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david_slack110507's review against another edition
- 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
However, I didn't absolutely hate this book and I actually quite enjoyed it as the positives definitely outweigh the negatives, especially in terms of the characters. This book follows Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina, the first two from the original Shadow and Bone series and Nina being from the Six of Crows duology meaning that those two series within the overall Grishaverse all collide and I love all 3 of them and each of them get to flourish in many different ways in this book. Nikolai was one of my favourite characters from the original Shadow and Bone books and here we get to see him 3 years removed from the ending of Ruin and Rising as well as dealing with the monster inside of him which is a remnant of the Darkling's power that he got in the aforementioned book. He's still effortlessly charming and he continues to have such character and screen presence that he is easily identifiable and his interactions/relationship with Zoya was enjoyable to read which speaking of: Zoya. I think Zoya is the character that gets the most growth in this book because we finally get to see more of her as well as also getting to see her perspective of the events of the Shadow and Bone trilogy and how that links to her past which was really interesting yet sad to learn about. I did quite like Zoya near the end of the original trilogy but this book managed to make her a standout character as well as properly establish her as one of the many victims of The Darkling whilst also allowing her to not be squeaky clean either as she admits her faults and the role she played in his evil.
Then, there is also Nina who I'm splitting up from the other two because she is the exact same in the actual book, split up from Nikolai and Zoya as well as most of the supporting cast in Ravka as Nina is in Fjerda following the events of Crooked Kingdom as I found her perspective to be the most mixed for me. On one hand, I loved getting more Nina content and I love how she continues her story from Crooked Kingdom in dealing with Matthias' death as well as her bout with Parem and how that makes her so resolute on helping the young women and girls kept in Fjerda that are secretly Grisha and being dosed on Parem. I loved these elements of her story and I found them to be really interesting, especially with the implicit commentary on the treatment of women and victims but I also found the middle part of her story to be quite uninteresting with Hanne as she just didn't really seem to jump out at me, especially when she's sharing the page with Nina, and so I feel like Nina's plot is the most obvious example of this feeling more like a set up than anything else.
There is also a new character that we follow for half of the book called Isaak who is called in to replace and pretend to be Nikolai after Nikolai and Zoya's disappearance and I found him to be a fine character but I did feel like he was more there for plot reasons than anything else and so I didn't find his story to be all that interesting though I feel like, with Nina's, the ending of his is going to hopefully be something much more interesting if it is carried into the second book and this was merely the setup. I also wasn't the biggest fan of where the plot turns in this book as while I'm not too upset with the 'resurrection' of The Darkling as he's not really resurrected but brought back to life in an interesting way, I'm not the biggest fan of how the book treats the rules of Grisha power as there are some choices made that did have me feeling like the previously established rules were being bent because they needed to be for the plot moreso than anything else.
I feel like my review is mostly negative but I did have a really fun time when reading the book and I really enjoyed it when I was reading it despite the slump I had that made my sit downs for it dispersed for far longer than I would have wanted them to be. I really do hope that not only will this be the last book to be affected by whatever reading slump it is that I'm in right know but that I also appreciate it more once I see what it is building towards when I read Rule of Wolves.
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Torture, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Medical content, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Genocide, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Sexism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Infertility
Minor: Classism, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
readwithsophsx's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Torture, Grief, Drug abuse, Blood, Deportation, Kidnapping, Confinement, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Death, Murder, War, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Addiction
onefineelephant's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gaslighting, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Child death, Rape, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War
prettynerdy3's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Child death
Moderate: Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Slavery, and War
math_scooter's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Grief, Animal death, War, Kidnapping, Blood, Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Miscarriage, Alcohol, Genocide, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicide
jackiepreston's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Drug use, Grief, and Death
spaghettii's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, War, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Child death, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexism, Death, Drug use, and Torture
aklovekorn's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Hate crime, Death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Violence
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Okay I know that everyone loves the <i>Six of Crows</i> duology best in the Grishaverse but...I think I might actually prefer <i>King of Scars</i> and <i>Rule of Wolves</i> (review to come)! This book started out a little slow but picked right up and then I could NOT put it down. The tension between Nikolai and Zoya is immaculate, and literally any scene with Nikolai bantering with one of his friends makes my heart explode. Even more than that (if that’s possible), I loved Nina’s storyline as she deals with her grief and throws herself headlong into every dangerous situation she can find.
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
luluslittlelibrary's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
I LOVE Nina's storyline. For me, I was a lot more interested in what was going on with her in Fjerda than I was with the others in Ravka. I'm not going to give any spoilers but I would recommend this to anyone interested in reading more about Nina and what she's doing as a Ravkan spy in Fjerda.
And then there's the sequel. I definitely liked Rule of Wolves more than King of Scars so I would recommend reading it even if you didn't love King of Scars (I think it is much better). Once again I love everything that happens with Nina (and Hanne!). And I think the connection between Zoya and Juris is very interesting. I'm not big on the storyline surrounding the darkling, I think it was interesting but maybe didn't belong in this book (?). Also, the ending is SO GOOD.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Murder, Gore, Child death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Racism, Slavery, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pedophilia