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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
i have no words left
//second read//
I missed these world, a lot
It wasn't the first time that I read this story, but somehow I felt it more now, I simply loved it
and the reality of how grisha live hurts soo much
//second read//
I missed these world, a lot
It wasn't the first time that I read this story, but somehow I felt it more now, I simply loved it
and the reality of how grisha live hurts soo much
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Every man, woman, and child. Then we burned their houses to the ground.”
He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
She gave him the barest shake, forcing him to look at her. “I’m not. Do you understand me? I would burn a thousand villages, sacrifice a thousand lives to keep you safe. It would be us on that pyre if you hadn’t thought quickly.”
He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
She gave him the barest shake, forcing him to look at her. “I’m not. Do you understand me? I would burn a thousand villages, sacrifice a thousand lives to keep you safe. It would be us on that pyre if you hadn’t thought quickly.”
Woah, I really liked this. I got to understand the Darkling's motivations so much better; I mean, wow, his friend just wanted to kill him and use him to become more powerful? It's no surprise he became the villain everyone thought he was.
This short story is really interesting, and because it was so short, I think that was the main thing that made me give it three stars instead of two because I do like some aspects of Leigh's worldbuilding, I think the way the magic works in her books is cool, but it all just drags too much for me, I can't get immersed in it and get bored too quickly, so this short was a good mix of not log enough for me to get bored, but long enough to show a lot of pieces of the Darkling's backstory, thought process and a little plot twist thrown in for good measure.
Spoiler
I would never have guessed the Darkling was an amplifier (I could have missed something in Baghra's lore explanation that hinted towards that or explicitly said it, to be faur, because I didn't entirely understand the amplifier thing and for some reason thought that Mal and Baghra's otkazat-sya sister were the only human amplifiers.) I love the ending of him thinking about how he wants to create a safe space, a haven for Grisha, that really explained his motivation throughout the series so much more to me than just being told it by say Baghra or Aleksander himself talking about it (Like the showing instead of telling really did bring that home for me, even though technically this time it wasn't Grisha being attacked by otkazat-sya, it was Aleksander killing them in defense. This little snapshot of his life did so much more to persuade me to look at things from his point of view than any of his villainous monologues ever did). Oh, I also finally understood that Fjerda is Scandinavia, right? Like Jesus, she called him Eryk because it was a typical Fjerdan name.. Pfsjsjshsj I knew there were Asian stereotypes and obviously Russian ones but like not ERYK.. She could have found a more obscure Scandinavian name maybe, idk.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.75 stars only because I wish it was longer and we could’ve gotten more detail (come on girl pls I’m desperate here)
I teared up reading it, I love when we get lore on characters, especially him since he’s one of my faves. Shows how lonely the Darkling truly is and why he needed Alina so much 😭
“There will be, he promised in the darkness, new words written upon his heart. I will make one.” UGH
I teared up reading it, I love when we get lore on characters, especially him since he’s one of my faves. Shows how lonely the Darkling truly is and why he needed Alina so much 😭
“There will be, he promised in the darkness, new words written upon his heart. I will make one.” UGH