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hollabackcat's review against another edition
I never got into the Shadow and Bone trilogy after the first book and SoC&CK were so good I thought I’d care about the other stuff. Too hard to get into for me. Might try again later!
jayal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
"Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself from the world." - Sankt Juris
I believe Nikolai's kindness stems from his compulsive tendecy of people pleasing. If he wasn't such a people pleaser, given his origin story, he'd be a villain.
In addition, I declare that Nikolai is by far my top favorite male character written by a woman. I'm so used to reading about brooding and mysterious male characters that Nikolai is sooooo refresing to read. He's unabashedly vain and charming with a strong sense of style. Not a hint of misogyny or him feeling emasculated whilst being around strong female characters. If Brooklyn Nine-Nine has Jake Peralta, then Grishaverse has Nikolai Lantsov.
Also, the Nikolai and Nina RIZZ is effortlessly amazing. I sure hope these two would get to meet each other again soon. I need to see more interactions between these two!!! I believe they'd make a great duo.
I liked Zoya's background story, it gave her character much more depth and justifies her behavior towards Alina and other people in the original trilogy. I liked how the author showed Jarl Brum's human side. I liked Sankt Grigori and Sankt Juris. And I soooo loved the the twists and turns in Isaak's story.
However, if not for the revival of a character that should've never returned, this easily would've been an easy 5-star for me. This twist felt lazy to me. His death and Alina's deed by the end of the previous trilogy was suddenly for naught. This character already had a good ending, in my opinion, in the previous books, it doesn't feel necessary to bring him back again. Why don't we get a new villain instead? Come on, I really thought we were about to have a queen bee for a villain. That would've been cool.
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
I believe Nikolai's kindness stems from his compulsive tendecy of people pleasing. If he wasn't such a people pleaser, given his origin story, he'd be a villain.
In addition, I declare that Nikolai is by far my top favorite male character written by a woman. I'm so used to reading about brooding and mysterious male characters that Nikolai is sooooo refresing to read. He's unabashedly vain and charming with a strong sense of style. Not a hint of misogyny or him feeling emasculated whilst being around strong female characters. If Brooklyn Nine-Nine has Jake Peralta, then Grishaverse has Nikolai Lantsov.
Also, the Nikolai and Nina RIZZ is effortlessly amazing. I sure hope these two would get to meet each other again soon. I need to see more interactions between these two!!! I believe they'd make a great duo.
I liked Zoya's background story, it gave her character much more depth and justifies her behavior towards Alina and other people in the original trilogy. I liked how the author showed Jarl Brum's human side. I liked Sankt Grigori and Sankt Juris. And I soooo loved the the twists and turns in Isaak's story.
However, if not for the revival of a character that should've never returned, this easily would've been an easy 5-star for me. This twist felt lazy to me. His death and Alina's deed by the end of the previous trilogy was suddenly for naught. This character already had a good ending, in my opinion, in the previous books, it doesn't feel necessary to bring him back again. Why don't we get a new villain instead? Come on, I really thought we were about to have a queen bee for a villain. That would've been cool.
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
matt0109's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
jcsay's review against another edition
4.0
zoyalai >>> also adding nikolai lantsov to my list of book boyfriends amen
yas_sezer's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars (*** update 3 stars)
reading this book was honestly such a breeze, but definitely didn’t give me the 5 star feeling. the characters and the world are very comforting for me now, and i feel as though i don’t have to use any brainpower to learn or keep up with the politics or magic which makes it so much easier to focus on and of course i have grown to adore the world. however, something did fall a little flat for me in this, but it’s hard to pinpoint if it’s one thing or just a bunch of little things.
first, i’ll acknowledge that having this from zoya, nikolai and ninas povs was very fun, i really like them all, even zoya who i didn’t pay that much attention to previously. i’m waiting for a romance to blossom between her and nikolai buttttt it might be a bit too soon for that.
nina and matthias, i’m never going to get over that. i didn’t realise how much matthias being gone broke me, but at the start of this book i was sobbingggg when she was hearing his voice in her head (kinda wish it was his voice and not her just imagining it, but that might be me struggling to let go as well).
the actual plot lines of this were fun and i enjoyed having multiple different things happening at once coz it kept it interesting since it’s such a fat book. also having the shift from character based, to a heist, to extremely political in this duology was a fun change of pace. nina with the dead in the factory and the girls who are being BRED and pumped full of parem. so messed up but so intriguing. also why is jarl brum back this man just doesn’t disappear does he.
nikaloi and zoya. look tbh, in the shadow and bone trilogy, i felt robbed of nikolai’s character coz of the demon, and it is still happeninggggg. a lot of his pov was taken up by isaac (rip miss u), but i just want him!!! i want to see more of him, which i think i will get in rule of wolves. it just feels like i keep getting him stolen and his chatacter isn’t getting a chance to develop enough. but nevertheless, the plotline for him with the darklings demon magic still in him was interesting and very harry potter-esque so i loved that. felt familiar. andddd now the darkling is back in yuri? i hope he is tbh, i never wanted him gone to begin with.
i want to also add that i liked the addition of the saints in the fold (especially since i just read the lives of saints as well, very insightful) butttt why did juris and grigori have to die ): elizaveta really just pulled a 180 and betrayed everyone.
i am looking forward to reading the final book in this universe and i’m praying that it won’t disappoint (surely a 5 star somewhere???)
this is a series that i will 100% recommend despite it not being a 4-5 star series. the world and characters have stuck with me, but i feel like after committing for 9 books (now on 10) that’s bound to happen
reading this book was honestly such a breeze, but definitely didn’t give me the 5 star feeling. the characters and the world are very comforting for me now, and i feel as though i don’t have to use any brainpower to learn or keep up with the politics or magic which makes it so much easier to focus on and of course i have grown to adore the world. however, something did fall a little flat for me in this, but it’s hard to pinpoint if it’s one thing or just a bunch of little things.
first, i’ll acknowledge that having this from zoya, nikolai and ninas povs was very fun, i really like them all, even zoya who i didn’t pay that much attention to previously. i’m waiting for a romance to blossom between her and nikolai buttttt it might be a bit too soon for that.
nina and matthias, i’m never going to get over that. i didn’t realise how much matthias being gone broke me, but at the start of this book i was sobbingggg when she was hearing his voice in her head (kinda wish it was his voice and not her just imagining it, but that might be me struggling to let go as well).
the actual plot lines of this were fun and i enjoyed having multiple different things happening at once coz it kept it interesting since it’s such a fat book. also having the shift from character based, to a heist, to extremely political in this duology was a fun change of pace. nina with the dead in the factory and the girls who are being BRED and pumped full of parem. so messed up but so intriguing. also why is jarl brum back this man just doesn’t disappear does he.
nikaloi and zoya. look tbh, in the shadow and bone trilogy, i felt robbed of nikolai’s character coz of the demon, and it is still happeninggggg. a lot of his pov was taken up by isaac (rip miss u), but i just want him!!! i want to see more of him, which i think i will get in rule of wolves. it just feels like i keep getting him stolen and his chatacter isn’t getting a chance to develop enough. but nevertheless, the plotline for him with the darklings demon magic still in him was interesting and very harry potter-esque so i loved that. felt familiar. andddd now the darkling is back in yuri? i hope he is tbh, i never wanted him gone to begin with.
i want to also add that i liked the addition of the saints in the fold (especially since i just read the lives of saints as well, very insightful) butttt why did juris and grigori have to die ): elizaveta really just pulled a 180 and betrayed everyone.
i am looking forward to reading the final book in this universe and i’m praying that it won’t disappoint (surely a 5 star somewhere???)
this is a series that i will 100% recommend despite it not being a 4-5 star series. the world and characters have stuck with me, but i feel like after committing for 9 books (now on 10) that’s bound to happen
emvosey27's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
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
yeh love leoni and adrik were well boring tho wish they could have been different characters but rly like hanne and zoyalai crumbs
m00n's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.25
sunpye's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
lyssaczernek's review against another edition
5.0
I finshed this book in six hours on a plane ride home. I currently cannot conjure words to appropriately express my many feelings on this book so I’ll be updating this review when my thoughts are collected!
UPDATE: I took a day to collect my thoughts on this novel. I’d first like to start off by saying... the cover to King of Scars is magnificently gorgeous! Now onto the review. This book was amazing from start to finish. The characters were amazingly written and developed. I loved Nikolai’s sass, Juris’s dad-like tough love, Hanne’s fiery spirit, and I especially enjoyed how Bardugo made me go from not caring too much for Zoya to her becoming one of my favorite characters. Her strength amazed me throughout the novel. Bardugo also did a perfect job on writing Nina. He grief was portrayed in a way that made it seem real and she stayed true to herself throughout her whole journey. The ending was a twist I thoroughly enjoyed and didn’t suspect. I can’t wait for the second book to release!
REREAD: Mt appreciation for Zoya grows every time I reread this book. I really didn’t like her in Shadow and Bone but her prickly demeanor in this book resonated with me. She’s sharp and confident and mean. She doesn’t take anyone’s shit and she takes pride in being untouchable. I love that she is unapologetically herself and provides some representation for girls who aren’t super warm and bubbly. I still believe everything I expressed in my original review. Bardugo’s writing just continuously gets better!
UPDATE: I took a day to collect my thoughts on this novel. I’d first like to start off by saying... the cover to King of Scars is magnificently gorgeous! Now onto the review. This book was amazing from start to finish. The characters were amazingly written and developed. I loved Nikolai’s sass, Juris’s dad-like tough love, Hanne’s fiery spirit, and I especially enjoyed how Bardugo made me go from not caring too much for Zoya to her becoming one of my favorite characters. Her strength amazed me throughout the novel. Bardugo also did a perfect job on writing Nina. He grief was portrayed in a way that made it seem real and she stayed true to herself throughout her whole journey. The ending was a twist I thoroughly enjoyed and didn’t suspect. I can’t wait for the second book to release!
REREAD: Mt appreciation for Zoya grows every time I reread this book. I really didn’t like her in Shadow and Bone but her prickly demeanor in this book resonated with me. She’s sharp and confident and mean. She doesn’t take anyone’s shit and she takes pride in being untouchable. I love that she is unapologetically herself and provides some representation for girls who aren’t super warm and bubbly. I still believe everything I expressed in my original review. Bardugo’s writing just continuously gets better!
kels_jo_143's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5