Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

105 reviews

effy's review against another edition

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3.5

Whilst I still don't really like 
  Mal and Alina as endgame (I would have loved Nikolai and Alina as the eventual pairing),
the ending of this series did not bother me, I think maybe because it felt as though they had earned their peace. In a lot of ways, it was quite bittersweet because
Alina had loved being Grisha but the epilogue did paint a beautiful picture of life where their friends still visited.


I am frustrated that this book featured
the resurrection trope - even if the reasoning seemed pretty solid - and the fact that the price of war wasn't very severe
felt like a missed opportunity but I guess overall this series has not shied away from character death so minimal deaths in the final battle was okay, I guess.

My review seemed to have mostly been griping but those were my only real issues with a book that was actually a pretty compulsive listen and kept me guessing for most of the story.

I also loved how much Nikolai and Genya we got!  

Favourite quote:

I am not ruined, I am ruination.
 

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jordynreads_33's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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konstantina's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.75

An ending to a marvelous trilogy.

The
"heroine loses her powers at the end"
is one of the plots that I really hate, but I have to admit that it was done beautifully in this case. I don't consider this a happy ending, but it doesn't have to be. The character growth in this book is excellent, and provides the most human villain I've read of. I would be able to enjoy it more and give it a higher score, if Mal was not just another uninteresting love interest.

The grishaverse has so much to offer, and if you're reading this as a new fan, be aware that the next ones are even better!

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kat42's review against another edition

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

4.0


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themiscyra_anna's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5


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poodily's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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neko_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I don't really know what I wanted the ending to be. at this point, every possible ending was an option I did not want.

Option 1
Alina saves the Darkling and falls in love with him. listen I found the Darkling's past interesting and he's a great villain but as a love interest? I hate him. if this happened I would have hated the books so much I would have liked to burn them.

Option 2
Alina marries Nickolai and goes into a political marriage. now I love Nickolai, his character, everything about it but there is absolutely nothing between him and Alina. this would just end up being more misery and fighting with mal.

Option 3
Alina kills mal to kill the darkling. Hurray, now she's miserable for the rest of her life.

Option 4 
the plan worked out and mal and Alina go off together to get an alliance and work out the rest of the story. this would basically just be a repeat of siege and storm, and that was all-around terrible.

option 5 (what actually happened)
well, I certainly did not expect that. this honestly just feels like a way to end the series with a nice happy ending without really having to go to any work. this is the best ending out of the possibilities but that doesn't mean I like it. I wish Alina hadn't lost her powers and mal hadn't lost his own abilities in the most confusing, convoluted ending ever. I hate that they became completely different people and left behind literally all of their development, but I do love how they ended up at Keramzin.

Now the rest of the characters were actually amazing. The twins, Nickolai, Genya and David, Zoya, Nadia, Adrik, Baghra, Misha, and even Harshaw and Sergei were terrific characters. they are the reviving factor of this story.

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itsmemiana's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

GURLLLL this was such a good ending for the trilogy.

I still think a certain someone deserved worst for everything he did but oh well. I loved the confort of the last few pages. and I may or may not have shed a tear.... or maybe cried a lot who knows...

Nikolai has his own little space in my heart and I would love to have a chance to be his queen. 😌 I hope to see him in the other grishaverse books 🥺

I loved this trilogy and I definitely will be revisiting it one day.

I'm so excited to read the other grishaverse books, I've heard Six of Crows is even better so I'm sooooo excited.❤️

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lqne's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0


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infjkiki's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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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