Scan barcode
A review by rubeusbeaky
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
2.0
There are two quotes in this book which thoroughly summarize it: "To live is to grieve." and "No one wants to look too closely at another person's pain." This is The Book of Grief. It was emo, and painful, and sickening, and at times boring... Grief is such a personal journey, it's hard to completely empathize with someone, even a fictional someone. And being a reader, you sometimes can't get carried along by the story, but instead occupy the seat of the Literary Critic, judging whether a character's behavior is "authentic". Judging grief is not the seat I wanted to be in. This book was uncomfortable to read, not just for the subject matter but because I feel the characters were treated inauthentically for the sake of metaphor. Spoilers ahead.
My opinions on this book came in chunks. The first 250 pages were sad and boring, as all the major viewpoint characters were directionless, defeated, out of options and out of plot.
Then the twist midway happened, and the book handled its world-altering reveal... like an 80's montage. Immense character growth happened off-page, in a very short amount of time, and without enough explanation as to the How's and Why's of the magical system being related. I had so many questions about The Darkling, The Saints, The Grisha: What they are, what their magic is, how it works... 6 books in to a series, I should hope I would already know some of that. It's hard to stay lost in the narrative, when I don't understand the world.
There were some genuine heart-pounding developments after the midway. But there were an equal number of groan-inducing moments. Each viewpoint character was done dirty. Nikolai was robbed of everything which made him fun and intriguing in Siege and Storm, and has been reduced to longing glances at Zoya (a ship I don't support, I know I'm bias) or sulking about his dark passenger. Nina is back to square one, trying to escort and cajole a racist Fjerdan. And Zoya is, maybe, the worst of the bunch: She becomes a dumping ground of traits from other characters. Hot-tempered and vain? That's Nina. Child sex-trafficking backstory? That's Inej. Ruthless but longing for human connection, using anger as a defense mechanism? That's Kaz. Feels a sympathy for animals, more so than people? That's Matthias. Practical, with more faith in her friends than in any religious idol? That's Mal AND Kaz! A girl from nowhere with a destiny ahead who fell for The Darkling's charm and Nikolai's ease? That's Alina! Who is Zoya? Who is she??? There is nothing original about her. A whole third of this book devoted to making her more sympathetic, a love interest, a shadow queen, and I still don't know who SHE is beyond "Sexy" and "Mean". I think Nikolai deserves more than Sexy & Mean. I think we, the readers, deserve a character who is less derivative, original in their characterization, and who didn't take until Book 6 to seem even moderately sympathetic (I know, I know, I'm a hypocrite, I'm Snape's #1 Fan!). I also think this series is now guilty of "pairing the spares". Why does EVERYONE get a love match?! Can't anyone in this universe be platonic friends? Or ace? Or just TOO DARN BUSY to worry about romance, right now?! I know it's YA, I know romance comes with the territory. It just feels so unearned this time. These two characters who had barely any interaction together on the page (though it is implied they have worked side by side for three years /off/ the page), suddenly the reader is meant to A) Give up on ever seeing peppy, curious, inventive, Nikolai again, B) Flip a switch with our feelings on Zoya, from Mean Girl to Little Wubby, and C) Desire to see them wrapped up in a forbidden romance while the world burns? It's too much.
Speaking of derivative... A few times this book quoted Disney movies, and I was taken immediately out of the book... And that ending... Can we say "Goblet of Fire"? Or Nikolai's demon basically turning him into a vampire, which reminded me of EVERY YA vampire romance... Just... Why? I'm so disappointed. I feel like Leigh Bardugo was watching TV inbetween writing chapters, and whatever she watched bled into her writing. Six of Crows was so full and unique and refreshing... This book was none of those things. This book felt tired of itself, borrowing phrases and plot points from other fantasies to fill itself up...
Which is kind of my last point on King of Scars: Six of Crows gave us normal people in an extraordinary world, who laughed and cussed and questioned the idea of grand destinies and miracles. For that, the characters and the conflicts had my complete sympathy and attention. There was a real world story being told in a fairytale setting: How do we navigate an unfair world... But King of Scars rolled back all the progress made in Six of Crows, giving us characters with destinies and uncharted powers and never-ending lives... diminishing the sacrifices of the normal, every day, "invisible" people... The second half of this book was the equivalent of the Marvel final boss battle: Somebody versus their evil twin, laserbeams in the sky; I don't understand what I'm watching, the stakes are forced, and I don't care.
