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maybefoxtrot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Gore
therobinjoyce's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Once again, Leigh Bardugo has done it and produced a fantastic and gripping piece of fantastical fiction for the world to enjoy.
The action definitely heats up in this one with the introduction of Sturmhond and the whole Pirates, nichevo’ya, and Rusalye arcs.
It’s so wonderful to dive back into the mind of Alina Starkov as she tries to escape the dark forces after her and her strained relationship with her old friends. While it was a little slower pace-wise than Shadow and Bone it was still wonderfully written and I absolutely loved the new characters we got to meet in this novel.
The ending also was insane and I cannot wait to finish Ruin and Rising and find out what happens!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Torture, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death
lavenderbluestories's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death
cassgordon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-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
I got lost for interest in the middle a bit waiting for the inevitable but I loved the introduction of new characters. Watching Alina struggle with the dark within her light and newfound power kept me going through the whole book and I found that I gained new insight into characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and War
Minor: Rape
shaylee_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-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? No
2.0
Ratings:
Plot:⭐⭐/5
Writing:⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐/5
Romance:⭐/5
Diversity:⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐⭐ /5
Tropes: Friends to lovers
This book took me so long to get through! The reason for that was that this book was so SLOW! I was about 200 pages into this book and I felt like nothing had happened and I felt like I was still in the beginning of the book, not in the middle. I just felt like nothing was happening and this book could have been cut in half.
Another thing I disliked was Mal… just Mal. He got on my nerves so much in this book, to me he was a very manipulative, gaslighting person who made everything about himself and made Alina feel guilty for wanting to help people. He gaslighted Alina so much in this book! He made her feel like everything that was going wrong in their relationship was her fault and that she should change to make him happy and not be herself and it PISSED me off. Don't even get me started on the whole Zoya thing!!
Another thing I'm not feeling Alina and Mal's relationship, it feels so forced and like we are supposed to believe that they are deeply in love but we don't ever see that because they barely spent any time together. Honestly Alina seemed to be so in love with him and wanting to be with him so much but Mal didn't seem to feel the same, he gave me so much F-boy vibes… like he was only pretending to care about her so he could get into her pants. I'm just not convinced in their relationship.
Another thing is that The Darkling is supposed to be this monster but it's now really shown.. we are told that he is this terrible person but nothing he does seems to back it up. I'm not saying that he's not a terrible person because he is, I'm just saying that we are being told that he is this terrible person instead of being shown that he is.
One thing I loved was Nikolai! He was amazing! Carried this book in his back! I'm in love with him and he saved this book.
All together I enjoyed this book but it just wasn't as good as the first book and it was kinda a let down but I'm excited to finish the trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Torture, Body horror, War, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Gun violence
sooreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Toxic relationship and War
Minor: Torture
gayghostprince's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
4.25
only 4.25 because it broke my heart
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, War, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Stalking
I put stalking because of the fact that Alina is clearly traumatized by the darkling chasing her.strange's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I really wasn’t a fan of the first book and didn’t get why everyone loved this series. This one was a huge improvement though! I’m still not in love, but I’m excited for the third book given how much this one improved upon the first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Blood
Minor: Ableism
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
"weakness is a guise. wear it when they need to know you're human, but never when you feel it."
a little slower and a lot less happens, but the ending rips my heart out each time. it makes me sob
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Gore and Toxic relationship
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Murder, Torture, Gun violence, Violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, War, Animal cruelty, and Animal death