2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss the Katherine Arden book, The Winter of the Witch, the 3rd book in the Winternight Trilogy.

Pages: 384 pages

Length: 1 month

Participants: Cendaquenta, Erica, Ilona, Kristin MB, Melissa, SarahKat

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

I'm almost halfway through. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get into it because Girl in the Tower didn't stick with me. As soon as I picked it up I remembered what was going on though. It helps that it picks up right where the last one left off.

Kristin, (spoiler for chapter 3) (view spoiler)[ We must stop reading books where sentient animals die. (hide spoiler)]

I am looking forward to finally reading this one!

I am starting this tomorrow...can't wait!

Kristin wrote: "Just finished Part 1. To be honest, I can't remember much from the last book but they review enough stuff that I think I remember enough.
"

(view spoiler)[ Yes, that whole part was really difficult to read. I hate humans being awful to other humans and animals just because of fear.

I think Varvara was in the second book just as a maid or whatever of Olga's. I don't want to say whose twin she is just because I can't remember where you actually find out for sure. It's not Vasya's mother though.

Yes I think he did have the Bear help her. She does sort of just make decisions on the fly without thinking the all the way through. However, I think that changes especially throughout this book. She honestly drove me crazy a bit in the 2nd book especially because of that characteristic. In this one though I think you'll find she starts to think things through a little better. She still makes mistakes. She's human. But she thinks. (hide spoiler)]

I agree Arden does start slow. Bear and the Nightingale just had an amazing atmosphere but Girl in the Tower I didn't like as much because it just goes so slow until almost the end. I felt like the beginning of this one started in the middle of the action though, since it starts right where Girl in the Tower left off. Then it slows a bit.

The pace is weird in this one and I can't decide if I like that about it or not. I am enjoying the book overall though, definitely more than the second one. I'm actually almost finished.

I started the book on commute today, and also realized I hardly remembered anything from the second book. After reading an extensive summary, I can conclude that my memory is rubbish :P

After a bit of a slow start it turned into a page turner, and I couldn't stop reading last night.
I think that this book is a great ending to the series and I love that it is tied to some historical events as explained in the author's note.

There is one think I find strange though. (view spoiler)[I have been told that Grandfather Frost (Morozko/Ded Moroz) is the Santa Claus of Russia that visits on New Years Eve, together with his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden (Snegurochka), to bring presents to the children.
As Arden created her characters on Russian folk tales, I was surprised that Vasya is called Snegurochka. In the literal translation of snow maiden it makes sense, but knowing that in she is his granddaughter in the old tales is super weird to me. (hide spoiler)]

Ilona wrote: "After a bit of a slow start it turned into a page turner, and I couldn't stop reading last night.
I think that this book is a great ending to the series and I love that it is tied to some historic..."

That is interesting, Ilona! I did not know the origins of Ded Moroz. (view spoiler)[I thought he was more like Jack Frost than anything but I guess he is sort of both personas. I think Arden mentions that in her author's note too. It is a bit weird that Vasya is called the name that is generally given to Morozko's granddaughter, but at least she is not actually his granddaughter. I do not think the story would have been the same without their strange relationship. (hide spoiler)]

I've just started - only on chapter 2 - after rereading the others first. Very excited to see how the trilogy wraps up.

I was a little bit let down, too. I rated it 4 stars because I really love the series as a whole, and I felt that the ending was satisfying as a conclusion for those characters, but not so much for me as a reader. And, especially compared to the rather slow previous installment, there was far too much plot stuffed into this last book!
(view spoiler)[- The Bear being released, then bound again, then released again.
- All the revelations about Vasya's ancestry.
- OH LOOK HERE'S A WHOLE OTHER DIMENSION
- Suddenly there's a war with... somebody we've never heard of, and somebody else we've never heard of is siding with the enemy, oh wait, no, now he's back on our side.
- Konstantin becoming some kind of cult leader for a handful of chapters. (He should've been a one-book villain, honestly, he didn't need to come back after Bear+Nightingale.) (hide spoiler)]
Aaand, oh, what else have I forgotten, I'm sure there's something.

Re: Vasya/Morozko (view spoiler)[I was a bit put off by the fact that they slept together, too. On the one hand I like Vasya's overall storyline about claiming her autonomy in a culture where women don't have any and this is yet another powerful manifestation of that. On the other hand, what Kristin said. The girl's SEVENTEEN. (hide spoiler)]

I was also disappointed that Olga and Marya ended up fading into the background again.
Speaking of that family, one of 'em's bugging me - Daniil, Olga's son. I hate to say this but... why is he in these books? He gets mentioned like half-a-dozen times across the whole trilogy. Does he even have a line of dialogue? Granted, he's a little kid, I'm not expecting him to have a massive role in the plot, but even the silver cups in Morozko's house are given more significance than this human character!

Um wow, suddenly realizing I have only said negative things about this book...