A review by kaiulanilee
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

By far my favorite of the three. I think the pacing and character work was the most well done and I found her writing developed really well. I had often felt while reading the other two that she was teetering on the edge of making things dark but not doing so because they’re YA novels. I think Ruin & Rising had the perfect amount of darkness and graphic descriptions to it where it felt both hard hitting but also appropriate for its age group. All in all, a super solid fantasy novel.
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