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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
The dregs of the Second Army and their leader, sun summoner Alina Starkov, now make their home in tunnels beneath the White Cathedral. The Darkling has taken over Ravka, and in order to defeat him Alina and Mal must find the fire-bird to gain enough power to destroy the Darkling once and for all.
My absolute favorite thing about all of Leigh Bardugo's books is the way she describes the action of the story. Her writing is so evocative but not in a flowery, overly detailed way. When you read descriptive passages about important happenings in her books, you feel like you are really there. It almost feels like you are watching a movie, rather than reading a book! Overall I was satisfied the the final book in the series, although some parts of the book were a little slow moving for me, especially all the traveling underground. Also, Bardugo does so well with action scenes that comparatively, her plot points that are focused on character development often fall flat.
Unfortunately, most of the twists in this last book of the trilogy were quite predictable. There wasn't anything that shocked or surprised me at all. The ending of the book is rather anti-climatic, sort of a let down after hundreds of pages of build up, at least for me. I wanted more action scenes, because Bardugo writes them so well. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author!
My absolute favorite thing about all of Leigh Bardugo's books is the way she describes the action of the story. Her writing is so evocative but not in a flowery, overly detailed way. When you read descriptive passages about important happenings in her books, you feel like you are really there. It almost feels like you are watching a movie, rather than reading a book! Overall I was satisfied the the final book in the series, although some parts of the book were a little slow moving for me, especially all the traveling underground. Also, Bardugo does so well with action scenes that comparatively, her plot points that are focused on character development often fall flat.
Unfortunately, most of the twists in this last book of the trilogy were quite predictable. There wasn't anything that shocked or surprised me at all. The ending of the book is rather anti-climatic, sort of a let down after hundreds of pages of build up, at least for me. I wanted more action scenes, because Bardugo writes them so well. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author!
I'm going to be honest with you all; I started rooting for the Darkling.
This sort of picks up where S&S ended with Alina in a self pity party, which, to be fair, made sense. Life sucked but it just wasn't that fun to read. That said, this is probably the best book in the series. The story, the pacing, the characters etc, all improved so much from the S&B.
In R&R, we get to see more history which YEAH!! I love some good backstory and boy, was it worth the wait. Just everything from the Darkling's history to his mum's history to MAL'S CONNECTION WITH THEM!! Great stuff there. Also how Mal ended up being the third amplifier and had to kill himself so Alina could have all three. oof. I liked that twist. I do kind of wish that he stayed dead though. With everything that happened in the backstory, Mal's ressurection seemed less permanent and that the Darkling's ultimate death could be reversed and the battle could go on forever.
And that one line, I didn't book mark it but it went something like -
"I'd murder the only one I'd ever loved and the only one who ever loved me and go back into war, wearing his bones" That line was hard as nails.
A cool thing LB continues from S&S is the shadow visiting going on between Alina and the Darkling which was a bit like what Rey and Kylo have in Star Wars, if anyone knows more books or movies which have that, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! It is so cool and I want more.
Lastly, Mal stuck his hand in the water and grabbed a fish. Talk about a power move.
Overall this read just confirms that I'm over YA. It's a fun time but not the 5/5 stars it would've been a few years ago. And sorry if this review is messy, it's 5AM and I need sleep.
<s>Also, can't wait to see Ben Barnes as the Darkling on TV</s>
This sort of picks up where S&S ended with Alina in a self pity party, which, to be fair, made sense. Life sucked but it just wasn't that fun to read. That said, this is probably the best book in the series. The story, the pacing, the characters etc, all improved so much from the S&B.
In R&R, we get to see more history which YEAH!! I love some good backstory and boy, was it worth the wait.
And that one line, I didn't book mark it but it went something like -
"I'd murder the only one I'd ever loved and the only one who ever loved me and go back into war, wearing his bones" That line was hard as nails.
A cool thing LB continues from S&S is the shadow visiting going on between Alina and the Darkling which was a bit like what Rey and Kylo have in Star Wars, if anyone knows more books or movies which have that, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! It is so cool and I want more.
Lastly, Mal stuck his hand in the water and grabbed a fish. Talk about a power move.
Overall this read just confirms that I'm over YA. It's a fun time but not the 5/5 stars it would've been a few years ago. And sorry if this review is messy, it's 5AM and I need sleep.
<s>Also, can't wait to see Ben Barnes as the Darkling on TV</s>
I liked this way better than the second book. Well at least until the last few chapters. Those kind of got blah again. I did appreciate that she acknowledges the villains person hood in the end, but didn't try to make you be sympathetic towards him. You just can't be redeemed after certain actions and she drew that line very clearly throughout the entire series.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Ruin and Rising is an outstanding ending to such a fun series. Leigh Bardugo did a wonderful job at bringing it all together in the sense that the characters and their strengths, weaknesses, and triumphs are apparent and key to the conflicts that they face. The journey and stakes are well established and my emotions were all over the place while reading. Definitely a series worth getting into if you enjoy YA fantasy.
"Suffering is cheap as clay and twice as common. What matters is what each man makes of it."
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Firstly, I DECLARE REVIEW AMNESTY. Secondly, I did want to mention that the "twist" at the end actually managed to surprise the hell out of me, but part of me feels like it was able to do that because it was a bad idea and makes no sense. Maybe that is wrong but it's been months since I read this so I'm just going to save this review and move on with my life.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2 of these stars belong to Nikolai and 1 of them belongs to Harshaw and Oncat.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
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