Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - King of Scars

5 Stars

I honest to god really liked it! It was so much fun getting to see old characters again. I've always loved Nikolai, and I enjoyed his banter so much here. I love his relationship with Zoya. A bunch of reviews say that their relationship feels forced, but for me the it was really believable. They felt like an authentic slow burn, and I like the way they grew on each other. I didn't like Zoya in the Grisha trilogy, but here I got to really understand her character more, and I now like her a lot better.

I liked the quotes about growth, grief, trauma, and healing. The writing style here was explicit. The only thing I find lacking was the connection between Nina's and Nikolai + the gang's POV. It didnt quite make sense to me as to why Nina's POVs were put in the same book? They dont even relate to each other, I couldve skipped Nina's POVs and understood Nikolai's side fine. Some people say it's a set up for Rule of Wolves, so I guess I'll give it a shot.

Speaking of Nina, I love how fruity she is here 😆 Also, I lost someone dear to me recently and her journey through her grief really resonates with me. I can't wait to see what happens next.

I'm rating this 5 stars despite the lack of continuity between Nikolai + Nina's arcs, just because I love this world and I miss being in it :>

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michaelferlazzo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

This is the best one yet in the grishaverse

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stellenelcielo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. Bardugo definitely salvaged and made up for Ruin and Rising here, in fact, I think she made up for all of the worst parts of the Shadow and Bone series. She made up for the lack of diversity it had, for the internalized misogyny that featured heavily in it, and it gave depth to characters who were depthless before.

My favourite had to be Zoya Nazyalensky, she's ruthless, brutal, frank, and she had a reason for why she is all those things. She isn't secretly this soft girl, but she does briefly mourn never ever having the choice to be that, and I really liked that. It was a nice view into how trauma, neglect, and manipulation really force a person to grow up too fast, forcing them to have to be hard to survive. Despite all of this, and that she's portrayed as emotionless, there are times where Bardugo shows that she's anything but, making her one of the most enjoyable characters in the book.

This book also endeared me more towards Nina, and I'm finding this ruthless side suits her, though it took me near to the end to actually enjoy her chapters. Honestly, I can say that I don't really care about Fjerda in general, as Bardugo has gone out of her way to make it seem like a truly distasteful country, with its rampant sexism and anti-Grisha ideology, and I do enjoy the idea of Nina smashing it all into bits, I understand the need to make it a central plot to the series.

All that aside, I really liked how the book ended off, the "Oh shit, what now?" officially has me in a chokehold until I read the next book, so I'd have to say it's worth all four stars just for that.

Content Warnings

limiwh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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