Reviews

Raja yang Terluka by Leigh Bardugo

kiyaa's review against another edition

2.0

I did not enjoy this book as much as I hoped. I was looking forward to it as I loved the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology. But I felt very disappointed while reading King of Scars. I was excited when I heard that there was a series that focused on Nikolai. I was looking forward to seeing some of my favorite characters from the original series (Genya, Zoya, David, Tamar, etc.) and wanted to see how Nina was doing after the events of [b:Crooked Kingdom|22299763|Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1456172607l/22299763._SY75_.jpg|42090179]. But the book as a whole was not my cup of tea. Starting with the relationship between Zoya and Nikolai. I feel like the book might've been a little bit better if their relationship was left strictly platonic. It felt really forced and it seemed like they mainly put together because they were the only single characters left. It could've been better if they brought in a new character for Nikolai's or Zoya's love interest. On the topic of relationships, I also didn't enjoy Nina and Hanne's relationship. It felt super rushed and forced as well. Nina was still mourning Matthias when she originally met Hanne. I personally thought that it was extremely strange that maybe hours after burying Matthias, whose body she had kept perfectly restored for a year because she couldn't bear to let him go, she starts crushing on Hanne. Nina had the love of her life die in her arms, then moved away from 4 of her friends who had been with her at her most vulnerable (recovering from jurda parem) and whom she had grown close to. They were the few people who truly knew and understood how much she loved him. Now a year later she has had no communication with them, she has to deal with her new powers in a new place full of people who would kill her without a second thought, on top of trying to cope with her grief for Matthias (which she wasn't doing). Nina isn't emotionally stable enough to be in a relationship AT ALL. Her grief at the beginning of the book was overwhelming. She missed her friends and just wanted Matthias back. But like not even a week later she's met Hanne and she's perfectly fine. I think that their relationship could've worked if it was mainly subtext towards the end of the duology with an open ending. Moving on from that I thought that the book was just really slow. The main conflict was somehow slow and rushed at the same time. It was very confusing and I had to go back and I had to keep going back to make sure that I didn't miss something. I don't know why she brought the Darkling back. He had a good ending in [b:Ruin and Rising|14061957|Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392398530l/14061957._SX50_.jpg|19699754], it showed that even in all of his years of living and killing he was still human whether or not he was willing to accept that. No matter how much power a Grisha has they are still human. Bringing him back was just strange. I did like the demon as an aftermath of what the Darkling did to him and I love how they make sure that everyone knows that the Darkling was a terrible person that did terrible things to people. I didn't particularly like how OP she seems to be making Zoya. I love how she pushed the boundaries of her Grisha order but if she ends up becoming all-powerful in the other Grisha orders that would be so annoying. I also wish we saw more mentions of Sturmhond and more of Nina's grief for Matthias. Also, I wish that Nina's relationship with the rest of the Crows was further explained and how she was dealing with not being able to contact Inej, Jesper, and the others. The Saints showing up to help/try to kill them was really weird but it kinda worked. I actually did like Zoya's relationship with Juris and her new amplifiers and the stories behind them both. But, that was about all I really enjoyed about it. As I said before I was excited about this book. I was excited to see the more 'minor' characters and couples and I feel like they were the best parts of the book in general. There are some parts of the book that I did enjoy. I loved how we got some of Zoya's backstory so we can see why she is the way she is and why she decided to side with Alina against the Darkling. But overall the bad outweighs the good. It had the potential to be better and I can see what she was trying to do but I just don't think that it was executed correctly. All in all, it definitely could've been better but it could've been worse.

emeszee's review against another edition

4.0

[4/5]

lovelaced's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

4.25

This was so good! I don't understand why it has such bad reviews and why people say it only picks up 80% into the book, thats NOT TRUE! I was hooked since the beginning till the end. It was hilarious and i was in love with Nikolai and Zoya and even Isaak! The Nina chapters did pull me out of all the "fun" thats goin on in Ravka, which was a TINT bit annoying but i loved the Nina chapters as well! 

[SPOILERS]
Idk what to feel about the whole Saints thing being real or the Darkling coming back to life (wtfff why😭).. but let's see where it all goes! Can't wait to read Rule Of Wolves 🤪

hannahdrew's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

tieganc's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

libraryofdreaming's review against another edition

3.0

This doesn't really deserve 4 stars but I'm Grishaverse trash. This is not really THAT good but I enjoyed it. It's just a little disjointed and I'm not sure how I feel about that ending. It walks a fine line between engaging and repetitive. The twists are easy to call. I love the characters, but I don't know how I feel about the POVs.

alisonmurphy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

yeoldeeclair's review against another edition

adventurous 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

verolesage's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

cover_2_covered's review against another edition

5.0

"ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴀʏ ᴇxɪʟᴇ, ɪ ꜱᴀʏ ᴇxᴛᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ ʜᴏʟɪᴅᴀʏ." -Nikolai Lanstov

"ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴅᴜʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴇʟɪɢʜᴛꜰᴜʟ ᴄᴏᴄᴋᴛᴀɪʟ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄʜᴀꜱᴇᴅ ᴜꜱ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʀɪᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴛ ꜰɪʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ʜᴀɪʀ." -Nikolai Lanstov

"ɪ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇᴛ ᴏɴ ᴍʏꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴡʜᴇɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴜꜱᴜᴀʟʟʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ'ꜱ ᴍᴏɴᴇʏ." -Nikolai Lanstov

"ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʙᴀᴄᴋ, ᴢᴏʏᴀ." - Lillianna

"ᴍᴀᴛᴛʜɪᴀꜱ, ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛʀʏ ᴄᴀɴ ᴋɪꜱꜱ ᴍʏ ꜰᴀᴛ ɢʀɪꜱʜᴀ ᴀꜱꜱ." -Nina Zenik

And so it begins.....

This was a buddy read with @the.bookfession (go follow her cuz he content is pretty awesome!)

At first I was a bit confused; about the narrator in the first chapter, then the time line and the cast because I expected Nina to be around with the rest of the #triumvirate

The narration of the book is centered around #zoyanazyalensky , #nikolailantsov and #ninazenik later opening up to #issak each narrating the book in an indirect first person narration.

And can I just say that Zoya and Nikolai (#zoyalai if I'm not mistaken) .... Are two words; Power Couple. Their banter, the cute moments they share, how they are oblivious to their feelings for eachother while every one around them can see the signs and most importantly their individual storylines!!!!

My heart aches for Nina. I hated the ending of #crookedkingdom for her. She and Mattias had one of the best #enemiestolovers arcs I have ever read. They had so much of potential to do more with their story in terms of unifying their countries ideologies.

I love how there are so many references of the SoC duology (and the S&B trilogy).

I was a bit confused by the fact that there was an alternate reality existing in the fold.... (How was that not foreshadowed in the #shadowandbonetrilogy ?)

Love how Nikolai is the best leader #ravka has seen so far and how he slowly finds out about his growing affection for Zoya and how EVERYONE around them know and exploit it.

Also #zoyanazyalensky 's back story?!? #leighbardugo You have a real talent to write out traumatic life stories!

All in all, #kingofscars was a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 star read and I loved every second of every chapter in this fast moving story of my favourite fictional world!