My Review of “The Girl in the Tower” by Katherine Arden

I was captivated by “The Girl in the Tower” by Katherine Arden. This is the second book that follows “The Bear and the Nightingale” The genres for the this story are Fairytale, Folktale, Fantasy, Adventure and Fiction with an essence of magic. “The Girl in the Tower” is a dark Fairytale with Russian Folktales.  I loved the way that Katherine Arden describes the Russian forests and Moscow from long time ago. I also appreciate the various and colorful characters, and their abilities. The characters in the story are complex and complicated.

  Why do we like Fairytales and Folklore enchant us and draw us into a world of magic and make believe? Isn’t it nice to escape to place where anything and anyone’s special abilities are possible?

    In this story we follow an Vasya, now a young woman, who has bravely left her home so she didn’t have to make a choice between marriage and being in an convent. Vasya and her stallion Solovey  go on a magical adventure to escape what was expected of her. Vasya disguised as a boy finds herself meeting intriguing characters and fighting bandits in battle. Vasya is brave and helps rescue some captured girls, and brings them to a Monastery where her brother Sasha is, with his cousin, The Grand Prince of Moscow.

   At first Vasya is regarded as a hero. The Grand Prince’s kingdom is threatened by mysterious dangers. Can Vasya and her family survive the dangers?

  I enjoyed this entertaining tale of enchantment and would highly recommend this to any reader that enjoys these genres. I  received this Advanced Reading Copy for my honest review.