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laurenandradee's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was on par with Shadow and Bone but definitely not as good as six of crows (but maybe I just love a heist with a solid found family plot). But if you liked shadow and bone (which I definitely did) you will like this as well ! I do highly recommend that you read both series - shadow and bone followed by six of crows - first since there are multiple returned characters and some context is assumed knowledge. Also there are huge spoilers for both series in this book so you will be ruining the previous series if you read this before those.
This book has a slow start (similar to shadow and bone and six of crows) since this is multiple POV book and not only that but there are also multiple plots(three to be exact) happening simultaneously (it's never confusing or hard to remember what is happening) but at about the halfway point once the stories really kick off this book is SO engaging and its fast paced, like chapter to chapter I am on the edge of my seat and Leigh Bardugo does the classic end of chapter cliffhanger followed by a POV change - there was a lot of "Oh nonono don't end here....wait never mind, thank god we are back to this POV" happening for me towards the end.
The slow build ends up being really nice since you really get an understanding of the plot and each of the characters are well fleshed out for me.
Overall I just love Leigh Bardugo's imagery, the horrible horrible things that happens within this booklike the women in what is essentially a human factory farm being forced to breed children under the influence of highly addictive drugs that they are originally force fed with the sole purpose of keeping the women addicted and therefore pliable, and to keep them breeding more addicted children even though the women clearly don't want to but need to, to continue to have access to this impossible to get drug otherwise they die from withdrawal. So essentially these women are slaves kept in a single windowless room, they are starved, live in squallor and forced to endure rape and forced pregnancy because they are so addicted for the sole purpose of breeding more grisha. and one women was unable to conceive but was still raped and forced give birth multiple times only to hold her multiple still born children after each pregnancy and then having to do it again and again or die - yeah that is BIG nightmare fuel. Also the imagery of Elizaveta flying at Zoya with locusts spilling from her mouth is not exactly the same brand of nightmare fuel but still pretty gross are handled in a way that is still appropriate and are not overly gruesome or horrific for the shock factor which I liked. It was just enough that you got the horror of the situation but it wasn't drawn out and horrible to read.
Overall, I really enjoyed being back in the grishaverse and who doesn't love a whole books worth of Nikolai-wit.
This book has a slow start (similar to shadow and bone and six of crows) since this is multiple POV book and not only that but there are also multiple plots
The slow build ends up being really nice since you really get an understanding of the plot and each of the characters are well fleshed out for me.
Overall I just love Leigh Bardugo's imagery, the horrible horrible things that happens within this book
Overall, I really enjoyed being back in the grishaverse and who doesn't love a whole books worth of Nikolai-wit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Addiction, Death, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Slavery, and Pregnancy
Minor: Violence, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail
seforana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
koiolee's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
As i grow older, i stray away from fantasy novels/series. This series (and Six of Crows duology) bring me back to my fantasy days. I adore the magic system and the writing that brings this world into the real world. The grief every character fights is palpable, as if you yourself lost that person.
Spoilers
My opinion on characters
Nikolai: i really like him as a king. Also live how he keeps his wits around him like a protective slime layer.
Zoya: i think my favorite character with so much depth. I loved learning more and more about her.
Nina: probably the character i relate to the most. Her chapters were hard for me to read because i imagine my own partner and that loss as my own. I was mad after crooked kingdom when she didn't lose her cool over her loss (literally my only critique was that she didnt go absolutely feral), but after reading this, i understand it so much more.... but i still think she should've gone feral. Or as feral as she could during recovery.
Spoilers
My opinion on characters
Nikolai: i really like him as a king. Also live how he keeps his wits around him like a protective slime layer.
Zoya: i think my favorite character with so much depth. I loved learning more and more about her.
Nina: probably the character i relate to the most. Her chapters were hard for me to read because i imagine my own partner and that loss as my own. I was mad after crooked kingdom when she didn't lose her cool over her loss (literally my only critique was that she didnt go absolutely feral), but after reading this, i understand it so much more.... but i still think she should've gone feral. Or as feral as she could during recovery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, and Addiction
Minor: Confinement
alyssadavis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
“Zoya of the lost city. Zoya of the garden. Zoya bleeding in the snow. You are strong enough to survive the fall.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Addiction, Murder, War, Abandonment, Violence, Child abuse, Death, and Grief
Minor: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Rape
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Drug use, Violence, War, Sexism, and Drug abuse
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Torture, Blood, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Trafficking
Minor: Vomit and Xenophobia
onefineelephant's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
9/10. I loved this book. I don't think I liked it more than the Six of Crows books, but that's because I'm a sucker for found family. I love Nikolai, Zoya, Nina, and Hanne. The only part that I didn't like was that it felt like I was reading two separate books - one about Nikolai and Zoya and another about Nina and Hanne. It didn't feel like the two connected or overlapped very much, so when I would read a chapter from one of their POVs, then I wanted to keep reading that story rather than switching to a completely different story (that I also liked and then the cycle would continue). I'm guessing the two stories will converge in the next book, but I think this book felt off because of the unrelated stories. Love the Grishaverse, though. This series continues to surprise me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Child death, Rape, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War
maddiebo97's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
UGH i loved it
Content Warnings
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: War, Violence, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Vomit, Sexism, Miscarriage, and Grief
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.5
“He was not the crying child or even the drowning man. He was the forever soldier, eternally at war, unable to ever lay down his arms and heal.”
I loved being back in the Grishaverse and seeing what these characters are up to now. I loved the politics in this and there were definitely some plot twists I didn’t see coming. I really liked learning more about Nikolai and Zoya especially because we really didn’t get a lot from them in the books before. Of course I loved seeing Nina again, even if it meant hurting my heart every time she mentioned Matthias.
But I did feel like there was some pacing issues which caused a disconnect with the characters and the plot. I just couldn’t get into it and never really cared a huge amount about the characters. It was very slow in some parts and very repetitive which often left me feeling like I was reading parts that were unnecessary to the character and plot development. But overall, I’m excited to read the next one!
I loved being back in the Grishaverse and seeing what these characters are up to now. I loved the politics in this and there were definitely some plot twists I didn’t see coming. I really liked learning more about Nikolai and Zoya especially because we really didn’t get a lot from them in the books before. Of course I loved seeing Nina again, even if it meant hurting my heart every time she mentioned Matthias.
But I did feel like there was some pacing issues which caused a disconnect with the characters and the plot. I just couldn’t get into it and never really cared a huge amount about the characters. It was very slow in some parts and very repetitive which often left me feeling like I was reading parts that were unnecessary to the character and plot development. But overall, I’m excited to read the next one!
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Pregnancy
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
4.75
It's been almost three years since the event of Ruin & Rising (which I haven't read, more on that later) and most of Ravka and beyond is still reeling from the consequences. In the middle of it, King Nikolai battles enemies within and without, Nina is on a quest for solace that leads her to discover nefarious plans from Fjerda, and Zoya lets her armour crack.
I am in awe of Bardugo's writing. She manages to put so much heart and character quirks in an engaging narrative that kept me turning the pages. I have to admit that it took me a long, long time to really get into the book because even with careful information-dropping to fill me in on what had happened before, I could feel that I hadn't read the books in which some essential characters are introduced (mostly Nikolai and Zoya, in the Shadow & Bone trilogy).
Once I'd gathered enough info on them, however, I could completely relax into the story and let myself be carried away. I love Leigh Bardugo's writing style and character studies, it's perhaps not the most subtle but it's banter and sass at their best and it's a joy to read.
Rep: fat, bisexual MC. Disabled author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Grief
Moderate: Drug abuse