Publisher: Del Rey
Series: The Winternight Trilogy #2
Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher/Netgalley
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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.
**I received this title free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
This is the sequel to the wonderful The Bear and the Nightingale, so if you have not read that yet, do so before starting this one. Following Medved's defeat in book one, Vasya is now an orphan and an outcast. She has not seen her brother and sister in years so she elects to travel around Rus with her supernatural horse, Solovey.
Even though the outside world is harsh, especially for a woman, Vasya loves the freedom. She is not content to be idling around as a wife, or at a convent, so she relishes the fact the nobody is telling her what to do. Of course, it helps that Morzoko, the Lord of Winter, helps her out from time to time.
Her travels have forced her to dress like a boy to conceal her true identity, and that is the lie that she must keep in order to stay alive. Raids on neighboring villages cause Vasya to become a hero in the eyes of her cousin, the Prince of Moscow. Only her brother and her sister know her true identity, and all of their lives depend on her disguise to hold. But a mysterious Lord has other plans for Vasya and all of Moscow.
She must use all of the magic within her to save Moscow and her family before it's too late.
I cannot stress how much I adore this series, and Arden's amazing writing! Her descriptions of everything are gritty, real, and magical. It's not often that you hear of princesses with rotting teeth, or princes who smell, but yet that is what Medieval Russia was like, and Arden put that in her series. Even though there is magic in this story, it also feels real.
The world of Medieval Rus is dark and deadly. The chyerti-spirits from Russian folklore, are present, but are not as prevalent as the previous book because less and less people believe in them. They can be helpful like bath attendants, but they can also cause harm if provoked. Luckily for Vasya, she is a great believer in them and treats them with respect.
One of the important parts of the story is how women are treated in Medieval Russia, especially highborn women. We tend to think that princesses and highborn ladies must have the most amazing lives with everything they want, but in this story, they are confined to lives as either wives or to the convent, neither which Vasya is content with. We see her sister who lives her life in a tower, surrounded by other highborn ladies who never really leave that tower. They are like caged birds, unable to taste freedom.
This story contained new and old characters, and new information to who Vasya really is and where her magic comes from. I am eagerly looking forward to book three so that everything will be revealed, and if the slow burning romance between Vasya and Morzoko will finally come to a head.
Immerse yourself in this magical medieval world and you will not be disappointed!
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