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reading_mermaid's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
I have so many feelings and problems with this book, I don't know where to begin.
Its definitely ridiculous and entertaining and slightly too long. Nearly every living character from the previous 2 series made an appearance, but ultimately felt shallow and bleh (sorry, I couldn't think of a better adjective), as the storyline felt spread too thin. The Shu Han and Fjerda storylines were my favorite. And I did love thatNikolai and Zoya end up together, although it still doesn't make any sense to me making her queen. It also bugged me that the rules around tailoring seemed incredibly inconsistent.
I have a huge problem with the military propoganda/moral gymnastics ofbuilding weapons of destruction, going so far as sacrificing David, who was the only one to speak out against it, that dominates much of Nikolai's story. I also disliked the re-emergence of the Darkling and allowing him to be named as a Saint because he was afraid of being forgotten, in exchange for his "sacrifice", which really wouldn't have been necessary if he never created the Fold. The only reason he came back from the dead seemed to be more about being able to write more books in the future than adding anything material to the current story. His chapters contained mostly nothing and the fact that he got to use his victims to regain his powers and manipulate them into solidifying his legacy as a saint......I feel like Bardugo wants us to pity him, maybe even root for him a little, but at the very least, treat him with banal humor.
At some point this evolved into a hate read for me and I skimmed a lot of the text to get to parts that actually moved the plot. If these were just fluff fantasy novels, I would laugh at the preposterousness of it all and leave it at that. But Bardugo introduces a lot of horrific, charged plots points into her stories and I don't think she has the range or the experience to take them on in a meaningful way.
Its definitely ridiculous and entertaining and slightly too long. Nearly every living character from the previous 2 series made an appearance, but ultimately felt shallow and bleh (sorry, I couldn't think of a better adjective), as the storyline felt spread too thin. The Shu Han and Fjerda storylines were my favorite. And I did love that
I have a huge problem with the military propoganda/moral gymnastics of
At some point this evolved into a hate read for me and I skimmed a lot of the text to get to parts that actually moved the plot. If these were just fluff fantasy novels, I would laugh at the preposterousness of it all and leave it at that. But Bardugo introduces a lot of horrific, charged plots points into her stories and I don't think she has the range or the experience to take them on in a meaningful way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Addiction
hannahwhiteyy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Torture
This book was such a slow burn! I was hoping forcatmac15's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
One of my fav grishaverse books! so many things happened in these book and emotions were all over the place. Love the couples featured in this book and the backstories (especially zoya). The book kind of leaves off with the potential of it being continued (idk if it actually will though)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Addiction and Misogyny
Minor: Fatphobia
ali_debookness's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction
katvou's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, and War
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Deadnaming, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent
aklovekorn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and War
threebluesocks's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
By this point in the series, you know what you're getting into. I was incredibly pleased with this book both in the way it followed up on previous plot points and the way it introduced some new ideas about the world and characters. I absolutely love Hanne's story, and I'm looking forward to seeing further development (alongside Nina!) in future books. The larger rule of the Shu Han is also very exciting and really works for the way the overarching story is developing with a more global perspective. It was also great to see our remaining Crows make an appearance! I'm absolutely in love with the way their intimidating reputation (which is absolutely earned!) contrasts with how every single major heist we've ever seen them pull has these giant moments where things go wrong. These kids are chronically unable to successfully execute a plan and yet things more or less work out every time and it kills me <3
Other positive aspects of this book in no particular order: dragons!!!, Nikolai being both very noble and incredibly baby, nice twin/sibling/family motif, the Fjerdan miracle thing is so funny to me, David is top tier cute in this one, the Darkling continues to make me seethe with rage and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, aaaaand putting Hanne here once more because I am in love :)
The only major issue I had with this book (and King of Scars since I'm probably not going to put a separate review on it) was the mechanics of jurda parem. Maybe it's because this book has a different strain than what we saw in SoC/CK and it just wasn't well explained, but I feel like it works completely differently in this duology than what we saw with Nina in SoC. Obviously it's not ideal to be dosed with it as a Grisha since withdrawal is likely to kill you and you'll do pretty much anything for another dose, but it shouldn't introduce any immediate suggestibility in a person until the high begins to wear off, right?
Anyway, smaller list of bits I wasn't thrilled with: lots of characters from the Shadow and Bone trilogy that I really needed more information about up-front since I haven't read that trilogy in about 3 years, I don't think having whole chapters from the Darkling's perspective was great for his perceived threat level (when I can see inside his head he's just... a guy), I continue to wish Novyi Zem had any sort of major appearance in these books considering how massive it is especially since Shu Han finally got some attention, and I would really like to see Zoya figure out other Grisha powers a bit more (and maybe share this knowledge??? Girl, there are other people who could benefit from expanding their horizons, please share).
Other positive aspects of this book in no particular order: dragons!!!, Nikolai being both very noble and incredibly baby, nice twin/sibling/family motif, the Fjerdan miracle thing is so funny to me, David is top tier cute in this one, the Darkling continues to make me seethe with rage and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, aaaaand putting Hanne here once more because I am in love :)
The only major issue I had with this book (and King of Scars since I'm probably not going to put a separate review on it) was the mechanics of jurda parem. Maybe it's because this book has a different strain than what we saw in SoC/CK and it just wasn't well explained, but I feel like it works completely differently in this duology than what we saw with Nina in SoC. Obviously it's not ideal to be dosed with it as a Grisha since withdrawal is likely to kill you and you'll do pretty much anything for another dose, but it shouldn't introduce any immediate suggestibility in a person until the high begins to wear off, right?
Anyway, smaller list of bits I wasn't thrilled with: lots of characters from the Shadow and Bone trilogy that I really needed more information about up-front since I haven't read that trilogy in about 3 years, I don't think having whole chapters from the Darkling's perspective was great for his perceived threat level (when I can see inside his head he's just... a guy), I continue to wish Novyi Zem had any sort of major appearance in these books considering how massive it is especially since Shu Han finally got some attention, and I would really like to see Zoya figure out other Grisha powers a bit more (and maybe share this knowledge??? Girl, there are other people who could benefit from expanding their horizons, please share).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and War
Moderate: Death and Suicide
Minor: Dysphoria
the_paperbackprincess's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide, and War
Minor: Rape
Medical Experimentationnora_knight's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Overall, I thought it was a good ending to the series but it was just so sad how many things had to go wrong and how many characters had to die for Ravka to emerge victorious. I also really disliked the Darkling's redemption ark. Just why? And I thought Nina's ending could have been better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Child abuse, Racism, and Rape
meg_elyse's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Grief, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Rape, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation