Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

10 reviews

madisonstarkov's review against another edition

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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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themiscyra_anna's review against another edition

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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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kiwij96's review against another edition

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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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marine2907's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

3.0


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jessiereads98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0

Leigh Bardugo’s best work. The world she’s built through the past 2 duologies comes together beautifully here. Seeing past characters again was a delight. The pacing here is also consistent rather than shoving a bunch of action into the final 100 pages. My heart was repeatedly broken and put back together. 

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micaelamariem's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

At 600 pages, it could definitely been cut in half—for example, I really don’t think Mayu’s point of view was necessary or added much to the plot line. I did love Nikolai and Zoya, and while I didn’t live for Nina’s pov, in the end I was glad for it. I also loved seeing the crows again, in various ways, though the fact we barely saw Inej gave the distinct feeling of a show having a reunion that one actor was too busy to join. Alina showing up and literally doing nothing also gave that reunion vibe. So it was a little boring but I didn’t hate it. However, the ending gives me hope we will see the crows back in full action again and I am all here for it. 

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theirgracegrace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0


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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

Enemies are closing in on Ravka, and Nikolai is still not free of his demon. Zoya possesses a strange new power that she is still learning to understand. Nina is hiding in plain sight at the heart of Fjerda: the Ice Court. Ravka’s enemies are on the move. Will the too-quick fox be able to outsmart them one more time and keep his crown? Will Zoya open up enough to let in those who care for her—and use her new abilities? Will Nina forgive the wrongs done her and save those she loves?

The shining star of this book was the relationships.
I love Zoya and Nikolai—like, <i>really</i> love them; the blue ribbon made me go insane)— but Nina and Hanne might actually be my favorite fictional wlw. I love a slow burn, and the development of their relationship was excruciatingly slow through <i>King of Scars</i> and first part of <i>Rule of Wolves</i>. I was devastated when I thought that Hanne had died, and so relieved (but still worried for them) when I realized what she’d done. I’m going to need Bardugo to write another installment ASAP about the two of them ruling Fjerda.


To be honest, I wish Bardugo had come up with a new antagonist instead of bringing the Darkling back (I liked how his death in <i>Ruin and Rising</i> was very similar to Lord Voldemort’s in <i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</i>: it was almost anticlimactic in that it felt like a very final, mortal end for a character that had been essentially immortal), but since we got him, I thought Bardugo did a good job with the ending.
The only thing that made up for bringing him back was how Bardugo wrote his second end. I am a sucker for sacrifice, and the Darkling’s unceasing desire for Ravka to love him—even at the cost of eternal suffering—was well done. I agree with Zoya and Genya that his sacrifice does not absolve him of his many crimes, but I also agree that he should not have to remain there forever. I hope someday Bardugo will write more on that.


Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):
Happy, for the most part...but if Bardugo doesn’t write more in the Grishaverse, I will be very disappointed.

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

If my ratings were purely based off how a book makes me feel, this would be getting a one star. However they are not, so I had to cede it one more star because there were some good, even great, parts. But mostly it just pissed me off. 

I can credit Bardugo with creating a complex and layered plot. However, the only POV I truly enjoyed was Nina's, as her ambitions and methods were fascinating, and I like the romance with Hanne. Even there, however, I felt like she didn't get a strong enough character arc. I also enjoyed Mayu's POV as it was fresh and full of intrigue, but we barely got any of it. Finally, I adored where Zoya ended up. Her character development has been phenomenal across the Grishaverse. This series belongs to her.

And that's where my compliments end. The thing about this book is that it just feels like fan service. That may not even be the case, but it comes off that way. This is so disappointing, as I feel like for the most part King of Scars was setting up for Rule of Wolves to be an incredible and worthy addition to the Grishaverse - it was not. This is mostly going to be spoilers. 

