A review by gabrielle_erin
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, Leigh Bardugo

4.0

FINALLY. THE STORY I'VE WAITED 5 BOOKS FOR!!! This book was honestly everything I wanted from the Shadow and Bone series and I'm so glad Leigh Bardugo finally delivered. Nikolai is my favourite character in the Grishaverse - I love how complex he is, and the development of his character in this book really solidifed that for me, but what I honestly didn't expect was the development we got with Zoiya. Bardugo really brought her to life in this installment and took her from a caricatured side character to a really powerful and layered fore-runner that I actually begun to care about?? And I can't believe I'm saying this but... I?? Ship?? Zoiya and Nikolai?? Am I trash for this ship now?? What has this book done to me? A few small critiques - the book was slow to start and I didn't think the sections with Nina were as strong as the other chapters which was disappointing as she had an interesting story arc in the Six of Crows duology, but it kind of felt like it was put on the back burner to the larger story. However, when the action picked up, BOY DID IT PICK UP. Honestly, the last five or so chapters I was sweating and I genuinely screamed out loud when I read the last sentence. HELL YEAH EVERYONE THE DARKLING IS BAAAAACK. 4.5/5 stars I cannot wait for the next book, I would die for you, Queen Leigh.