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A review by lizziepurpleserenity
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
On first read October 2018, my review included snippets from my private blog in which I ranted a lot about what I thought about the ending, the various 'ships' in the trilogy, etc, but I've taken all that out of this review as I didn't really say much about what I thought of the book itself haha.
I will say this about the ending though, as I feel the same now as I did in 2018 about that:I am happy with how it ended. I like that Alina lost (or transferred) her powers and finally gets to live the peaceful, normal life with Mal that she (and he) actually wanted all along, despite how INFURIATING I found the two of them (in books 1&2 particularly) this time around, and despite the fact that it irritates me a bit that too much of the plot is based around the romance. (I could've done without Mal being the amplifier for example.) I do not ship her with Nikolai and in fact this time around I don't even like that he develops feelings for her - fgs just let them be fun platonic friends! As for the Darkling, delicious though his evil is, I will never understand the Darklina ship.
I think I enjoyed rereading this one more than books 1 & 2, it felt faster-paced, Mal was less infuriating, there were some cool new settings, some exciting events. I didn't enjoy the friendships and banter in this book as much as I did first time around, all that felt a bit forced this time, perhaps because I've read better dialogue since then (I had only just started to read fantasy and YA properly back then).
Overall, I feel like there is something missing in this trilogy, or the writing - something a bit bland somehow. I can't put my finger on it, but for starters, something is lacking in Alina I think. I don't feel like we're under her skin sufficiently, I don't feel like we really feel enough, or get to know enough, of where she came from in terms of how her past affects her, what drives her decisions or her feelings. It's in first person POV, but I'm not sure it feels like that enough.
But, I've enjoyed rereading the trilogy and I will always love this world and the characters, flawed though it is, looking forward to rereading the Six of Crows duology next (which I absolutely loved last time), and can't wait for the Netflix show.
I will say this about the ending though, as I feel the same now as I did in 2018 about that:
I think I enjoyed rereading this one more than books 1 & 2, it felt faster-paced, Mal was less infuriating, there were some cool new settings, some exciting events. I didn't enjoy the friendships and banter in this book as much as I did first time around, all that felt a bit forced this time, perhaps because I've read better dialogue since then (I had only just started to read fantasy and YA properly back then).
Overall, I feel like there is something missing in this trilogy, or the writing - something a bit bland somehow. I can't put my finger on it, but for starters, something is lacking in Alina I think. I don't feel like we're under her skin sufficiently, I don't feel like we really feel enough, or get to know enough, of where she came from in terms of how her past affects her, what drives her decisions or her feelings. It's in first person POV, but I'm not sure it feels like that enough.
But, I've enjoyed rereading the trilogy and I will always love this world and the characters, flawed though it is, looking forward to rereading the Six of Crows duology next (which I absolutely loved last time), and can't wait for the Netflix show.