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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved it. I had a loose grasp on what the ruination was in LoL, so this was great. I really liked it because it helped me understand the champions more.
Nie zliczę ile razy narzekałam wam tu na to, że książki są niedostatecznie krwawe, nie mają w sobie wartkiej akcji, albo finał zniszczył tak dobrą fabułę. Już się nawet przyzwyczaiłam do tego, że jestem zbyt wymagająca i po prostu autorzy nie chcą pisać końcówek, które łamią serca, wyniszczają czytelników i zostawiają ich w rozpaczy. No cóż… życie..
Teraz jednak dumnie mogę wam zaprezentować “Zrujnowanie”, które nie dość, że jest absolutnie przepięknie wydane, bo te ilustracje w środku oraz na skrzydełkach zapierają dech w piersi, to jeszcze dostałam wybitny finał książki, który tak naprawdę jest tylko początkiem. Jest to świetna historia z mnóstwem przygód, emocji i doznań. Ciężko było mi się od niej oderwać, niektóre sceny, a szczególnie te bitewne zapierają dech w piersi.
Czy nazwałabym tę książkę pełnowymiarową historią? Nie, zdecydowanie nie. Jest to bardziej prequel do tego, co ma dopiero nadejść. Fabuła jest czasami dość naiwna i uproszczona, więc ideał to nie jest, jednak nigdy nie zamierzam usuwać tej pozycji ze swojej półki, bo już zawsze będzie mi przypominać o tym, że jednak nawet mnie można urzec finałem.
Teraz jednak dumnie mogę wam zaprezentować “Zrujnowanie”, które nie dość, że jest absolutnie przepięknie wydane, bo te ilustracje w środku oraz na skrzydełkach zapierają dech w piersi, to jeszcze dostałam wybitny finał książki, który tak naprawdę jest tylko początkiem. Jest to świetna historia z mnóstwem przygód, emocji i doznań. Ciężko było mi się od niej oderwać, niektóre sceny, a szczególnie te bitewne zapierają dech w piersi.
Czy nazwałabym tę książkę pełnowymiarową historią? Nie, zdecydowanie nie. Jest to bardziej prequel do tego, co ma dopiero nadejść. Fabuła jest czasami dość naiwna i uproszczona, więc ideał to nie jest, jednak nigdy nie zamierzam usuwać tej pozycji ze swojej półki, bo już zawsze będzie mi przypominać o tym, że jednak nawet mnie można urzec finałem.
Dit boek is niet de moeite waard als je geen League of Legends speelt/niet geïnteresseerd bent in de lore. Als je dat wel bent, is het best een vermakelijk boek.
Lichte spoilers als je niet weet hoe Kalista en Viego eruit zien in het spel of als je niks weet van de Ruination.
Interessant om te lezen hoe de Ruination nou is begonnen, waarom sommige Champions zijn zoals ze zijn in de game. Het verhaal las lekker weg, maar aan het eind had ik echt het gevoel dat ik iets miste. Toen merkte ik ook wel dat er eerst Champions waren voordat dit boek geschreven was: sommige dingen werden matig uitgelegd. Waarom heeft Kalista allemaal speren uit haar rug steken? Een soort halfbakken uitleg. Waarom is Thresh' lantaarn van botten? Idk, ziet er cool uit. Waarom worden maar een paar mensen angry en gevaarlijk als ze geraakt worden door de Ruination? Het werkt heel lang toe naar een bepaald punt, maar dat punt wordt niet goed uitgewerkt. Ik weet dat het een "proloog" is voor Ruined King en League maar het voelt aan het eind echt rushed en afgeraffeld.
Lichte spoilers als je niet weet hoe Kalista en Viego eruit zien in het spel of als je niks weet van de Ruination.
Interessant om te lezen hoe de Ruination nou is begonnen, waarom sommige Champions zijn zoals ze zijn in de game. Het verhaal las lekker weg, maar aan het eind had ik echt het gevoel dat ik iets miste. Toen merkte ik ook wel dat er eerst Champions waren voordat dit boek geschreven was: sommige dingen werden matig uitgelegd. Waarom heeft Kalista allemaal speren uit haar rug steken? Een soort halfbakken uitleg. Waarom is Thresh' lantaarn van botten? Idk, ziet er cool uit. Waarom worden maar een paar mensen angry en gevaarlijk als ze geraakt worden door de Ruination? Het werkt heel lang toe naar een bepaald punt, maar dat punt wordt niet goed uitgewerkt. Ik weet dat het een "proloog" is voor Ruined King en League maar het voelt aan het eind echt rushed en afgeraffeld.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I absolutely loved this book and devoured it in a matter of days. I read this after finishing Arcane and seeing a Reel about “Books to Read if you Liked Arcane.” I’m familiar with LoL, so this book was one Easter egg after another, all nodding back to cannon lore and other champions.
What I loved:
What I loved:
- The story was told in third person, but still from the perspective of three people. Kalista was an incredible heroine and I rooted for her until the very end. Grael was so nasty and hateable and yet I couldn’t stop reading. And Ryze and Tyrus had such a great dynamic.
- The pacing was absolutely perfect and kept me completely locked in on what was going to happen next.
- The side characters were also so lovable and made for fun dynamics and background plots! I’m looking at you: Ledros, Jenda'kaya, and Vennix!!!!
What I didn’t like:
- Spoilers ahead, but TLDR: not a whole lot.
