A review by orenji_juice
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Spoilers have been hidden - reveal at your own discretion.

A nice wrap up to the series, despite its major flaws. Starting off positively, I loved the dry humour and witty moments between characters in this book, it actually made me smile. I also loved every character apart from the main ones (Mal, Alina and the Darkling). However, there were two major problems in this book: the romance and Alina.  Specifically, the love square. Yes, you heard me. A square. If you don't like love triangles, this book is not for you. While I understand that Alina is struggling with her feelings for Mal, Nikolai and the Darkling, the love triangle has progressed to a square since book 1 and has slowly gotten worse. Until Alina realises that Mal is special
(an amplifier)
she doesn't want to love him. Then when she finds out this information, they IMMEDIATELY start acting like lovers again. Hunny, this isn't love. You're USING him. She also toys with Nikolai's feelings. But the Darkling and Alina is by far the worst romance in this book. Yes, they both feel different. Yes, they both are lonely. But that doesn't give the Darkling a reason to rape Alina, and for Alina to crave his attention??? Excuse me???? This problem sort of started from book 2, but I am mentioning it in this review because it has not ceased.
Moving on from the love square, Alina as a character is just not good. The other characters go through character growth, but Alina does not; she actually goes backwards. I don't mind characters who go backwards, as long as they realise their mistakes and grow from it. Yet no, not for Alina. She is recklessly ambitious, self-absorbed and petty. Focussing a bit on her relationship with her friend Mal, he has sacrificed so much to be with her, and has even regressed a bit in book 2 but recovered in this one (character progression, yay!). Alina on the other hand, acts like her life is the most troubled life of all time.
I think Nikolai as an evil fairy is having a worse time, and even more so especially after sending away his parents, that aren't really his parents, and having to deal with this information.
Even in book 2, Alina also gets into petty fights with Mal and lacks the ability to recognise her own faults. Most of the fights are to do with him thinking he is too 'normal' for her and Alina thinking she is 'special'. Alina even allows him to think like this <spoiler and sends him away when he confesses his love to her in book 3. Like I said previously, she prioritises power over love as evident in book 2 and 3, but fails to learn any life lesson.
Hell, she even kills Mal and only morns him when she realises that she has lost her powers.

I know it sounds like I am being negative, but these flaws hindered my perception on this novel and even the previous one; I think it had the potential to be a 4-5 star book. However, I love the world and will consider reading Six of Crows :)
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