Reviews with content warning for Blood - Rule of Wolves

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

76 reviews

aus_1521's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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kait_sixcrowsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense slow-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

me going into King of Scars: ya know, I think I grew out of the Grishaverse, I don’t think I’m gonna like this duology as much

me at the end of Rule of Wolves: what the hell, oh my god, what the duck just happened

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lennie_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

So after the ending of KoS, we have 2 extra POVs in this book. I won't tell you who because spoilers but I definitely appreciated one more than the other!

In this book Ravka and Fjerda are at war. Nina is deep undercover in Fjerda, Nikolai & the monster are still joined but they've come to more an amicable arrangement and Zoya is trying to master her new powers.

This book is heavy, and definitely slow at some points but it's worth sticking with.

I also think that by the time you get to RoW (after reading all the other GrishaVerse books), you know not to immediately believe everything you read. Especially when it comes to Kaz and Nikolai; Leigh uses a Lot of similar plot devices and, well at least for me, I could always assume there was an alternative / back up plan.

We do have romance in this book, as well as tragedy (if you know, you know 😭) and there are a lot of different threads weaving together at the same time.

There is also discussions about race & heritage, as well as confirmation of a trans character and an aro/ace character.

And we get to see the Crows and Mal & Alina in this book 😍

I also really enjoyed seeing more of Shu Han; the characters, the governing, the Khergud etc.

A lot of issues are resolved in this book but not all of them and Leigh has left a few storylines open for the new third Crows book.

It's hard to review this book without giving away spoilers but if you enjoy the GrishaVerse and were annoyed by the ending of KoS, you should hopefully enjoy this!

There is Trans rep, pan / bi rep, lesbian rep, POC rep, aro/ace rep, mixed race rep and more

CW: reanimated corpses, addiction, death, grief, murder, body horror, torture, medical trauma, confinement, chronic illness, dead children

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aviery's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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ruthbeadle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

Okay so I loved this one way more than King of Scars. I felt like the twisty reveals and writing that was used in Ruin and Rising and the Six of Crows books was back, and I loved every twist and reveal. I loved every plot line within this book and really felt like Nikolai almost returned to his former self. If you are hesitant about picking this one up, give it a shot!

I loved every moment with Zoya!!! DRAGON QUEEN!!!! Also ik the point about her opening up was sappy, but it really made me cry and I just loved everything that had to do with Zoya within this book including her accepting the Suli side of her. Nikolai was so much fun to read, and I loved every twist with the royal wedding and him on the battlefield. I also love every interaction between him and Kaz. Him and Zoya are the absolute cutest, and I love Alina's comment about him staying King at the end. I loved Nina and Hanne's storyline a lot. I loved their relationship, and I loved where the two ended up. One thing that I wish was done better is Nina grieving for Matthias, because I feel as if it came only with the reveal of his murder and not in the smaller moments. Idk I just thought since they were in the Ice Court that Nina would be reminded of small things about him. I loved the plot with Shu Han and found the dynamics there interesting and I really hope there is more with the princesses because that whole part was so good. The main reason why I put this down at 4 stars is that I really hated that the Darkling was back and I really hated his pov. I felt like if you completely removed him from the book the plot would be entirely the same. I really am not a fan of his redemption at the end. Honestly, I felt his arc was complete in the Grisha trilogy and he should have just stayed there. Speaking of, my icon Genya deserved so much better this book, and of course DAVID. I literally cried so hard when he died. I am not sure how I feel about it as a part of the story but it really hurt wow. Finally, I just adore the Crows and I loved how they did the heist for Inej, and I loved hearing about her on the ship. I feel like she set up for Soc3, and I honestly won't complain as long as they are done well. Anyways, this book was not perfect by far, but I had a good time reading all of these characters.

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valyn_grebe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

outsidestar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

“If the wolves come howling we will face them then. For now, the fox will meet them on his own.”

Here’s what I wanted from this book:
- An explanation of what the boat with the two-star flag painted on the mural of Zoya’s room meant.
- Zoya embracing her inner Juris and shape-shifting into a dragon.
- Nikolai forgetting all about marriages of convenience and making Zoya his queen so the two of them could rule Ravka together.

