LucindaIsReading’s Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2019

26,561

pages read

books read

LucindaIsReading

This is my journey in books for 2019!

Shortest Book

pages

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Longest Book

848

pages

Average book length in 2019

305

pages

LucindaIsReading’s first review of the year

it was amazing

The Winter of the Witch was my most anticipated reads of this year and I’ve already earmarked it as one of the best books of 2019.

I have ADORED the previous two instalments of the Winternight Trilogy and I can’t quite put into words how gorgeous this book is – it is BEAUTIFUL and MAGICAL and ATMOSPHERIC and HISTORIC and ETHEREAL.

The Winter of the Witch follows on from The Girl in the Tower, with Vasya getting caught up, as usual, in the action a The Winter of the Witch was my most anticipated reads of this year and I’ve already earmarked it as one of the best books of 2019.

I have ADORED the previous two instalments of the Winternight Trilogy and I can’t quite put into words how gorgeous this book is – it is BEAUTIFUL and MAGICAL and ATMOSPHERIC and HISTORIC and ETHEREAL.

The Winter of the Witch follows on from The Girl in the Tower, with Vasya getting caught up, as usual, in the action and having to flee for her life. Moscow is burning and the people are in turmoil; a small, scruffy witch girl makes for an easy scapegoat. Vasya is tested to the extreme but like a phoenix rising from the ashes, what doesn’t kill her makes her stronger. Helped by the most unlikely of characters she travels through Midnight – a magical realm beyond mortal boundaries to explore her family legacy and realise her true potential. As she returns to the city she foolishly focuses on the battle but not the war and – drumroll – this is where the true scope of her quest is finally revealed.

If you’re expecting a classic tale of good vs evil, that’s not what happens next. Instead, The Winter of the Witch is far more complicated, more nuanced and has far greater scope than the usual trek-through-a-forest-and-one-final-battle fare that is so often recycled in fantasy novels. Tropes are turned on their heads – the princess not only has to save herself but everyone else (twice), the demons don’t get slain, and one of the starring characters…well, no spoilers but OH MY HEART!!!!

Of the three books in the series, I think this one is my favourite. It’s more similar in tone to The Girl in the Tower but less straightforward, more multi-layered, more grown-up. Vasya learns far more about herself and it’s wonderful to see her really coming into her own, mastering her true power and potential. The other characters are further developed too, with each of them showing both the light and shade of their true selves. New characters join the story (with one that could almost be described as cute – but don’t worry, he totally fits in) and there’s a welcome return of the Chyerti, who have a much bigger role than in The Girl in the Tower. Thank goodness there’s a family tree in the back of the book because there’s a lot of people, they’re all related and what with the Russian patronymic system varying by gender (not to mention the nicknames)… yeah, it gets complicated.

The writing, as always, is utterly spellbinding and I was completely drawn in to the mythical world of medieval Russia. The atmosphere is similar to The Bear and the Nightingale but it also holds a more ethereal air – Vasya wandering through Midnight is like the forest from the first book but seen through a veil: real but also not-real, cold and dangerous but also mystic and enchanted. There’s also more violence in this book: more bloodshed, more destruction, more tragedy. The sense of loss and despair is strong and quite visceral at times – I had huge empathy for Vasya and the difficult choices that she was forced to make.

The ending really is the endgame to end all endgames. It was just everything that I’d hoped for, with everything that had been hinted at in the previous two books coming to fruition – and so much more. The twists and turns that lead to the final conclusion were hard to spot in advance and I genuinely didn’t know how things were going to turn out – I was completely mesmerised up until the final page.

Overall – I just loved everything about The Winter of the Witch. The atmosphere, the characters, the plot – all were captivating and I literally devoured the novel in a couple of days. I was worried that the book wouldn’t live up to my expectations but it utterly surpassed them all. ...more

LUCINDAISREADING’S 2019 BOOKS

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

it was amazing

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J. Harris

Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling by Emer McLysaght

it was amazing

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

After the Green Withered by Kristin Ward

it was amazing

A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor

The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

really liked it

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

it was amazing

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick

The Guilty Feminist by Deborah Frances-White

Minutes from the Miracle City by Omar Sabbagh

it was amazing

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James

The Things We Left Unsaid by Emma Kennedy

it was amazing

it was amazing

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

it was amazing

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Because I Am a Girl by Plan International

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

it was amazing

LucindaIsReading’s last review of the year

really liked it

I loved this richly evocative tale set in Victorian London of Iris, a talented artist who is taken out of poverty by Louis, a rich pre-Raphaelite painter. Her rags-to-riches story seems almost too good to be true - a new (scandalous) role as an artist's muse, a huge increase in salary, a love affair with a soon-to-be widowed man - yet there's a shadow hanging over Iris' happiness and he goes by the name of Silas...

I have to say how beautiful that ...more

2019 READING
CHALLENGE

LucindaIsReading read 87 out of 100 books.

87%

What did you read this year?

Formatting Tips

LucindaIsReading’s first review of the year

LucindaIsReading’s last review of the year