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zaynascz's reviews
39 reviews
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I literally stayed up till 6am to finish this book oml it was to good.
Kaz and inej need to get together IMMEDIATELY.
Also the way in Matthias’ chapters he started out calling kaz “demon” and then calling kaz “brekker” and then finally just calling kaz “kaz” like that was so cute.
ALSOOO the S&B references:
•Genya safins invention thingy
•Loads of mentions of the ‘civil war’
•Multiple mentions of ‘king nikolai’
•Inej’s knives (sankta alina)
•Inej saying something about how alina was martyred young (before she turned 18 specifically)
•Matthais saying his village was burnt down by an inferni (im guessing that guy from ruin and rising)
• several mentions of Zoya since she knew Nina in the second army and the little palace
• mention of Nina getting sent to Keramzin during the civil war
Few more but i might’ve forgotten idk
Kaz and inej need to get together IMMEDIATELY.
Also the way in Matthias’ chapters he started out calling kaz “demon” and then calling kaz “brekker” and then finally just calling kaz “kaz” like that was so cute.
ALSOOO the S&B references:
•Genya safins invention thingy
•Loads of mentions of the ‘civil war’
•Multiple mentions of ‘king nikolai’
•Inej’s knives (sankta alina)
•Inej saying something about how alina was martyred young (before she turned 18 specifically)
•Matthais saying his village was burnt down by an inferni (im guessing that guy from ruin and rising)
• several mentions of Zoya since she knew Nina in the second army and the little palace
• mention of Nina getting sent to Keramzin during the civil war
Few more but i might’ve forgotten idk
Everything about this book is so perfect im so Inlove omg.
The Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo
I don’t necessarily LIKE the darkling, but this book made me hate him a little less. Maybe a lot less. Also live laugh love Baghra
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this trilogy so so much if i could give it 6 stars i would.
I think Bardugo perfectly balanced the morals of the characters and the idea that the more power Alina had, the more blurry her morals became.
For example, in book 1 (shadow and bone) we’re introduced to Alina, the main character, and her best friend mal. Alina works as a cartographer for the first army and mal is a talented tracker. After the incident in the fold Alina is found to be a very powerful type of Grisha called the sun summoner. Throughout the book we see Alina wishing her power away just to be back with mal in the first army again; and when the darkling, Alinas only match and the leader of the second army, is looking for something to amplify Alinas power, she ends up agreeing to it. She soon finds out that the darkling is doing it for the wrong reasons and runs away. Eventually she finds the stag from the help of mal but hesitates to kill it, from this we can see Alina has a strong moral compass at this point in the trilogy.
However, this heavily contrasts the end of book three when she finds out mal, her boyfriend at this point, is the third amplifier. Without much hesitation at all, certainly not as much hesitation as she had with Morozova’s stag, she puts a knife through him. She didn’t want to do it but eventually her greed for power took over, as we can see from the quote
“I would never know if it was greed or selfishness that moved my hand”.
We can also see that Alina is slowly turning into the darkling throughout the entirety of the trilogy, and if she would’ve kept the power of all three amplifiers and lived eternally, she definitely would’ve.
Another thing i loved about this trilogy is the way Bardugo portrayed the darkling, a morally grey character who’s heart is in the right place, but goes about it the wrong way. For example, throughout the series we start to see the reasons for why the darkling has done what he’s done, like taking control of Alina through the stags collar in order to enter and control the fold. At first, we’re completely against the darkling and what he’s doing but as the trilogy unravels we start to discover more and more of the Darkling’s character and with that, his reasons. It all started out as building a safe place for Grisha to live in peace, without the fear of others ; but then he got greedy. He started wanting more for Ravka, but he went about it the complete wrong way. He tried to invoke fear, and in that he did, but it only hurt Ravka in the end. His greed and hunger for power kept growing and although i will say he lost sight of his morals centuries ago, i wont say that he lost track of his end goal completely. He wanted a safe place for Ravka, and he wanted to do it using the fold. Right reason, terrible execution. I completely believe that if Alina would’ve lived as Long as Aleksander, she would’ve been just as bad, if not worse. Without her friends to ground her, especially Mal, Nikolai and Genya, she Would’ve lost track already.
Anyway Stan Nikolai he’s the loml 🤭🤭 and this book was so sad oml
I think Bardugo perfectly balanced the morals of the characters and the idea that the more power Alina had, the more blurry her morals became.
For example, in book 1 (shadow and bone) we’re introduced to Alina, the main character, and her best friend mal. Alina works as a cartographer for the first army and mal is a talented tracker. After the incident in the fold Alina is found to be a very powerful type of Grisha called the sun summoner. Throughout the book we see Alina wishing her power away just to be back with mal in the first army again; and when the darkling, Alinas only match and the leader of the second army, is looking for something to amplify Alinas power, she ends up agreeing to it. She soon finds out that the darkling is doing it for the wrong reasons and runs away. Eventually she finds the stag from the help of mal but hesitates to kill it, from this we can see Alina has a strong moral compass at this point in the trilogy.
However, this heavily contrasts the end of book three when she finds out mal, her boyfriend at this point, is the third amplifier. Without much hesitation at all, certainly not as much hesitation as she had with Morozova’s stag, she puts a knife through him. She didn’t want to do it but eventually her greed for power took over, as we can see from the quote
“I would never know if it was greed or selfishness that moved my hand”.
We can also see that Alina is slowly turning into the darkling throughout the entirety of the trilogy, and if she would’ve kept the power of all three amplifiers and lived eternally, she definitely would’ve.
Another thing i loved about this trilogy is the way Bardugo portrayed the darkling, a morally grey character who’s heart is in the right place, but goes about it the wrong way. For example, throughout the series we start to see the reasons for why the darkling has done what he’s done, like taking control of Alina through the stags collar in order to enter and control the fold. At first, we’re completely against the darkling and what he’s doing but as the trilogy unravels we start to discover more and more of the Darkling’s character and with that, his reasons. It all started out as building a safe place for Grisha to live in peace, without the fear of others ; but then he got greedy. He started wanting more for Ravka, but he went about it the complete wrong way. He tried to invoke fear, and in that he did, but it only hurt Ravka in the end. His greed and hunger for power kept growing and although i will say he lost sight of his morals centuries ago, i wont say that he lost track of his end goal completely. He wanted a safe place for Ravka, and he wanted to do it using the fold. Right reason, terrible execution. I completely believe that if Alina would’ve lived as Long as Aleksander, she would’ve been just as bad, if not worse. Without her friends to ground her, especially Mal, Nikolai and Genya, she Would’ve lost track already.
Anyway Stan Nikolai he’s the loml 🤭🤭 and this book was so sad oml
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Grief, Murder, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5.0
Everyone went to quickly.
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH AHHH
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH AHHH