Additionally, I wish we’d seen Viego wield his magic a little more, earlier on, so that his threat of losing control was a little harder-hitting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Torture, Murder, Classism
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Amazing audiobook!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Now, wasn’t that just the most pleasant surprise!! I went into this book without any prior knowledge about the wider League of Legends universe (aside from having watched and loved Arcane), so I had no idea what to expect here. Well, I am happy to say that I was completely hooked by the engaging epic fantasy story that I got!
RUINATION mainly follows the story of Kalista, the niece and close advisor of the narcissistic young king, Viego, of Camavor. She wants nothing more than to relieve Camavor of its bloody legacy, but her plans are hindered when the king’s beloved wife falls ill to the poisoned blade of an assassin. Viego takes this hit very poorly and quickly descends into madness, so Kalista takes it upon herself to do anything to heal the queen and keep her country safe. She fares out to the fabled and mysterious Blessed Isles to seek a cure, but her quest soon proves to be more dangerous than anyone could ever have expected.
Now, I think you can definitely feel that this story is set in an existing universe, because the worldbuilding was absolutely tantalising and I was completely immersed. This might be a relatively short fantasy novel, with it being under 500 pages, but it is filled to the brim with rich worldbuilding and intriguing lore.
There was a constant feeling of suspense and intrigue, especially surrounding the mysterious Blessed Isles, which kept me glued to the page. And the story itself is full of interesting revelations and unexpected twists and turns, which made this a super compelling and engaging read.
The character work was also really well done. Kalista was an extremely interesting character to follow and I immediately latched onto her. She is strong, curious, independent, and willing to do anything to save her country. Her relationship to the king was one of my favourite aspects of the book, because it was just so complex, as Viego is the type of character that straddles the line between villain and hero. She clearly cares deeply for him, yet she can’t deny that he is becoming a threat to his own kingdom as his mental state is deteriorating.
We also follow another POV from someone on the Blessed Isles, but I don’t want to say too much about that, because part of the fun was seeing the mysteries surrounding this character unravel. All I will say is that I loved this additional POV and I think it added a nice layer of intrigue to the story. Also, this character is a lot more morally gray than Kalista, which gave the story a bit of a darker tone that I really enjoyed!
I loved reading from both of these perspectives and seeing their storylines converge was extremely satisfying. Really effective and suspenseful storytelling, in my opinion!
Now, while I liked the ending of this story, I do have to say that I felt like it was a bit rushed. This book is fairly fast-paced the entire way through, but the final resolution happened at such a breakneck speed that supposedly hard hitting and emotional moments completely lost their impact for me.
I wish there had been another 25-50 or so pages to dive deeper and to see the fall-out, because in theory this conclusion was very satisfying, but the execution just wasn’t my favourite.
So, overall I really enjoyed this book and I am so glad I just took a leap of faith and went into this blind. RUINATION was an incredibly engaging and intriguing fantasy adventure and I am really looking forward to more stories set in this universe.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
RUINATION mainly follows the story of Kalista, the niece and close advisor of the narcissistic young king, Viego, of Camavor. She wants nothing more than to relieve Camavor of its bloody legacy, but her plans are hindered when the king’s beloved wife falls ill to the poisoned blade of an assassin. Viego takes this hit very poorly and quickly descends into madness, so Kalista takes it upon herself to do anything to heal the queen and keep her country safe. She fares out to the fabled and mysterious Blessed Isles to seek a cure, but her quest soon proves to be more dangerous than anyone could ever have expected.
Now, I think you can definitely feel that this story is set in an existing universe, because the worldbuilding was absolutely tantalising and I was completely immersed. This might be a relatively short fantasy novel, with it being under 500 pages, but it is filled to the brim with rich worldbuilding and intriguing lore.
There was a constant feeling of suspense and intrigue, especially surrounding the mysterious Blessed Isles, which kept me glued to the page. And the story itself is full of interesting revelations and unexpected twists and turns, which made this a super compelling and engaging read.
The character work was also really well done. Kalista was an extremely interesting character to follow and I immediately latched onto her. She is strong, curious, independent, and willing to do anything to save her country. Her relationship to the king was one of my favourite aspects of the book, because it was just so complex, as Viego is the type of character that straddles the line between villain and hero. She clearly cares deeply for him, yet she can’t deny that he is becoming a threat to his own kingdom as his mental state is deteriorating.
We also follow another POV from someone on the Blessed Isles, but I don’t want to say too much about that, because part of the fun was seeing the mysteries surrounding this character unravel. All I will say is that I loved this additional POV and I think it added a nice layer of intrigue to the story. Also, this character is a lot more morally gray than Kalista, which gave the story a bit of a darker tone that I really enjoyed!
I loved reading from both of these perspectives and seeing their storylines converge was extremely satisfying. Really effective and suspenseful storytelling, in my opinion!
Now, while I liked the ending of this story, I do have to say that I felt like it was a bit rushed. This book is fairly fast-paced the entire way through, but the final resolution happened at such a breakneck speed that supposedly hard hitting and emotional moments completely lost their impact for me.
I wish there had been another 25-50 or so pages to dive deeper and to see the fall-out, because in theory this conclusion was very satisfying, but the execution just wasn’t my favourite.
So, overall I really enjoyed this book and I am so glad I just took a leap of faith and went into this blind. RUINATION was an incredibly engaging and intriguing fantasy adventure and I am really looking forward to more stories set in this universe.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.