Published: December 5, 2017
Publisher: Del Rey
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Winternight Trilogy #2
Pages: 363 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 4.5/5.0
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
The magical adventure begun in The Bear and the Nightingale continues as brave Vasya, now a young woman, is forced to choose between marriage or life in a convent and instead flees her home—but soon finds herself called upon to help defend the city of Moscow when it comes under siege.
Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.
The Girl in the Tower was the perfect read for a cold, craptastic week where all you want to do is snuggle under a blanket with cookies and tea. I’m also a bit late in reviewing it because I missed the memo that the release date was changed from January 2018 to the beginning of December. Woops! Undeterred by the missed release date (who really cares anyway?) I cracked open the pages and proceeded to get lost in this beautiful story.
After the dramatic events of The Bear and the Nightingale, Vasya has made the decision to leave her home because the villagers think she’s a witch. This is rather unfair, as Vasya only sees what others do not and understands how to speak to them. She’s also pretty tight with Morozko – the frost demon, the winter king, death. You could even say they have something along the lines of a romantic relationship, though it’s only beginning to show itself. I digress – Vasya has run away from home with her horse Solovey as her only companion. She quickly learns that the world is not safe or kind to anyone – be they girl, boy, rich, or poor- and that lies can only keep so safe for a short while. I think Vasya comes a long way in her maturity as this book progresses and she truly begins to choose her own path through life, despite the pressures of her siblings and society to conform to her expected role.
Probably half the reason that I loved this book so much is the setting – medieval Russia is fascinating. From the politicking to the mythos and rise of Christianity this is such a rich and unfamiliar world that I love to read about. I constantly found myself pausing to look up terms, read about historical figures, and learn about how society worked during this time period. As in most medieval cultures, women were mostly attractive background noise but I feel that this book shows a more extreme version. Vasya’s elder sister married one of the Muscovite princes and her life consists of gossip with other wives, bearing and rearing children, and staying in her palace unless it was a holy day. I could not imagine living such an entrapped life! Vasya defies the conventions of her day and sets off to travel the world and does rather well disguised as a boy.
Overall, The Girl in the Tower was an elegantly told story with solid plot and pacing. I thought it was a much more engaging read than The Bear and the Nightingale, and by that I mean it was much easier to sit down and read 100+ pages at a time. I was also VERY glad that Konstantin was less present here as he was an infuriating character who should have been fed to a rusalka at the first opportunity. The ending was especially good and left me very curious about the path the third book will take. I for sure want to add a hardcover copy of this to my shelves because the cover design is just as lovely as the story!
Powder & Page 
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