The Winternight Trilogy

Winternight Trilogy 

by Katherine Arden 

4.5/5 

“As I could,

I loved you.”




      This series blew me away. When I went to pick up The Bear and The Nightingale I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had a vague idea what the series was about, but still wasn’t prepared for the world that unfolds in these three books. The only word that can really describe this series is magical, yeah I know real original, but y’all it IS magical....and addicting...and emotional....yuh, you got the idea.

    At the end of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year, but Vasilisa doesn’t mind- she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all she loves the chilling story of Frost, the winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls.
      Vasilisa soon sees her life changing drastically starting with a new mother, to growing into the strong woman that she always knew she was, and finding companionship with an unlikely winter demon. Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves, and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed- in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tale.      
       In this series you get multiple perspectives and it really adds to the dimension of the story and world. The main perspective is Vasilisa, and honestly at first I didn’t know how I was going to feel about her BUT I ended up loving her. You get to see her grow from a child into a young woman and I’m not talking about a small amount of growth, nawww this girl GROWS. She doesn’t have an easy life, and the best part? She knows it and she learns how to handle and deal with it, and prosper! There’s so much in just the first book that you know you’re in for a wild ride. Like I said before, I had no idea what I was getting myself into but as I read on my world was shook- especially when MOROZKO was introduced. Y’all. Y’ALL. Did I know that I wanted this to happen? No, and at first I was dipping my toes in the water but as the series went on I dived in head first! Who is Morozko? WELL, remember that frosty blue eyed winter demon king? Yuh that’s him. Did I know he was going to be a moody, emotional, SEXY character? If I did I would have picked it up way sooner, like waaaaaaaay sooner. I’m all about those forbidden relationships. Yes, you heard that right. The Winter King and Vasilisa have a strange sort of relationship form the very beginning that you see turn into something so much more throughout the three books.
     One thing I loved about Vasilisa was that she wasn’t beautiful, and that she remained constant throughout the entire series. I’m not saying she’s ugly but she has faults, and the best part is that she accepts those faults. This just made her seem SO real and SO relatable. I related so hard to this girl throughout the series. Vasilisa was written so beautifully that I’m sure many readers will be able to connect with her some way or another. I was rooting for our girl from the very beginning. Did she get the happily ever after that she imagined? No, but who can say where your life is going to take you. If I could tell myself back on page one of book one what we’d be reading I’d throw the book down and be like WHAAAAAAT. (Just imagine how dramatic that sounded) But ultimately I’d pick that sucker right back up because I’m an addict for damaged characters, forbidden romance, and magical worlds!
      The world felt like a fairy tale, not a happy one but a world that I could see being real if magic was...well real? Real poetic right? But anyways, like I said the world has just a dusting of magic on it and you get to see the two worlds coming together, and the politics of the real world merging with those of the magical world. It seems like it wouldn’t fit together but it does and the entire time you’re reading this series some part of it has you captivated. I wasn’t just interested in the romance. I was just as interested in the side characters and their stories, the world and what was happening, the fighting, the fairytales that don’t involve our dreamy winter demon, and soo much more. There is just SO MUCH to this book and I feel like the best way to experience it is to just pick up the first book and dive in. Sometimes knowing little about a book can make the experience so much better, and I’m so glad that I got to have a blank canvas for this series.
      This series is once again such an experience and I urge you to pick it up. It’s probably not like anything you have recently read and if you’re looking for something new and different then this series is perfect! I had such an amazing time with these three books, and when I finally reached the ending I kept thinking of the characters and the world. Pick it up, just do yourself a favor...you won’t regret it!

       If you did read this series and lurrrrvvveeed it then you should check out The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce!