Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

13 reviews

serendipity421's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

5.0


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trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense 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

5.0

Something can be imperfect and still be loved.
Do I know this book is mostly just a fan service? Yes. Do I still love every bit of it shamelessly? Absolutely.

Oh. My. God. I loved the way the different POVs didn't really align with each other but made sense in the grand scheme of things. And obviously, I loved the characters so much. That's where Leigh Bardugo's at her strongest. Genuinely had to hold myself back from squealing at some of the turn of events and I'm still thirsty for more Grishaverse content.

The plot was so much better than King of Scars. Like there's actually something going on in every chapter and I could feel the tenseness of the war.
The whole Saints thing that I wasn't too fond of in KoS made a little bit more sense here but I still don't like it. I wanted to see more of Nikolai's charm and his ruling skills and we got it. I wanted to see how Alina and Mal were doing and we got it. I wanted to see more of Hanne and Nina and goshhh we got it. I wanted to see more of my current otp Zoyalai and we got it. I wanted to see more of the Crows and whatever shenanigans they were up to and we got that as well. I couldn't be any more happier. But-

There he comes, the man who can't let anyone be happy for once, the Darkling. Why in the name of all Saints and their mothers was he brought back? Really, it only seems like he was resurrected to give something to the Darkling stans and also to conveniently stash an immortal in a tree for world peace. This book could've done away with his plot and the rest of the Saints thing too, for that matter and still have been gripping. He was a good villain, and he should've been allowed to rest as all good villains should be once their story is over. Resurrection is pointless. And I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be feeling towards him too? Like are you trying to reinforce my point that he is a bad guy and cannot be redeemed for his sins or are you trying to portray him as a victim and that everything he did was for the love of Ravka all along?

Anyways, forget about the Starless One, let's talk about my Crow babies. A cheap party trick to pull in more readers, I know. I love it. Literally the whole Titanium subplot and the mini heist weren't needed for any reason other than to give the Crows some screen time. I missed them. Honestly, a needed refreshment after the very sad scene before all this *cough* David *cough*. Man I forgot just how much I loved and missed Kaz. The Jesper/Wylan dynamic was sooo adorable but I really don't know what purpose they served to the plot. I wish we got more of Inej Ghafa, my queen, my wife and the love of my life, but that ending points towards another Crows book so we'll see. Fingers crossed it won't just be another fan service.

Zoya Nazyalensky, you've successfully occupied the place in my heart that was reserved only for Nikolai Lantsov, how do you feel? Was Zoya terribly overpowered and borderline breaking the laws of Small Science with the thunderstorms and stuff? I'm gonna overlook that because I freaking adore this woman. Hanne Brum, you've occupied the vacancy left by Matthias Helvar both in my heart and Nina's and there could be no one better suited for the job. Genya Safin, I will always keep wanting more and more from you, I can't help it you're so cool. And Alina... idk she felt a little out of character in this one, but I missed her and love her nonetheless. And Tamar and Nadia, and even Mayu and Ehri as well. All in all, GRISHAVERSE WOMEN>>>>>>>>

I loved the way war didn't just mean destroying the enemy until they are powerless and then sign a peace treaty. The moral dilemma of what is right and what is taking it too far, the constant where does it end? question raised throughout the book, and wondering who the actual monster is here. I know I'm contradicting saying the Darkling was included as a fan service and yet loving the Crows for the same reason, saying the Darkling's crimes cannot be forgiven and yet not minding the countless innocent lives taken away by the "good side" using the missiles. But that man was fine with a child being raped over and over I cannot vouch for him ever


TDLR; amazing book if you're a mega fan of the Grishaverse, else probably best to skip it. 

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overbooked207's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

📖 Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo Book Review 📖

7th book of January 2023 and 7th of the year:

I’m proud of myself because I read multiple books that were very long this month, and in a short amount of time if I may add, and I hope that I continue on with this trend throughout the year!