The first warning bell was the return of the Darkling. This completely undermines the impact of the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Alina and Mal's sacrifice. And then his presence wasn't even USED properly?? He wasn't in character, did nothing important throughout the WHOLE of the book and decided to sacrifice himself as penance, while declaring he was repenting nothing? Make it make sense. I know Bardugo said that the Darkling did not deserve redemption, but she kind of gave it to him anyway?? And then Zoya has her idea to replace the Darking with the heart of Sankt Feliks anyway, so what was the point of this whole storyline?? You can't say to make Nikolai's demon make sense, as it stayed when the blight vanished. And you can't say the blight created a source of tension, as it really didn't - it was barely referenced throughout the whole of the book. You literally could have had the obisbaya performed at the end of King of Scars, it being successful, and one problem from Nikolai's life being removed, without reducing the impact of Rule of Wolves. Plus it required the involvement of Mal and Alina, whom I did not think had realistic reactions to the Darkling returning. It also meant their neatly tied up ending at the end of Ruin and Rising was frazzled. Their appearance felt like fan service, and was the second warning bell for me. Overall for this part, it would have been more interesting had Yuri (whom we don't see a proper end for, either), leading the Starless Saint's cult, having become a force to be reckoned with, perhaps involved with the Apparat in some way. 

The second main part which felt like fan service was the involvement of the Crows. While this was much more logical to me, given Nikolai's need to steal something, the whole episode was so brief that the Crows felt like shadows of themselves. We literally barely see Jesper and Wylan, despite their involvement in the heist Nikolai is a part of. It kind of felt like it could have happened behind the scenes without Nikolai's involvement, so that they were still referenced in the story without being rushed.

The third part was David's death. I could see no conceivable reason why this occurred. It literally doesn't make sense and felt like Bardugo did it for shock factor, not for the sake of dismantling plot armour. If the latter was the case, it would have been more logical for someone like Tolya, Tamar, Nadia, Adrik or Leoni to die, who are exposed to much more dangerous things than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Furthermore, doesn't it contradict the ending of Ruin and Rising, which describes how the Triumvirate visit Mal and Alina for years to come? It's only been three years?? Make it make SENSE.


Aside from these concerns, there were other aspects I didn't like. For example, my disconnect from Zoya and Nikolai's POVs. I was somewhat expecting this from Nikolai's, as I had felt it during King of Scars, but was upset it happened with Zoya, too, considering I adored her POVs from the previous book. I think it's because Nikolai and Zoya conceal their plans from the reader a LOT during this book, which is good for the element of surprise, but as it was overused it ended up with me not being able to tell what they were thinking or feeling, hence the disconnect. I also wished that Zoya's POVs explored her newfound power more and learning about how to be open from a much earlier point. With Nikolai, I was frustrated that we were told how much he wanted to heal Ravka, but not why. Finally, I struggled with getting on board with Nikolai and Zoya's romance. Logically it makes a lot of sense, but I didn't feel the emotion behind it. I could tell they cared deeply about one another, but for the most part it was hard to believe this was in a romantic way. 

The final thing that made me frustrated and angry was the disability rep in this book.
Prince Rasmus is chronically ill, and this makes him sour, evil and violent which he indulges as he gains strength. As a chronically ill person, it was simultaneously upsetting and infuriating that this was the path Bardugo chose for her only chronically ill character, and as such I couldn't fully get behind on the ending, dependent as it was on Prince Rasmus being evil and then being killed. This is especially so seeing as it seemed Bardugo handled disability rep well in her other books, such as in the character of Kaz.


I am honestly so disappointed that what is allegedly the finale of the Grishaverse disappointed me so greatly. I wish I had had a different experience but such is life.


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lainiereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Guys,,, this is the best grishaverse book!!! I gotta say it. It's SO GOOD. All of the characters are so great and have such amazing depth, and the plot kept taking crazy turns that I never expected. I had a lot of expectations for this book, because while I loved King of Scars, it felt a bit like it was just setting up for whatever was going to happen next. Rule of Wolves made up for all of that. While in KoS, Nina's chapters felt a bit slow at times, in this book they were just as exciting as the rest of the POVs. So much was happening in every part of the story, and I felt like I was being kept on my toes constantly. 
Also, the ROMANCE???? Nikolai and Zoya were so CUTE!! They were just perfect and I loved getting to see their relationship develop. There were other romances that I don't wanna spoil, and they were also very cute!!
I was very satisfied with the conclusion of this duology, and while I do love the grishaverse, I hope that this will be the final book in the universe. It all just wrapped up so well and it would put all of that at risk if there were more books added. 
I could probably go on and on about all of the great things in this book, but I don't want to risk any spoilers, so I will just say this: Nikolai and Zoya are both perfect. The end.

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