of Holy, he encourages people to do acts of evil.
I feel like I should want to sympathize with him in a way because we know that The Bear is manipulating him, but at the same time, he had the capacity to do what he did with or without The Bear's help. So it's hard to feel bad for him in the end.

The plot has a lot going on, but it for me it never feels like chaos. There are loose ends that need to be tied up and, for the most part, they are. There are some small things that I would have liked answered, but that might just be me. There are so many great characters, even though I struggled pronouncing most of them, being Russian names and all. I was never confused over who these characters were, as they are still all so distinct.

There is so much to say about this book, but so little of it is spoilers, and with this being the third book I am trying so hard to make this book sound as fantastic as I can without spoiling things.
But I say, just read the series. It's fantasic. The characters, the world, the writing.

THIS IS WHY I READ.

I LOVE THIS SERIES.

YOU SHOULD READ THIS SERIES.

I was beyond ecstatic to receive an e-ARC of this book because I didn’t know if I could wait til it came out! It was the perfect winter read and had everything a brilliant fantasy should have.

First of all, the action starts immediately. I was whisked away to Moscow in such a rush that it was hard to put the book down. They’re an immense amount of raw emotions that Vasya feels that will break your soul in two. And what’s even better it wasn’t a one and done kind of setting. It takes time to come to terms with her story and Vasya felt so real because you could understand her on a personal level.

Y’all, watching a death-God and a Winter Witch deal with feelings was a big highlight of this book for me. IT WAS SO PRECIOUS. Morozko and Vasya’s relationship continues to grow, but they still remain their own people. I love the stubborness to be with each other, and to taking care of their own stories. Their relationship is passionate and sincere and I am here for “evil” characters trying to swim through emotions.

The antagonists of this trilogy get a lot more spotlight. I actually came around to appreciating the Bear (and his totally witty one-liners) and understanding the plot in a whole new light. The other ambiguous characters were entertaining. It was a lively bunch that kept me on my toes because they themselves were constantly choosing new directions.

This was a completely satisfying ending (minus a few tragedies, ya know, Russia in war and all). The combination of watching characters turn their flaws into strengths, the teeth-clenching action and the swoon-worthy cheyrti [devils] make for a trilogy that deserves a lot more attention.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy/Historical fiction
Romance: a light love scene, some kissing
Violence: magic, knives, war, suicide
No language
Trigger Warnings: suicide

In The Winter of the Witch, Katherine Arden has masterfully concluded her Winternight Trilogy. I am a person who never before enjoyed Russian literature but am now intrigued by the mythology and fairy tales that Ms. Arden has incorporated into her stories. As a strong female character who must deal with the misogyny and traditions of her class and times, Vasya is realistically conflicted and confident in her choices. Konstantin perfectly embodies the delusional, self satisfied priest intent on forwarding his own agenda. The two drive the story forward to a near apocalyptic ending. Bravo Ms. Arden. Thank-you for the ride.

I love the world that the author has created, and I love the main characters. I love all of this so much, in fact, that I just thoroughly enjoy every minute of time that I spend reading these books. I also feel like this book did a good job wrapping up the story of the series. All that being said, this volume seemed a little haphazard to me. The pacing and the organization did not always make sense, and she brought in some details that felt like afterthoughts, if that makes sense. .