xcdo 's review for:

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
4.0

3.5 true rating, but probably my favorite of the grishaverse, though that’s honestly not saying a lot. I have the same issue as I did with the previous two books where literally everyone other than Alina is more interesting. Even Oncat.

But I do think that once her true struggle with Mal comes into play that things start to get more interesting, though I was honestly upset at the typical *~tragic romance~* of finally figuring out that yes, you idiots love each other, but just kidding, it can only be fully realized through *murder*. At that point, I was thinking, “please just kill me instead”.

Luckily, though, I think that the follow-through was great and I loved the after part where they can literally just be normal and happy (and also paying tribute to their “mother” in the best way). A great set up for King of Scars, which I’m excited for since Nikolai is probably the true star of this book (besides Zoya, obviously).