Reviews with content warning for War - Rule of Wolves

My heart is so full after finishing this book. It honestly broke me at times but it has also brought me so much joy. What an excellent way to end a series - with a finale, but with scope for so much more.

The characters I fell in love with from the start of their respective series' all returned in some way, shape or form and their stories overlapped so perfectly I am in awe. I laughed, I cried, my heart was broken and was filled with joy and love.

This is a 5-star story for me, however, I found my version of the book was riddled with pre-print typos (specifically words that had accidental spaces in the middle of them, and one or two words missing letters) and that took me out of the story a bit which is disappointing.

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eguare's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed this more than the original Shadow & Bone trilogy, not as much as the Six of Crows duology. This book was a happy return for beloved characters, but I wasn't always happy with where they went.

While I loved hearing more from Nina, I was heartbroken that the found family of the Crows broke up so thoroughly after Crooked Kingdom and didn't find themselves back together by the end of this duology. It was also too soon after Matthias to enjoy Nina's new relationship with Hanne. Though I adore that Nina is canonically bisexual and Hanne canonically trans, I don't personally feel that Nina would be happy living forever as someone else in a country that wasn't hers, away from her friends.

I loved seeing Nikolai and Zoya continue to develop as characters,

both independently and together

Personally, I could see the ending piece as either a cliffhanger, or as a happy goodbye to the audience, making it clear that our beloved characters will live on and get up to all kinds of shenanigans together, even if we aren't there with them to experience it with them. I do strongly hope that we're there with them, though!

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shalladin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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sissiemilia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense 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? Yes

3.75

What a glorious book. Full transparency: I hated king of scars in many ways. Rule of Wolves? What a redemption. The more the story progressed, the better everything became. My worries after reading kos were solved.

Also, HANNE???? My god I adore him. If we get a third crow book (which we better do, have you read the ending?) I demand to see more of him.

On that note though, Nina feels off in her ending. She shouldn’t become queen of Fjerda. No. She should have embraced her new power, instead of abandoning it in a way. She and Hanne could have had an ending together without them having to live a lie.

That is my only big issue with Nina’s ending. I feel like she changed in a way that wasn’t natural to her character.

Once again, Bardugo also made me sob. I just feel like she got the hang of it again, after kos. She gripped my feelings and soul the way kos failed to, but the other books in the series also do. I’m so happy she bounced back.

Rule of Wolves isn’t Bardugos best in my opinion, but it absolutely is up par with the rest of the Grishaverse (besides kos, which was saddly dissapointing). The only technical problem I have with this book is that

we weren’t shown them finding David’s body. I feel like that would have been a really important part to show but I’m willing to look past it.

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alyssadavis's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad fast-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? Yes

3.25

Nikolai had promised to do better, to build something new. But in the end, all his inventions and diplomacy had come down to this: a brawl in the dirt.

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potalian's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.25

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micaelacccc's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

So queer, so beautiful, absolutely loved it!

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cosmicwillow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

the way im literally obsessed with this book though!!!!! wild it took me this long to read it, considering the fact ive loved this universe since i started reading the books at 15. now, at 24, i simply cannot wait for more. what an exciting way to wns the duology and open up the chance for MORE. unfortunate, of course, that no book is currently in the works to continue it on, but like. CMON NOW!!!

this book has also never made me more of a zoyalai lover, and i am incredibly envious of nikolai getting his happy ending with zoya. she is truly everything.

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