Reviews with content warning for Gore - King of Scars

Ugh. Leigh Bardugo, why do you write such amazing books?!

After reading (and loving) the other Grishaverse series, the first book of this duology did not disappoint.

Like all of Bardugo’s books (at least in my opinion), I found the beginning a bit slow, but as soon as you move past the first 100-150 pages, the story picks up in such a dramatic fashion. To Bardugo’s credit, this is an entirely new story, separate in its own right from the previous books. Establishing the current state of Ravka and where each character is at mentally does take time.

But god, I loved Nikolai’s sarcasm and humour which filled the book (A particular favourite of mine is a stint about a spider in a suit). The characters developed in this book are exactly what I needed, and what I believe the Grishaverse needed.

Readers, do be warned, you do need to read ALL of the Grishaverse books (Shadow and Bone series and Six of Crows series, at the very least), as the plot and various events will most likely not make sense, and you will also spoil major elements in both series. I also read the collection of Grishaverse short stories prior to this, and I will say it was a nice addition, but I don’t feel it necessary. I can also imagine the Lives of Saints book might give you additional information, but I have not yet read it, but the elements were explained in an easy to comprehend manner.

This book reminds me more of Six of Crows, fast-paced and intricate, with such an amazing story. I’ve had to immediately pick up the sequel, Rule of Wolves.

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imcourtneymarie's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

3.0

I'll start off with this: I've devoured the rest of the books in the Grishaverse and thoroughly enjoyed them. KoS left much to be desired. There were parts of it I enjoyed, and spots where I was surprised, but for the most part I was kind of bored. These are all characters that have been fabulous in previous books but, except for Zoya, they all felt forced.

There's one part in particular that was kind of frustrating.

The likeness to the Harry Potter "Voldemort coming back from the dead" plot is kind of an eye roll.

I both groaned because "oh no!" and rolled my eyes because "I'm getting deja vu..."

I will say that I did remain engaged, but it wasn't with the same hunger or passion that has existed in both the S&B and SoC stories.

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boba_n_books's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This was a nice addition to the Grishaverse. I did find myself gravitating toward one storyline over the other, but by and large, I enjoyed them all.

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brynn_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

I loved this book! I enjoyed getting to see my favorite characters again (I love Nikolai and Zoya!)

I feel like this world just gets more and more intricate with every book. It's so good! I love this world and these characters so much. I was stressed throughout most of this book because I was constantly scared that something bad was going to happen.

I loved the introduction of new characters. I'm excited to see this develop in the sequel.

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hazychapters's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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

4.75

An interesting plot, but a few lengths that sometimes makes reading a bit boring. I was glad to find Nikolai, Zoya, Nina and the crew again! And this ending

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lxxnne's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

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sarahsbookss's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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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emily_mh's review

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adventurous 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

4.5

I went into this book fully expecting it to be completely centred around Nikolai and for him to be the star of the show, but this was definitely not the case in a surprisingly good way. Instead, the female characters absolutely SHONE in this book and completely stole the show. They were just incredible. It was a joy to read from Nina's perspective again, but it was actually Zoya who I fell in love with. She's had such an incredible character arc over the course of the Grishaverse and that was really revealed and expanded upon in this book. She's such a bad ass and doing a much better job of being the main character than Nikolai is.

Being back in the Grishaverse was a delight, but so was reading Bardugo's writing again. It is wonderfully descriptive, and her plot development here is truly on another level in comparison to Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. I really enjoyed seeing her expand her world-building, and she REALLY knows how to write incredible endings.

I docked a half-star for two reasons. The first is that I felt extremely disconnected from Nikolai, to the point where (shockingly, given he was one of my favourite characters in Shadow and Bone), I was dreading his POV chapters. The second is that for the first half of this book the plot felt a little directionless in that I didn't really know what the book was going to be about until like 250 pages in.

Also, the return of the Darkling kind of feels like a cheap enemy and I'm worried about how it's going to impact my enjoyment of Rule of Wolves.

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