I don't care. Sounds like a hammer on coffin nails :'(. I don't care about what happened in this book. Poor Puppy Prince :'(. I wish your title book had been better to you...
My opinions on this book came in chunks. The first 250 pages were sad and boring, as all the major viewpoint characters were directionless, defeated, out of options and out of plot.
Then the twist midway happened, and the book handled its world-altering reveal... like an 80's montage. Immense character growth happened off-page, in a very short amount of time, and without enough explanation as to the How's and Why's of the magical system being related. I had so many questions about The Darkling, The Saints, The Grisha: What they are, what their magic is, how it works... 6 books in to a series, I should hope I would already know some of that. It's hard to stay lost in the narrative, when I don't understand the world.
There were some genuine heart-pounding developments after the midway. But there were an equal number of groan-inducing moments. Each viewpoint character was done dirty. Nikolai was robbed of everything which made him fun and intriguing in Siege and Storm, and has been reduced to longing glances at Zoya (a ship I don't support, I know I'm bias) or sulking about his dark passenger. Nina is back to square one, trying to escort and cajole a racist Fjerdan. And Zoya is, maybe, the worst of the bunch: She becomes a dumping ground of traits from other characters. Hot-tempered and vain? That's Nina. Child sex-trafficking backstory? That's Inej. Ruthless but longing for human connection, using anger as a defense mechanism? That's Kaz. Feels a sympathy for animals, more so than people? That's Matthias. Practical, with more faith in her friends than in any religious idol? That's Mal AND Kaz! A girl from nowhere with a destiny ahead who fell for The Darkling's charm and Nikolai's ease? That's Alina! Who is Zoya? Who is she??? There is nothing original about her. A whole third of this book devoted to making her more sympathetic, a love interest, a shadow queen, and I still don't know who SHE is beyond "Sexy" and "Mean". I think Nikolai deserves more than Sexy & Mean. I think we, the readers, deserve a character who is less derivative, original in their characterization, and who didn't take until Book 6 to seem even moderately sympathetic (I know, I know, I'm a hypocrite, I'm Snape's #1 Fan!). I also think this series is now guilty of "pairing the spares". Why does EVERYONE get a love match?! Can't anyone in this universe be platonic friends? Or ace? Or just TOO DARN BUSY to worry about romance, right now?! I know it's YA, I know romance comes with the territory. It just feels so unearned this time. These two characters who had barely any interaction together on the page (though it is implied they have worked side by side for three years /off/ the page), suddenly the reader is meant to A) Give up on ever seeing peppy, curious, inventive, Nikolai again, B) Flip a switch with our feelings on Zoya, from Mean Girl to Little Wubby, and C) Desire to see them wrapped up in a forbidden romance while the world burns? It's too much.
Speaking of derivative... A few times this book quoted Disney movies, and I was taken immediately out of the book... And that ending... Can we say "Goblet of Fire"? Or Nikolai's demon basically turning him into a vampire, which reminded me of EVERY YA vampire romance... Just... Why? I'm so disappointed. I feel like Leigh Bardugo was watching TV inbetween writing chapters, and whatever she watched bled into her writing. Six of Crows was so full and unique and refreshing... This book was none of those things. This book felt tired of itself, borrowing phrases and plot points from other fantasies to fill itself up...
Which is kind of my last point on King of Scars: Six of Crows gave us normal people in an extraordinary world, who laughed and cussed and questioned the idea of grand destinies and miracles. For that, the characters and the conflicts had my complete sympathy and attention. There was a real world story being told in a fairytale setting: How do we navigate an unfair world... But King of Scars rolled back all the progress made in Six of Crows, giving us characters with destinies and uncharted powers and never-ending lives... diminishing the sacrifices of the normal, every day, "invisible" people... The second half of this book was the equivalent of the Marvel final boss battle: Somebody versus their evil twin, laserbeams in the sky; I don't understand what I'm watching, the stakes are forced, and I don't care.
I don't care. Sounds like a hammer on coffin nails :'(. I don't care about what happened in this book. Poor Puppy Prince :'(. I wish your title book had been better to you...