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A review by silvia_gio
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
... and then we have come to the end. 4 stars for the third and final chapter of Shadow and Bone trilogy.
In this one Alina becomes had a fantastic amount of development in the previous books, expecially in Diege and Storm, when she discovered her powers and started to crave for more. The theme of greed is well developed: Alina's desire for more power could be Ravka's salvation and condemnation at the same time. It could precipitate our protagonist towards a dark and deep well far worse than the one in which her antagonist has already fallen. As in the best chapters of Star Wars, here too we have a protagonist inevitably attracted to the dark side (bright, actually) of the Force and throughout the book, up to the last, frenetic final passages, the author will leave us with the doubt: Alina will resist the call of power, or will she fall victim of it like the Darkling, before her?
alongside the central theme of the desire for power / desire to resist Alina's lust for power, in the third book we see some interesting (and others less so) developments.
The villain's backstory. Normally, when authors give a backstory to a villain, it can go one of two way: sympathy or continued hatred. Uuuhh...What can I say? a great wasted opportunity. I still don't understood completely the Darkling, his past and his motives. I understand Baghra's past, motives and actions, but not the Darkling's. Sorry, my fault.
The love triangle. In Siege and Storm, Nikolai came into his own (even if honestly I found Nikolai’s humor and bravado irritating sometimes). I seriously had no idea which way the romance was going to go. I’ve always shipped Alina with Mal, that’s, like, how it’s supposed to be. The Darkling and Alina would have made a power couple, but in the end, it would have been a choice either too obvious or too meaningless.
I didn't enjoyed very much the team-dynamic. Everything barely moved along, interlaced with a few dramatic scenes, before reaching a very rushed ending.
With Ruin and Rising, Bardugo managed to wrap up her gripping trilogy in an unexpected way. There’s no doubt that this was a bittersweet ending. In many ways, I don’t think Bardugo could have created a better ending, as this is the one that everyone – both fans and characters – deserved.
I’ve read some reviews that slate the fact that Alina lost her immense powers in the final battle, and while I could be inclined to agree, I think it’s quite symbolic for her journey. Alina’s entire story seems to go full circle, starting and ending on the Fold, and I sort of like how she and Mal returned to the orphanage where they met, both changed by their experiences, but still the same Boy and Girl as before.
Summing up this third chapter I was very satisfied and undoubtedly deserves its 4 stars. Recommended! ;)
In this one Alina becomes had a fantastic amount of development in the previous books, expecially in Diege and Storm, when she discovered her powers and started to crave for more. The theme of greed is well developed: Alina's desire for more power could be Ravka's salvation and condemnation at the same time. It could precipitate our protagonist towards a dark and deep well far worse than the one in which her antagonist has already fallen. As in the best chapters of Star Wars, here too we have a protagonist inevitably attracted to the dark side (bright, actually) of the Force and throughout the book, up to the last, frenetic final passages, the author will leave us with the doubt: Alina will resist the call of power, or will she fall victim of it like the Darkling, before her?
alongside the central theme of the desire for power / desire to resist Alina's lust for power, in the third book we see some interesting (and others less so) developments.
The villain's backstory. Normally, when authors give a backstory to a villain, it can go one of two way: sympathy or continued hatred. Uuuhh...What can I say? a great wasted opportunity. I still don't understood completely the Darkling, his past and his motives. I understand Baghra's past, motives and actions, but not the Darkling's. Sorry, my fault.
The love triangle. In Siege and Storm, Nikolai came into his own (even if honestly I found Nikolai’s humor and bravado irritating sometimes). I seriously had no idea which way the romance was going to go. I’ve always shipped Alina with Mal, that’s, like, how it’s supposed to be. The Darkling and Alina would have made a power couple, but in the end, it would have been a choice either too obvious or too meaningless.
I didn't enjoyed very much the team-dynamic. Everything barely moved along, interlaced with a few dramatic scenes, before reaching a very rushed ending.
With Ruin and Rising, Bardugo managed to wrap up her gripping trilogy in an unexpected way. There’s no doubt that this was a bittersweet ending. In many ways, I don’t think Bardugo could have created a better ending, as this is the one that everyone – both fans and characters – deserved.
I’ve read some reviews that slate the fact that Alina lost her immense powers in the final battle, and while I could be inclined to agree, I think it’s quite symbolic for her journey. Alina’s entire story seems to go full circle, starting and ending on the Fold, and I sort of like how she and Mal returned to the orphanage where they met, both changed by their experiences, but still the same Boy and Girl as before.
Summing up this third chapter I was very satisfied and undoubtedly deserves its 4 stars. Recommended! ;)