Reviews

Il re delle cicatrici by Leigh Bardugo

hellobookbird's review against another edition

3.0

We pretend the pain isn’t there, that we are made of scars instead of wounds.

I feel like I'm being generous in my rating. [b:King of Scars|36307634|King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525110825l/36307634._SY75_.jpg|57978319] wasn't bad. Bardugo is a master of witty dialogue, snarky conversations, and deep characters but this one just couldn't keep my interest. I have never worked so hard to keep reading a book that I didn't hate.

I think my main problem is that there was a real lack of focus. To quote another reviewer: "Nikolai's efforts to rid himself of his monster seemed to get lost somewhere, and Nina's mission to find grisha felt open-ended and directionless." I didn't know why I was reading because I didn't know where it was going and why.

"The public may forget how handsome I am."
"I doubt it. Your face is on the money."

The last quarter really saved the novel. It was packed with epic growth, intrigue, and a romantic direction I'm highly interested in following.

"Don’t argue, David. Makes me want to blow something up to assert my authority."

I'll have to wait for the next installment for a recommendation on this one.

randobrando112's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

cupiscent's review against another edition

I gave it longer than I ordinarily would, because a couple of reading friends had recommended it, but it just wasn't working for me. I haven't read all the preceding material - only the first book in each cycle - and for me, this didn't stand alone. It's constantly filling in what's happened since the end of one or the other part (which plays havoc with the pacing, especially because it's framed as a catch-up, rather than essential backstory-to-the-present information) and it's leaning far too hard on the reader's willingness to spend time with these characters while the author slowly unfurls tantalising hints that there will one day be a driving plot. (This is especially egregious in the Nikolai / Zoya storyline; the Nina storyline doesn't seem to be related at all, which is another annoyance.) Nikolai and Zoya seem like fantastic characters, but the ratio of banter to them actually struggling with things is way out of whack for me. And I like banter. But I like characters struggling a lot more.

lialrntz's review against another edition

5.0

YES.

ishapatra's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

strawbearriesz's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-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

general_riegan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Zoya carried this book— I wanted to like this it so badly, especially because it focused on Nikolai and it had one of the crows in it (Nina). However, this book felt long and drawn out.

Bardugo still did an amazing job with the book, but the characters felt lackluster after the Six of Crows duology and it left me mildly disappointed with the direction some of them went. 

hapcica's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

gracevanvlack's review against another edition

slow-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

2.0

sarahliz061's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75