Reviews with content warning for Murder - Il re delle cicatrici

they say dont judge a book by its cover and they are not wrong. the cover is absolutely stunning but the book is just ok. it's not bad at all, but i cant say it's my favourite

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lxxnne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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? No

5.0

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maryjames's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

The Darkling is gone and the Fold is destroyed, but this is Ravka, so nothing is ever easy. Fjerda and Shu Han are at Ravka’s borders, ready to exploit any weakness left by the civil war. The Kerch are already asking Ravka to pay its debts, but the nation will only need more money if they are to survive the coming battles. Miracles have been appearing all across Ravka, and while most of the devout take heart from the old saints, some believe that a new saint should be added to their ranks: the Starless One. Amidst this chaos, King Nikolai is still playing host to the shadow demon forced on him by the Darkling’s nichevo’ya, and it is becoming increasingly hard to hide. Zoya serves by his side, trying to keep her king safe—and others safe from him. Nina is dealing with her grief as best she can, but throwing herself into her work as a spy in Fjerda.

Okay I know that everyone loves the Six of Crows duology best in the Grishaverse but...I think I might actually prefer King of Scars and Rule of Wolves (review to come)! This book started out a little slow but picked right up and then I could NOT put it down. The tension between Nikolai and Zoya is immaculate, and literally any scene with Nikolai bantering with one of his friends makes my heart explode. Even more than that (if that’s possible), I loved Nina’s storyline as she deals with her grief and throws herself headlong into every dangerous situation she can find.

I am also obsessed with her relationship with Hanne...it might actually be my very favorite wlw relationship that I’ve read!

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):

Cliffhanger, of course, because this is Leigh Bardugo and there’s a sequel on the way. Thank god I picked it up almost immediately!

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pagebypaigereviews's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

The new King of Ravka is not what he seems.

"The monster is me and I am the monster."

After the Darkling's defeat, Nikolai ushers in a new era of peace and ingenuity. But he and his most trusted allies are harboring a dark secret from the masses: Nikolai has not completely recovered from the Darkling's curse, and the monster inside him constantly battles him for control. Meanwhile Nina works undercover in enemy territory, carrying precious cargo. Something dark calls to her, persistent enough to convince her not to give in to the sorrow that threatens to consume her.

King of Scars is the first of the newest series in the Grishaverse. This was a highly anticipated read, as the main character, Nikolai, is one of my all-time favorite characters. Even so, it was a bit of a slow start for me, and I actually ended up putting it down for a while before coming back to it, but I'm so glad I did!

As always, I adore Bardugo's writing style, but the plot and character development in this book were the best I've seen thus far. Her characters are so easy to get attached to. The magic in this series is on another level compared to the other Grishaverse books! I was pulled in to the story once it got going. It had me alternatively laughing and fighting tears, such was the emotional journey.

The hardest part for me was seeing Nikolai not always acting like the character I knew and loved from the other books. Since he is a main character, we get much more from him than just his witty charm, and reading about his inner turmoil was a little different than what I expected. Also, some of the content may be disturbing to younger readers, so I would highly recommend checking out the trigger warnings before reading.

Overall, I gave it 4.5 / 5 stars! This is by far my favorite book in the Grishaverse series so far and I am excited to get my hands on the next book, Rule of Wolves!

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

I went into this book fully expecting it to be completely centred around Nikolai and for him to be the star of the show, but this was definitely not the case in a surprisingly good way. Instead, the female characters absolutely SHONE in this book and completely stole the show. They were just incredible. It was a joy to read from Nina's perspective again, but it was actually Zoya who I fell in love with. She's had such an incredible character arc over the course of the Grishaverse and that was really revealed and expanded upon in this book. She's such a bad ass and doing a much better job of being the main character than Nikolai is.

Being back in the Grishaverse was a delight, but so was reading Bardugo's writing again. It is wonderfully descriptive, and her plot development here is truly on another level in comparison to Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. I really enjoyed seeing her expand her world-building, and she REALLY knows how to write incredible endings.

I docked a half-star for two reasons. The first is that I felt extremely disconnected from Nikolai, to the point where (shockingly, given he was one of my favourite characters in Shadow and Bone), I was dreading his POV chapters. The second is that for the first half of this book the plot felt a little directionless in that I didn't really know what the book was going to be about until like 250 pages in.

Also, the return of the Darkling kind of feels like a cheap enemy and I'm worried about how it's going to impact my enjoyment of Rule of Wolves.

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luluslittlelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

I really liked this book more than I expected. The beginning is painfully slow, so it was hard to get into, but once things started moving at a faster pace, I was hooked. I loved getting to read Zoya and Nikolai's POVs for the first time. They both have very clear "voices" so it was super engaging to read from their perspectives. I would have also been interested in getting a POV from Genya or David as well in this book.

I LOVE Nina's storyline. For me, I was a lot more interested in what was going on with her in Fjerda than I was with the others in Ravka. I'm not going to give any spoilers but I would recommend this to anyone interested in reading more about Nina and what she's doing as a Ravkan spy in Fjerda.

And then there's the sequel. I definitely liked Rule of Wolves more than King of Scars so I would recommend reading it even if you didn't love King of Scars (I think it is much better). Once again I love everything that happens with Nina (and Hanne!). And I think the connection between Zoya and Juris is very interesting. I'm not big on the storyline surrounding the darkling, I think it was interesting but maybe didn't belong in this book (?). Also, the ending is SO GOOD.

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durrareadsstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Nikolai knew. He was a king who had only begun to make mistakes. He was a soldier for whom the war would never be over. He was a bastard left alone in the woods. And he was not afraid to die this day.

Oh wow, this book. 🤯🤯🤯 Leigh Bardugo just keeps on writing masterpieces. I was so excited for this book since, you know, Nikolai, duh🤭. Honestly at the beginning I was a little bit disappointed, I thought he was better in Siege and Storm. But, actually, the characters were consistent. We get to see another side to Nikolai, a more vulnerable and deep side and I loved it! I also despised Zoya before, but she's had her reasons for being a stone-cold witch. And in this book she is forced to face her past and because of that she became all the more powerful. I loved her POV, and as always with Leigh's characters - it was downright tragic.

All the POVs in the book were awesome, and so was the writing. Nina being a spy was just - that girl kicks ass dude!! I liked how Nina embraces her "new" powers and the grief written in this book was completely heartbreaking 💔. Reading about her transitioning between characters reminded me of Nikolai in Siege and Storm again. I loved Adrik and Leoni, and how they're the total opposite of each other. Once again, Ms Bardugo teaches you about trauma, in this case about the two very different ways people handle them. Having Hanne in the storyline added a new vantage point, from the Fjerdans who were stuck in their customs. I was skeptical about Isaak, but he did the job well, so he's good. Princess Ehri, OH MY GOD. (I can't say much more without spoiling anything, so I'll just leave it at that.) 😉

Another thing I absolutely adored: When the characters mention "the couple who runs the orphanage" and the crows, I sort of get nostalgic (?) Especially when Nina said she wished Inej was there, I STAN THEIR FRIENDHIP!!! 😍 Towards the end, plot twists kept coming like one of those automatic gun machines🔫. There is no way anyone could have guessed them. Or maybe I'm just naive, whatever. Anyway, the characters were developed so, so well. Even though you're not a total bada** like they are, you'll find yourself relating to parts of their stories, which makes them attach to yourself like super glue 😎 So much themes were discussed: Fjerdan bigotry, sexism, feminism, abandonment, child marriage, grief, and of course, facing your demons.

This book was everything I imagined and please please, Rule of Wolves, don't disappoint me. I can't wait to see more of Zoyalai and just everything else!

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