The Girl in the Tower is mystical and intriguing. As a continuation of Vasya’s story, it was engaging and flowed nicely. If you loved The Bear and the Nightingale, you will love this one.
My first thoughts for this one were of slight boredom and confusion (and my review may reflect said thoughts). It took me about 30% of the book before I really got in to it. It relied heavily on knowledge of Russian folk tales and gave little explanation. But, having thought about it some more, I found that I could put those thoughts aside when looking at the story as a whole.
Between book 1 and book 2, the story did seem to flow pretty seamlessly. My initial thoughts on book 1 were that I would have liked to have more Russian folklore and less Christianity. Book 2 gave me the same thoughts, and I realized that this is meant to weigh heavily in the story to show the oppression of the Russian culture. This is what drove the story and drove Vasya to fight for the things she believed in. This is what made the appearance of Morozco, and the folklore creatures so important and fascinating!
Once the plot picked up for me, it had some interesting twists. I was introduced to a few more creatures, and another character from Russian folklore. It had moments of magic and intrigue, and some engaging characters.
Vasya still held the lead in the story. She was brave and determined. She was caring and stubborn, and still made some dumb choices. She was engaging and fascinating though.
Vasya’s siblings, Olga and Sasha, were wildly different from book 1. They had clashing beliefs compared to Vasya. They were unique in their own way, but sometimes still annoyed me with their choices.
I still don’t feel like I enjoyed this one as much as the first. I enjoyed it enough to look forward to book 3 when it is released, but it just doesn’t get the rating that I gave book 1. It had really nice moments of mysticism and excitement, and had action and unpredictable plot twists, but I would have liked it to have more world and history building, and more enjoyable characters. I also realized that I couldn't enjoy this one as much because of my lack of knowledge of the Russian folktales. That is why I was able to think a little more positively about the book when putting my confused thoughts aside (my initial rating was at a 2).
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!
My first thoughts for this one were of slight boredom and confusion (and my review may reflect said thoughts). It took me about 30% of the book before I really got in to it. It relied heavily on knowledge of Russian folk tales and gave little explanation. But, having thought about it some more, I found that I could put those thoughts aside when looking at the story as a whole.
Between book 1 and book 2, the story did seem to flow pretty seamlessly. My initial thoughts on book 1 were that I would have liked to have more Russian folklore and less Christianity. Book 2 gave me the same thoughts, and I realized that this is meant to weigh heavily in the story to show the oppression of the Russian culture. This is what drove the story and drove Vasya to fight for the things she believed in. This is what made the appearance of Morozco, and the folklore creatures so important and fascinating!
Once the plot picked up for me, it had some interesting twists. I was introduced to a few more creatures, and another character from Russian folklore. It had moments of magic and intrigue, and some engaging characters.
Vasya still held the lead in the story. She was brave and determined. She was caring and stubborn, and still made some dumb choices. She was engaging and fascinating though.
Vasya’s siblings, Olga and Sasha, were wildly different from book 1. They had clashing beliefs compared to Vasya. They were unique in their own way, but sometimes still annoyed me with their choices.
I still don’t feel like I enjoyed this one as much as the first. I enjoyed it enough to look forward to book 3 when it is released, but it just doesn’t get the rating that I gave book 1. It had really nice moments of mysticism and excitement, and had action and unpredictable plot twists, but I would have liked it to have more world and history building, and more enjoyable characters. I also realized that I couldn't enjoy this one as much because of my lack of knowledge of the Russian folktales. That is why I was able to think a little more positively about the book when putting my confused thoughts aside (my initial rating was at a 2).
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!