Reviews with content warning for Torture - King of Scars

“There had been a time when words were the only place he could find solace… each spine had been an open doorway whispering, "Come in, come in. Here is a land you've never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you're frightened, to play when you're bored, to rest when the world seems unkind.“ pg 154

I would not recommend reading King of Scars if you haven’t read Six of Crows or Shadow & Bone. It’s debatable on if you need to read Shadow & Bone before Six of Crows, but in my opinion they are both a must read before King of Scars. King of Scars will not be impactful if you have not read them. The Crows (besides Nina) are not in this book, but they are mentioned.

Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina are all beautiful characters. I love that we got to see King of Scars through their eyes. Leigh Bardugo’s writing is beautiful. The new characters add to the story.

The pacing felt slow and sluggish in the first half, although it did pick up in the second half. I wish I could have skipped straight to the second section.

Again, I love Leigh Bardugo’s writing, but the plot in King of Scars didn’t hold my attention like Six of Crows or even Shadow and Bone did.

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nenya's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

I read this book after having read the Six of Crows duology, being excited to continue the Grishaverse. I would not say that I was disappointed but it wasn't entirely what I had expected. The only crow it focusses on is Nina Zenik (who is an icon, I love her with all my heart, don't get me wrong) which is amazing, because she is so developed, driven by her grief and ready to seek revenge -

it is beyond fulfilling to see her get it not only for her but also for the dead women and children by having them speak their truth and avenge themselves through her power

, but I did wish for some insight of how the other crows have been going on. Apart from that, the plot was great and the writing very true to Bardugo but I do feel like it can not entirely match the atmosphere and brilliance of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. Nevertheless, the ending took some turns I did not expect and left me pretty shocked. I'm most definitely excited to read the sequel!

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catmac15's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

one of my favs in the grishaverse! amazing plot twists, worldbuilding and character backstory/development. it was nice seeing what Nina did after the events of Crooked Kingdom and what she plans to do next. Nikolai and Zoya were very interesting and lovable in the Shadow and Bone Trilogy but it’s nice to see their own perspectives rather than their character from Alina’s point of view

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aklovekorn's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-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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gayghostprince's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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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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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-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

4.0

The Darkling is gone and the Fold is destroyed, but this is Ravka, so nothing is ever easy. Fjerda and Shu Han are at Ravka’s borders, ready to exploit any weakness left by the civil war. The Kerch are already asking Ravka to pay its debts, but the nation will only need more money if they are to survive the coming battles. Miracles have been appearing all across Ravka, and while most of the devout take heart from the old saints, some believe that a new saint should be added to their ranks: the Starless One. Amidst this chaos, King Nikolai is still playing host to the shadow demon forced on him by the Darkling’s nichevo’ya, and it is becoming increasingly hard to hide. Zoya serves by his side, trying to keep her king safe—and others safe from him. Nina is dealing with her grief as best she can, but throwing herself into her work as a spy in Fjerda.

Okay I know that everyone loves the Six of Crows duology best in the Grishaverse but...I think I might actually prefer King of Scars and Rule of Wolves (review to come)! This book started out a little slow but picked right up and then I could NOT put it down. The tension between Nikolai and Zoya is immaculate, and literally any scene with Nikolai bantering with one of his friends makes my heart explode. Even more than that (if that’s possible), I loved Nina’s storyline as she deals with her grief and throws herself headlong into every dangerous situation she can find.

I am also obsessed with her relationship with Hanne...it might actually be my very favorite wlw relationship that I’ve read!

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):

Cliffhanger, of course, because this is Leigh Bardugo and there’s a sequel on the way. Thank god I picked it up almost immediately!

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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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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