Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

74 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

I enjoyed this book, I enjoyed this world! But the story was a little convoluted and had lots of moving parts, and my love for Nikolai waned throughout this book (not for any particular thing he did or didn’t do, but I lost my connection with him because of everything else going on). I loved the twists and turns at the end of the book because I really didn’t know how it would work out, and I like that the ending is open-ended for another duology/trilogy in the Grishaverse in the future. This book was definitely a culmination of the books that are already out and you see glimpses of characters (good and bad) from the other books in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Murder, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, Body shaming, Torture, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, and Pedophilia

gohan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Rule of Wolves is another fast paced, well written addition to the Grishaverse. At 588 pages, it is a longer book but it’ll keep you reading until the last page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and War

caelfind's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, War, Gore, Grief, and Blood

madisonstarkov's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Drug abuse, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Violence, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Blood, Death, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

justinekorson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Is... is there going to be another book after this. The ending made me think so but It's been a few year since this novel was published.

Either way, I was very surprised by the contents. The way Zoya became Queen was not in the way I suspected. I was also under the impression I think from a tiktok that Zoya had given up her grisha powers to be with Nikolai. I WAS GLAD TO SEE THAT WASN'T THE CASE AND SHE'S NOT JUST MERELY HUMAN. I was so pissed when I found that out but I'm glad it's not what actually happened in the story. 

It was also SO FUN to see the Crows in this novel that I nearly cried every time one of them was on page. I really do think the Six of Crows Duology is Leigh's best work. 

I still HATE how the Darkling was brought back for these novels and how Zoya, at the end, wanted to find a way to release him from his prison like... come on girl, forgive and forget NOT FORGIVE AND RELEASE HIM. After everything that mans has done, he didn't deserve even the tiniest bit of redemption he received from willingly going into the thornwood. He literally said he regretted none of his actions... I agree that Yuri the priest does need a bit of saving but... the Darkling does not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Miscarriage, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Classism, Body shaming, Blood, Racism, Sexism, Trafficking, and Body horror

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

bergha1998's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.0

What an excellent book, and hopefully (probably) not the end of the Grishaverse. Just getting more of everyone was such a great. I didn’t expect the Crows, so I was practically giddy. Zoya, Nikolai, and Nina are just such terrific characters. 

Found Family, Romance Subplots, LGBTQIA+

“Maybe the gift of being human is that we do not give up—even when all hope is lost.”

“She wanted to believe there was more to life than fear and being feared.”

“If you would try, if you would be willing to fail, you would learn. It’s good to do things you’re not good at.”

“Because I am greedy for the sight of you. Because the prospect of facing this war, this loss, without you fills me with fear. Because I find I don’t want to fight for a future if I can’t find a way to make a future with you.”

“But love wasn’t a spell, some kind of benediction to be whispered, a balm or a cure-all. It was a single, fragile thread, which grew stronger through connection, through shared hardship and honored trust.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Addiction, Blood, Mental illness, War, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Bullying, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

themiscyra_anna's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, War, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Medical trauma, Gore, Dysphoria, Rape, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage and Religious bigotry

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, War, Misogyny, Torture, Addiction, Blood, Death, Racism, Drug use, Xenophobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Slavery

Moderate: Rape and Miscarriage

Minor: Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.75

My heart is so full after finishing this book. It honestly broke me at times but it has also brought me so much joy. What an excellent way to end a series - with a finale, but with scope for so much more.

The characters I fell in love with from the start of their respective series' all returned in some way, shape or form and their stories overlapped so perfectly I am in awe. I laughed, I cried, my heart was broken and was filled with joy and love. 

This is a 5-star story for me, however, I found my version of the book was riddled with pre-print typos (specifically words that had accidental spaces in the middle of them, and one or two words missing letters) and that took me out of the story a bit which is disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Alcohol, Rape, and Suicide

sissiemilia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

3.75

What a glorious book. Full transparency: I hated king of scars in many ways. Rule of Wolves? What a redemption. The more the story progressed, the better everything became. My worries after reading kos were solved.

Also, HANNE???? My god I adore him. If we get a third crow book (which we better do, have you read the ending?) I demand to see more of him.

On that note though, Nina feels off in her ending. She shouldn’t become queen of Fjerda. No. She should have embraced her new power, instead of abandoning it in a way. She and Hanne could have had an ending together without them having to live a lie.

That is my only big issue with Nina’s ending. I feel like she changed in a way that wasn’t natural to her character.

Once again, Bardugo also made me sob. I just feel like she got the hang of it again, after kos. She gripped my feelings and soul the way kos failed to, but the other books in the series also do. I’m so happy she bounced back.

Rule of Wolves isn’t Bardugos best in my opinion, but it absolutely is up par with the rest of the Grishaverse (besides kos, which was saddly dissapointing). The only technical problem I have with this book is that

we weren’t shown them finding David’s body. I feel like that would have been a really important part to show but I’m willing to look past it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Sexual harassment