Reviews with content warning for Blood - Ruin and Rising

This is the least annoying Alina has ever been 😅 I sped through this book and I loved that Mal and Alina weren’t together for the most part. They finally stopped whining about each other and the romance wasn’t a large focus. I was feeling great about this book until chapter 15/16.

The ending felt rushed and honestly I’m mad about it. Why is it ending this way?! It makes no sense to me and is the only reason it gets a lower rating because before the last 3 chapters it would’ve been a 4-4.5 star book!

The pacing was so good throughout the book, much better than the other two, right up until the last 50ish pages. I’m in the minority opinion it seems but book 2 was the best book imo, then this and then book 1 🫠

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undecidedpersonality's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-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

3.75

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ladygetslit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Series Overall: fell a bit flat for me. I never felt connected to the characters, despite being shoved in Alina’s head the whole time. I never felt myself rooting for her relationship with Mal. To be honest, I think if I had read this series years ago and before reading Bardugo’s other books, I might not be so disappointed, but this was clearly her first major go at it. The storyline itself and the world is amazing, but the execution just wasn’t it for me. I’m still glad I read it though!

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mckiheather's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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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filipacmiranda's review against another edition

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3.75

Ruin and Rising starts strong with Alina, Mal and all the other Grisha hiding in the White Cathedral, growing Alina's holly following, and escaping the Apparat's schemes. After that, they head towards the Spinning Wheel and reunite with Nikolai. These events also bring back Baghra and a few other (not so) beloved characters.

Regarding characters, this book creates a few important arcs that open doors for the King of Scars duology. I also enjoyed reading about the group's journey towards the Spinning Wheel and their expedition looking for the Firebird. It allowed space to watch them grow tighter and learn to work together as a team. Despite this, I have liked the Alina-Darkling interactions to be more deeply explored, in the sense that I wanted them to better build up to the ending the author designed for both characters.

Finally, the Darkling's and Mal's fates annoyed me. While the first one's death was mundane and, in a way, didn't seem fitting for the character's relevance throughout the story, the other's survival sounded unlikely and was poorly explained. I appreciated the trilogy's ending and how it turned into a full-circle moment for the main character, but I believe a few tweaks could have made it more memorable.

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1st Read (2020): 4.25 stars

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justagirlwithbooks's review against another edition

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3.25

"They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things—if love can ever be called that."

I can't believe I actually managed to read this book in one day! There were parts I liked, parts that I didn't like, but all in all I liked the ending to this trilogy. There were quite a few quotes that I liked too, more in this book compared to the other two. I'm looking forward to reading King of Scars and seeing where Nikolai's story picks up.

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.5

I’m conflicted about this rating because I feel like the reading experience was so much more fun for this book because there were twists and turns at every chapter and I could not put this book down- BUT- some of the things that happened to Nikolai and Mal and even a little bit of Alina bothered me at the end of the book. There were some tropes and cop outs that made the ending tie up too nicely, especially with how much build up there was to the climax of the final battle. I still love how much nuance the Darkling has. And while I liked Mal better in this book than the last, I am team Nikolai all the way!

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bubbly_lara's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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? No

5.0

I absolutely loved this. All the stars, 10/10, highly recommend this series! I literally did not know what to do with myself for hours after finishing it. We meet Alina

and the group of survivors in the White Cathedral

right where "Siege and Storm" ended. We follow along as they grow together as a group and plan their escape from underground to find Nikolai and his troops in order to face the Darkling and save Ravka. They venture on the journey to find the third amplifier while they learn more about the Darklings past, Ilya Morozova and how it is all interconnected. At the end of the day, they must each choose whether they can live with the price to be paid to end this war.

"What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men."

For a moment there, I thought my little heart could not take how the story was unfolding. In what the Darkling decided on as a punishment for

Nikolai

we see once more how cruel he can truly be. The moments between

Alina and Nikolai in his monster form

made my heart ache for the both of them and the choices they must make. Also, how could I not talk about Alina and Mal.

For a moment there, I thought they would not get to live the life they both want and deserve. What with Mal being the Third Amplifier and both of them knowing he must die in order for Alina to absorb the power within Mal. No words, just heartbreak. I did love the epilogue and how they rebuilt Keramzin to be a better home for others than it was for them. Zoya handing Alina blue Grisha robes with the note "You will always be one of us" makes me tear up even writing this review.

.

Please do yourself a favour and go read this series. It deserves all the hype it's getting. I cannot wait to go dive back into the Grishaverse with "Six of Crows" next.

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