Reviews

Nikolai really carried this book. While listening to the audiobook I was only maybe 70% paying attention, but when Nikolai spoke it had my full attention.

I'm not gonna rate this, because to be honest with you I skimmed the last half of this book. The dull characters are the weakest part of this series for me. I can't care about any of them which makes me not care about the plot when not much was even happening anyway. That's sad because there's SO MUCH POTENTIAL for them and it sucks that they're so incredibly shallow. This could be so much darker, the characters more twisted and complex. Alina having a dark side is interesting and there's so many things that could have been done with that but I feel like the writing only breaches the surface. I'm honestly excited for the Netflix series to come out already, I'm just imagining everything they can improve on with the groundwork Leigh Bardugo laid.

I'm honestly not sure if I'll read the last book or not, everything that happened in the last couple chapters makes me want to satisfy my curiosity about what happens next. At the same time I don't know if it's really worth finishing this series just to read Six of Crows and King of Scars. Despite all the hype, and my major FOMO around this universe Leigh Bardugo has created, I just don't know if it's for me.

shanayaareads's review against another edition

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3.0

This book took me two weeks to read. It’s never taken me that long to finish a book. But this one did. Reading it, I can only find myself likening it to torture.

Again, the book itself is good, the writing great, the world building amazing. But Alina and Mal? Annoying. Reading about her pining after him and him whining about not getting his way is painfully frustrating, to say the least. And Alina’s predictability where Mal is concerned gets old pretty fast and pisses me off. The singular most unpredictable thing the girl did was her final stand against the Darkling, which surprised the heck out of me and made me like her, just for a second, then her frustrating obsession with Mal, killed any inkling of that like I had felt.

Their “relationship” keeps being forced at every turn and I wonder if I’m the only person who feels that there is no genuine romance between them? A friendship yes, obligations to that friendship, sure and maybe even “friend-love”, but romantic love? I have yet to feel it. Which makes their interactions that much more frustrating to endure.

I often find myself wondering if these books wouldn’t have been better if Alina chose the Darkling instead and embraced his “villainy”. It would certainly have made a more compelling story, in my opinion. But alas, we can’t have everything we want.

Despite the fact that it took me an age to complete, once I got into it, I found that I really enjoyed this book. I wish we had more moments with the Darkling, but the new characters introduced definitely made up for it for me and I’m marginally hopeful that Alina might be less annoying and predictable in the final novel.

Fingers crossed.

darrinbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

all_too_well's review against another edition

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4.0

holy fucking christ mal is literally so insufferable in this book. bless the lord that vasily died

gothutaoz's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.5

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