A review by daumari
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

4.0

Queer rep if you squint, but tagging it anyway... 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I liked this more than the previous two entries, perhaps because it felt like there were more dire geopolitical stakes at hand than oooh magic school/oh no which boy am I most attracted to (though the latter is very much still present). It's funny- in my review of [b:Siege and Storm|14061955|Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1362166252l/14061955._SX50_.jpg|19699752] I mentioned that the ending felt abrupt, and that the cave chapters from the beginning of this one maybe should've been in here, only to find in the acknowledgements that Leigh Bardugo originally had a ton of other mid-book actions from this one take place at the end of S&S which would've been Too Much.

I do like the twist about the nature of the third amplifier, as well as

Spoiler

not having a teenager figuring out how to rule the world in the aftermath because at least Nikolai's had training/leadership experience.

. Not super thrilled with ultimate boy choice but can't say it wasn't broadcasted...

But mostly, I'm excited for what I'm told is HEIST TIME in [b:Six of Crows|23437156|Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651710803l/23437156._SY75_.jpg|42077459], so then I can finally start the Netflix series (I generally prefer to read the source before adaptation, and I've heard that they pull Ketterdam elements into the show).