A review by raemo
Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

3.0

What I liked: I enjoy the Grishaverse. Nicholai may vary well be one of my favorite characters of all time. The magic system is interesting.

What I didn’t like: typical YA tropes. Didn’t enjoy the romance at all. Wished that it was not first person perspective or at least alternated to other characters because let’s be honest, Alina is annoying af most of the time.

Overall I did enjoy this read, it was fun. However as the story progressed I found I had more “wtf” moments where I literally had to put the book down and stare blankly ahead to process what I had just read (and not in a holy-shit-that-was-great kind of way). I would have loved to have the Darklings perspective and really get a better understanding of his motives and his thought process.

I think I just have to remember that the intended audience for this trilogy was probably not a married 26-year-old mom, and if I was an angsty teenager again I probably would have been fawning over all the stereotypical tropes and the predictable “love wins all” story line. (Also, after just reading the ACOTAR series, if I have to read “like calls to like” or the equivalent again I most likely will go insane.)

Also Mal was the absolute worst