It was so nice to be back in this world as I wait for Shadow and Bone season 2! It had strong and lovable complex characters, great writing and world-building, beautiful relationships and friendships, witty dialogue, and well-written and engaging fight scenes. Six of Crows is still my favorite series in this world, but I still enjoyed this a lot and recommend the Grishaverse as a whole! Also, the sounds I let out when the crows were mentioned were alarming😂(and that’s not a spoiler because one of the point of view narrators is a crow). TW for ableism, abuse, addiction, blood, bullying, child abuse, chronic illness, classism, confinement, death, drug use/forced drug use, dysphoria, genocide, grief, gun violence and weapons use, forced institutionalization, kidnapping, medical content/trauma, misogyny, murder, panic attacks, rape, religious bigotry, sexism, slavery, slurs, suicidal thoughts, torture, trafficking, violence, war, and xenophobia📚🫀👑🐉

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antimony27's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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sammymilfort's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0


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ehmannky's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5

Much better than the King of Scars (which wasn't bad, just took much longer for me to get into). It's a long read, but I felt that all of the POV's came together nicely, loved the themes of growing past your trauma and learning to be loved and the comfort that community brings, and Zoya and Nikolai's romance was 10/10. I think that despite this being like *~Nikolai's duology~*, it was really Zoya's, and I'm fine with that since I am a sucker for prickly and angry female characters. I do think there was a lot going on in this book, but unlike the previous book, I think I was okay with all of it. Like, maybe Nina's chapters could have been their own book, but I don't know. I think it worked here. 

I think really my only complaint was the Darkling's chapters. I don't know if I particularly believe the inclusion of him brought much to this duology and I think a lot of the things Bardugo uses him for could have been accomplished with another character or something else. Like, I get the idea of her characters working beyond their trauma from him and I think narratively they did need to heal from the damage he did to them. But did he have to physically be there for them to do that??? I liked the focus on people really taking stock of the pain he did to them and their loved ones and really reckoning with his abuse, and trying to recover from that, I just don't know if he needed to be there as a character. I will say that a lot of reviews seem to be like "she's scolding us for liking the Darkling!!!" when this duology feels a lot more like, "hey, let's focus on the victims of the abuse and their trauma and how they're recovering from that."

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cleo_wylde's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

So many plot twists!!! I really enjoyed this.

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luluslittlelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0


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lennie_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

So after the ending of KoS, we have 2 extra POVs in this book. I won't tell you who because spoilers but I definitely appreciated one more than the other! 

In this book Ravka and Fjerda are at war. Nina is deep undercover in Fjerda, Nikolai & the monster are still joined but they've come to more an amicable arrangement and Zoya is trying to master her new powers. 

This book is heavy, and definitely slow at some points but it's worth sticking with. 

I also think that by the time you get to RoW (after reading all the other GrishaVerse books), you know not to immediately believe everything you read. Especially when it comes to Kaz and Nikolai; Leigh uses a Lot of similar plot devices and, well at least for me, I could always assume there was an alternative / back up plan. 

We do have romance in this book, as well as tragedy (if you know, you know 😭) and there are a lot of different threads weaving together at the same time. 

There is also discussions about race & heritage, as well as confirmation of a trans character and an aro/ace character. 

And we get to see the Crows and Mal & Alina in this book 😍 

I also really enjoyed seeing more of Shu Han; the characters, the governing, the Khergud etc. 

A lot of issues are resolved in this book but not all of them and Leigh has left a few storylines open for the new third Crows book. 

It's hard to review this book without giving away spoilers but if you enjoy the GrishaVerse and were annoyed by the ending of KoS, you should hopefully enjoy this!

There is Trans rep, pan / bi rep, lesbian rep, POC rep, aro/ace rep, mixed race rep and more

CW: reanimated corpses, addiction, death, grief, murder, body horror, torture, medical trauma, confinement, chronic illness, dead children

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kaylamoran's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful sad tense fast-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

5.0

As with the Six of Crows duology, I preferred this book to book one.
The biggest thing I disliked about this one was the ending.  I don't know why, exactly, but I don't like the direction it took some of the characters, as well as Grisha magic.
Nina's story was much more interesting this time than in book one.  As she was one of my favourite Crows behind only Jesper, I was extremely disappointed with how little I cared about her part in book one.
I can't wait to see what Leigh does next with the Grishaverse!  I just adore it, the characters and worldbuilding are amazing.

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