The Summary

Vasilisa Petrovna is a legendary heroine who was adamant about choosing her own path. It is too early to tell whether her link to Morozko, the winter-king, will be a blessing or a curse, but his interest has been piqued by her talents and her bravery. Vasilisa Petrovna is a legendary heroine who was adamant about choosing her own path. It is too early to tell whether her link to Morozko, the winter-king, will be a blessing or a curse, but his interest has been piqued by her talents and her bravery.

A catastrophe has now struck Moscow. People there are looking for solutions and someone to blame. Vasya is all by herself and in a hostile environment. In his fury, the Grand Prince makes alliances that will take him to conflict and ruin. A vile monster makes a comeback with the intent to cause havoc. Vasya, who is caught in the middle of the war, is responsible for the outcome of two different worlds. Vasya will learn surprising things about herself as she struggles to defend Russia, Morozko, and the fantasy world she holds dear while her future is uncertain. She might not be able to save everyone, though.

My Review

What an amazing trilogy it is! Once more, Katherine Arden has me in awe of the majesty and magic she is able to convey via writing. Being completely relieved and satisfied that the series is over.

Vasya is one of the strongest women you'll ever meet in a fantasy tale. In earlier works, Vasya was held captive by patriarchy, but she was able to escape before learning there was no place for a free woman in the society she was accustomed to. She merely invented a brand-new one. She fought for the right to live her life in accordance with her preferences and changed the rules of the game. She comes to mind as the best illustration of feminism in YA literature.

It was extremely simple to notice how these traits altered throughout the course of the series, along with Vasya's character development. The ambiance of all three stories, which was permeated with Russian mythology, mysticism, and love, was one of my favorites.

This book's plot is much more developed, with a number of distinct events occurring swiftly to bring it to a close. Another benefit of deciding to weave the plot with real historical events is that the conclusion has a lot more of an epic fantasy feel to it than the fey mysticism of the earlier works.

I was worried that I might have had too high of expectations, even while the second book does not have the same level of brighter, more innocent desire for adventure as the first book did. I still value it, though, and I was happy to see it make a fierce comeback in this novel. The second book, in my opinion, lacked an exploring sense the most.

I won't even attempt to summarize the book's plot. Despite all the bustle, I will admit that I appreciate how Arden makes each book flow into the next. Arden's distinct and wonderful writing style, which hints at her influences while being distinctively her own, made me glad to be back in her capable hands from the very first chapter on. She writes with a flow that I think to be quite beautiful.

After reading this, it feels strange to return to everyday life since it is like being gradually drawn into a world that is so vivid and amazing. The variety of characters and the underlying issues in the trilogy have all been meticulously developed.

Fundamentally, this series has been like a lodge in the woods that has provided me with the greatest amount of warmth and protection from cyclones. I won't soon forget this, for sure.

Series Review:

The Bear and The Nightingale: 5/5 stars

The Girl in The Tower: 5/5 stars

The Winter of The Witch: 5/5 stars

The Winter Night Trilogy: 15/15 stars

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.

The Summary

Nahri is an expert con artist on Cairo's streets in the eighteenth century. She makes a livelihood defrauding Ottoman aristocrats in the hopes of making enough money to turn her life around someday. However, during one of her heists, Nahri unintentionally summons Dara, a wily, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, and discovers that even the most cunning plans can have fatal repercussions.

After being forced to leave Cairo, Dara and Nahri travel together through hot, windswept sands filled with fire-breathing creatures and rivers where mythical marid sleep, past the ruins of once-impressive human metropolises and mountains where circling raptors are more than they seem, to Daevabad, the fabled city of brass.

It's a city engulfed in magic and fire, where blood can be just as dangerous as any spell; a city where long-standing grudges fester and the royal court holds sway only loosely; a city to which Nahri is inescapably tied and where her very presence threatens to fling open a conflict that has been simmering for centuries.

My Review

What a great way to start a series! I really enjoyed reading this book. It is fascinating and odd, loaded with knowledge and mythology, and just so beautifully written. Despite how exquisite they are, the small nuances never overwhelm the story.

