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A review by jtuulu
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
3.0
3/5 Aw man! Ruin and Rising was a bit of a let down, and I mostly blame Siege and Storm for these feelings, but also the ending of the trilogy was very lackluster and rushed and the plot was very haphazard throughout books 2 and 3.
I'm starting with the bad because I'm a hater this week: I felt more chemistry between Alina and Nikolai (and Alina and the Darkling, and honestly, even between Alina and Genya) than Alina and Mal. Their love feels like an obligated duty rather than actual love, and that is supposed to be one of the common threads throughout the series so why is it so bland and cringey? The plot was very inconsistent in speed and direction, it felt like Leigh Bardugo didn't know where she wanted it to go and was figuring it out as she went along. Because of that, none of the themes were strong or impactful, they were all just lukewarm (i.e., good vs. evil or darkness vs. light, sacrifice, identity, friendships, power, free will).
The good: Despite all this, I did enjoy myself while reading this up until the plot twist. I did like the ragtag group venturing into the woods to hunt for the firebird, it gives some found family vibes which I'm always here for. I enjoyed how the side characters lent so much flavor to the dialogue! There's some good banter and heartwarming moments (mostly between the side characters). But isn't that a bummer when the best characters are the side characters and the main characters are simply tolerable? *le sigh* I gave it 3 stars overall, but I might lower it as I stew in my feelings.
I'm starting with the bad because I'm a hater this week: I felt more chemistry between Alina and Nikolai (and Alina and the Darkling, and honestly, even between Alina and Genya) than Alina and Mal. Their love feels like an obligated duty rather than actual love, and that is supposed to be one of the common threads throughout the series so why is it so bland and cringey? The plot was very inconsistent in speed and direction, it felt like Leigh Bardugo didn't know where she wanted it to go and was figuring it out as she went along. Because of that, none of the themes were strong or impactful, they were all just lukewarm (i.e., good vs. evil or darkness vs. light, sacrifice, identity, friendships, power, free will).
The good: Despite all this, I did enjoy myself while reading this up until the plot twist