Did I get it? If you’ve read it you already know and if you haven’t I won’t tell you. But I’ll tell you I liked this book a lot. It made me laugh, it made me cry and I will love these characters to death because the Grishaverse’s babies are my babies. I still have a lot to say, though.

WARNING: MILD-ISH SPOILERS AHEAD. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

First of all, this duology should not be called King of Scars, it should be called Stormwitch because the whole story is more about Zoya than it is about Nikolai or anyone else. Zoya is the character that grows, develops and learns. The character who changes the most from who she was at the beginning of King of Scars to who she is by the end of Rule of Wolves. It is her story.

Zoya felt Genya’s arms around her. Liliyana holding her tight. She felt Nikolai’s presence beside her and Juris’ sword in her hands. With a wild, gasping breath, she felt her wings unfurl.

I found Nikolai surprisingly dull (for Nikolai standards, that is) in King of Scars, like he was just there to make Zoya likeable, but he shone bright again in Rule of Wolves and it makes me so happy. He is the sweetest but wittiest and most charming cinnamon roll there is and the best King any nation could ever have. Fight me on that.

But that was always the way. The world might crumble, but Nikolai Lantsov would be holding up the ceiling with one hand and plucking a speck of dirt from his lapel with the other when it all went to ruin.

I loved Zoya ever since she joined Alina against the Darkling and I loved Nikolai since the very first moment he made his appearance as Sturmhond. In my mind they make the perfect couple and I was rooting for them to be together since King of Scars. But here’s the thing: I don’t think it really worked? I loved the scene in Zoya’s secret garden and I think they’re perfect for each other, but at the same time that kind of relationship between them seemed forced as the story progressed. They didn’t have the chemistry of Nina and Matthias or Jesper and Wylan. I don’t know, I think it would’ve worked better if it had stayed platonic, strong friendships are highly underrated.

“Don’t underestimate King Nikolai. He’ll fight until there’s no fight left in him. And so will I.”

Now, getting into the actual plot. I think a lot of why I liked this book was because of the characters. I found King of Scars to have a slow start but Rule of Wolves jumped right into the story and for a moment there I thought this would be at the same level as Crooked Kingdom. But then it lost momentum and the middle was kinda slow, there were so many POVs, each focusing on a different story that there was a point where nothing was happening because it was all building up.

I do think some of this POVs and plot lines were unnecessary. The Darkling and the blight, for example. The story didn’t need that. Its only use was to leave the door open for another book, which I will absolutely read but I don’t know if we’re stretching things too much here. This is becoming like The Pirates of the Caribbean, where fountains of youth and tridents and hearts in chests will start popping up for Kaz and his crew to somehow find them.

Then we have the Shu Han plot line, which I understand was needed to tie up the loose ends of the khergud threat and I didn’t really mind it but it didn’t really add much.

Also, there’s that unnecessary death that happens but didn’t serve a purpose. Matthias’ death hurt but it somewhat made sense, in this case the story didn’t need that particular character death nor did it benefit from it in any way.

Something else the story didn’t need? The cameos. Don’t get me wrong, I was living for those reunions and I loved to see everyone again but did the story need them? Not really. Did they slow the pacing of the story? Absolutely. Every freakin’ character makes an appearance. Look for any Grishaverse character and you will find them in this book. I was even waiting for Bahgra to somehow show up. It gave the story this nostalgic vibe, like it was a final goodbye to the Grishaverse, but we’re getting another book so it wasn’t that necessary. I did love seeing Jesper again though, truth be told.

Jesper: I’m not supposed to let you in.
Kaz: Why not?
Jesper: Because every time I do, you ask me to break the law.
Nikolai: The problem isn’t that he asks, it’s that you always say yes.
Jesper: But look who he brought, the man with the flying ships. Come in! Come in!

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chaotic_abi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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kaylamoran's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As with the Six of Crows duology, I preferred this book to book one.
The biggest thing I disliked about this one was the ending. I don't know why, exactly, but I don't like the direction it took some of the characters, as well as Grisha magic.
Nina's story was much more interesting this time than in book one. As she was one of my favourite Crows behind only Jesper, I was extremely disappointed with how little I cared about her part in book one.
I can't wait to see what Leigh does next with the Grishaverse! I just adore it, the characters and worldbuilding are amazing.

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yavin_iv's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

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