I was absolutely engaged by the world-building and cultural allusions, and I'm impressed by how skillfully Chakraborty blends the past of our own world into such a fully realized Middle Eastern fantasy scenario. This book is essential when it comes to "parallel history" storytelling.

Even though the politics were once more a little challenging to comprehend, I still found the plot to be enjoyable. This environment and everything about it captured my heart completely. I was on high alert the whole time!

The personalities are all so detailed that it was difficult for me to pick a favorite. They all possess so many intricate and fascinating characteristics. They captivate us with their vast cast of characters just to pit them against one another. Even though I want to, it's difficult to support them all when they're constantly butting heads.

The way it is worded is a masterpiece. It's stunning and incredible. It genuinely helps the reader to weigh all viewpoints and form their own opinions, which is quite challenging to do yet is expertly written.

All in all, I'm overjoyed that I found this book and that it met my expectations. I'll probably read the following installment to see how this tale ends.

If you like fantasy and want something with an Arabian touch, you must read this!

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.

The Summary

Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead after defending her country of Nikan from foreign invaders and fighting the terrible Empress Su Daji in a bloody civil war.

Despite her setbacks, Rin hasn't given up on the people she's made such great sacrifices for, particularly the residents of the southern provinces and in particular Tikany, her home village. Rin encounters severe obstacles and unforeseen chances while going back to her roots. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sneaky and unreliable, Rin quickly understands that the millions of common people who love Nikan as a goddess of salvation and yearn for retribution hold the actual power in Nikan.

With the support of the populace and her Southern Army, Rin will employ all available means to vanquish the Dragon Republic, the Hesperian colonists, and anyone else who poses a threat to the shamanic arts and their practitioners. Will she have the stamina to withstand the Phoenix's seductive voice pleading with her to set the globe and everything in it on fire as her influence and power expand?

My Review

This book was fantastic! There was no way this brilliant series could have ended more perfectly. It was stern and disruptive to your emotional equilibrium, but it was also profoundly significant and expertly written. It manages to catch you off surprise all the way through.

Without a doubt, these characters have come a long way, and I have loved watching them grow but also fall apart. Kuang has excelled in developing characters that you can't help but root for, even though they make terrible choices and ultimately turn out to be violent, narcissistic, crafty, and powerful people. Partway through the novel, particularly in The Burning God, you find yourself rooting for Rin to win at any costs, but as you learn what the sacrifice is, you start to wonder whether you could also be a mean person.

An intriguing set of characters were also introduced to the roster of characters. Since then, I've discovered that I should never put my confidence in others. In this series, each character has a personal agenda.

The setting and plot of this one still place a strong emphasis on politics and winning the war. This book spends a lot of time on trauma, including all of the ways it can manifest and loop. We frequently see the misery brought on by prejudice, the outcomes of discrimination, and the effects of imperialism, in addition to the agony produced by physical, sexual, and other forms of abuse. However, we get to observe how a variety of individuals in the book approach coping with their own traumas. Although it is extremely unpleasant, it is also crucial, real, and honest.

The Burning God, in my perspective, stresses how loyalty, commitment, and possibly even justice can help conceal abuse and trauma more easily. I found the main emphasis on guerrilla and defensive warfare tactics to be incredibly intriguing.

Anyone who has read this book can appreciate how expertly the author depicts the genuine horrors of war, smoothly combines historical information, doesn't sugarcoat the difficult material, and avoids romanticizing it like many authors do.

Unless I publish a spoiler review, I won't go into further detail. The reader was left to develop their own judgments on a few new information tale points that were not fully explored.

The protagonists of The Burning God engaged in an internal fight over their own feelings and emotional welfare in the third act, which made for a tremendously compelling reading experience.

I implore all of my fellow fantasy readers to read and try out this series! The ending was so devastating that I'm not sure when I'll be able to let it go. There are no unanswered questions, unfinished business, or unbroken hearts in this conclusion.

Series Review:

The Poppy War: 5/5 stars

The Dragon Republic: 5/5 stars

The Burning God: 5/5 stars

The Poppy War Trilogy: 15/15 stars

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.