The Girl in the Tower

One day. One day I'll stop trying to read books during finals week. That wasn't this week and it certainly won't be next round. Because why not be self-destructive? It's, and I can't stress this enough, fiiiiiiine.

Today, after long 10-20 page intervals, I finished The Girl in the Tower. After Vasya has to leave her home or be put to death, she decides to be a traveler. She realizes it's harder than it seems and Morozko helps her out a bit. Masquerading as a boy for convenience, she tracks a band of bandits and saves some girls. This gains her the favor of the king but causes her siblings to have to lie on her behalf. Then the rest of the chaos ensues.

I'd like to start off by saying that I really need either Morozko to become mortal or for Vasya to become immortal so they can be together. They'd be so good together. I realize this is a feminist series about a girl finding her own way in a time when girls aren't supposed to have any way, but I still want them to have some sort of relationship. I'd prefer romantic, but I guess I'd be okay with a bromance. I do like how this fairy tale breaks away from the normal fairy tale and makes Vasya the hero of her own story. She figures out how to save everyone. She's the one who found the bandits. An overall, good story. If I had read it all in one go, I'd have liked it better, but I couldn't. Stress makes me not be able to focus. Then I had this coffee incident. . . but that's not what we're talking about.

Actually, I don't have much to talk about, because it literally took me like, two weeks to read this book. Am I ashamed? Yes. I'm ashamed of me. But there's nothing I could have done. I had papers to write, exams to study for, and all that jazz. If you want some insight on the book maybe. . . go read it.

Ship: Vasya and Morozko

8/10
~Book Panda

The Bear and the Nightingale

Hi gamers,

How's your day been? Mine has been a waste. I meant to start/finish a paper before the next week deadline, so I wasn't stressed. You know what I did instead? Finished a book I should've finished Friday and this book I'm gonna talk about right now.

I just finished The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, the first in the Winternight Trilogy. It's a rendition of Russian folklore, though I couldn't tell you the entirety of the folklore. Basically, the book takes place in a fantastical medieval Russia, out in the low key country/forest. Vasilisa's mother dies giving birth to her. Eventually, her father gets remarried and the stepmother is, as per usual, a monster. She's made it impossible to follow their old ways, with major consequences following. Then she tries to send Vasilisa away, who's the only one keeping their lands functional. With little house spirits and mysterious demons, this should not have taken me five days to read, but alas.

So, I've been waiting for the final book in this series to come out for a while. Since it had been a while, I forgot what it was about. Then I read the blurb, and I was furious. I could've used this book for my whole paper. But it's fine. I'm not bitter or anything. Plus, it's a good book. I've developed a love for fairy tales and this is like something I want to write. A whole fairy tale, but in novel form. I think a bit of what took me so long was because I was used to reading like, 10-page fairy tales with wide margins and this is a whole 300-page book. Also, the fact that I was angry that if I read faster earlier in the year, I could have used this for my paper. But all is well.

Vasilisa is a queen. She was born in the wrong time period and could be the wildest girl she wanted it she was created in the 21st century. Unfortunately, she wasn't, and that's part of the purpose of the story. I like how she always stays true to herself. She trusts herself more than those around her and she doesn't succumb to the will of the patriarchy. I also appreciate her brother, Alyosha? I don't really understand the Russian naming system. There's like five different names people are called and I'm not sure why. Like, Vasilisa is called Vasya most of the time. But why? I guess I should go look up Russian stuff. Anyway, Alyosha is a cool dude. I also liked Sasha, but he was kind of pretentious for no reason. I like how he went off to be a monk, but he's very bad at it.

Konstantin was a wild creature. Like, part of me liked him but the other part wanted him to just chill. Stay in church and paint your pictures. Also, he was very God-fearing, which is whatever, but he painted idols and the people worshipped him. So doesn't that make him an idolatrous? I know I don't read my Bible like I should, but that's what it looked like. Morozko is interesting. I know she's not to trust him, because he's chaotic neutral Jack Frost, but I do. Her dad, patriarchal. The oldest brother, patriarchal. Anna. Needs to go to an asylum. Why couldn't her dad just put her in the convent? All my problems would be solved. I kind of understand her, but also, go away.

All right, I have a group project to go to, but I enjoyed this a lot. Hopefully, for the next book, I won't be stressing so I can in-depth analyze it. Bye.

Ship: I don't have one. . .
Snake: Anna
Gemini: Konstantin
Like: Alyosha, Morozko, the little house spirits, Solovey

8/10
~Book Panda

Alex, Approximately

Hi,

Welcome to we're not drowning yet, even though we should be, because we're an English major. Or maybe I just don't care. That wouldn't be good, because I have two years and four more rounds of exams to go. I feel all good though, because I bought my work people donut holes, and I bought this girl coffee, and I figured out how to talk to this other girl. So everything is maybe working? Who knows.

I finished Alex, Approximately today, by Jenn Bennett. It's this cute story about this girl named Bailey, who's a film buff. She made this online friend, Alex, and they bonded over the movies they like. Then she moves to the same town as this guy, to live with her dad, but doesn't tell him about it, even though he's been bothering her about coming to this movie festival with him. So, her dad sets her up with a summer job and she meets this other boy, Porter, who's a bit of a dick, but sweet. So she's juggling these two guys and summer romance things happen.

You may be confused, as this isn't a fantasy book, unless you consider romance books fantasy. I read this book for a few reasons. One, my sister read it. Two, I thought it looked interesting. Three, I needed a lighthearted, easy read after finishing the monstrosity of emotions and events that was The Dark Artifices. If I read another heavy book like that after those, I would burn out and not finish it. This way, I had a little break, and it was a good one.

It was sweet and fun and both weren't as perfect as the other perceived. I thought it was wild how she didn't know he got bit by a shark though. . . Also. I'd have liked it if in the summary of the book it didn't tell me who Alex was. That isn't found out until the end. It would have been more fun if I thought the people she thought were Alex along with her. Instead, I just watched her fumble around like a silly girl when her mans was there. The dynamic between Porter and Bailey, which is what we really care about, was a ten for ten. I also like how we learned to grow and stuff. Ugh. It's just really cute. I enjoyed everything about it. Go read it while you're on the beach or where ever. This is definitely a beach book. Though, I wouldn't know what's a beach book or not, because we don't go to the beach. Whatever, bye. I have other books to read.

Ship: Bailey and Porter

8/10
~Book Panda