Reviews

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

ste_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

jojokes2's review against another edition

This book was just bleh. It didn't compare to her other books. I ended up DNFing it.

mattie_peach_lily's review against another edition

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

4.25

mikliswrites's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

hstrey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

cristinagnzlez's review against another edition

2.0

el final con alina quedándose sin poderes,,,,, leigh bardugo im coming for you

frogsocks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

danamontana's review against another edition

3.0

Ok so I wasn't too happy with the way the author chose to end things

Spoiler

WHY DID SHE HAVE TO END UP WITH MAL OH MY GOD NO

but everything else was amazing for me. Now I need to start Six of Crows!!

jtuulu's review against another edition

3.0

3/5 Aw man! Ruin and Rising was a bit of a let down, and I mostly blame Siege and Storm for these feelings, but also the ending of the trilogy was very lackluster and rushed and the plot was very haphazard throughout books 2 and 3.

I'm starting with the bad because I'm a hater this week: I felt more chemistry between Alina and Nikolai (and Alina and the Darkling, and honestly, even between Alina and Genya) than Alina and Mal. Their love feels like an obligated duty rather than actual love, and that is supposed to be one of the common threads throughout the series so why is it so bland and cringey? The plot was very inconsistent in speed and direction, it felt like Leigh Bardugo didn't know where she wanted it to go and was figuring it out as she went along. Because of that, none of the themes were strong or impactful, they were all just lukewarm (i.e., good vs. evil or darkness vs. light, sacrifice, identity, friendships, power, free will).

The good: Despite all this, I did enjoy myself while reading this up until the plot twist

Spoiler

(regarding Mal as the third amplifier, honestly that was such a lazy plot twist and was haphazardly tied into the ending! SMH)

. I did like the ragtag group venturing into the woods to hunt for the firebird, it gives some found family vibes which I'm always here for. I enjoyed how the side characters lent so much flavor to the dialogue! There's some good banter and heartwarming moments (mostly between the side characters). But isn't that a bummer when the best characters are the side characters and the main characters are simply tolerable? *le sigh* I gave it 3 stars overall, but I might lower it as I stew in my feelings.

ana_herondale's review against another edition

5.0

Me he quedado sin palabras. Increíble, es taaan diferente a la serie, definitivamente me quedo con esta versión.
He de decir que me costó leer las 100 primeras páginas, entré un poco en bloqueo con tanta política, hasta que apareció Nikolai y la cosa cambió. Baghra me conquistó, su historia y sus acciones son increíbles. Creo que merece mucho más reconocimiento del que tiene.
Lo pasé realmente mal con todo lo que le sucedió a Nikolai