5 Star Book Review: Ruin and Rising (The Grisha Trilogy, #3)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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Edition: Hardcover

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Related Reviews: Shadow and Bone - Siege and Storm

Rating: 5 Stars

There won't be any spoilers in this review, so worry not.

Because of college I've both been in a reading slump and a reviewing slump, which is why this review is so late coming. It should have been out ages ago, and I actually promised to have it out by now so I'm sorry that I didn't have it out before now. I'm not just sorry because I disappointed people curious to see my thoughts, but because now the details for this book are blurry and they get blurrier every day.

Ruin and Rising is the phenomenal finale to the Grisha Trilogy, which I fell in love with last winter. After finishing Siege and Storm I didn't really think I could handle the feelz that this one would bring, and I didn't want to say goodbye to these characters, particularly Nikolai. Of course, there is Six of Crows (which I have read) and now Crooked Kingdom (which I need to read) that will take me back to this world and have just as amazing characters within them, but they aren't the same ones from the Grisha trilogy so it's still hard to say goodbye.

And say goodbye I did. I know the ending is either hated or liked, but honestly, I loved it. I had no idea how the series was going to end but I thought Bardugo did it perfectly. It hit all the emotional points and wrapped up stories the way they should have been wrapped up. And, yes, I do approve of who Alina ended up with. As much as I loved the other two "options" this was the one I was rooting for the whole time because it was what Alina needed the whole time and clearly the one that made her happiest.

Besides the ending, the whole book was fantastic. There's a twist in the middle that I called from book one, but it was still well played and worked into the story beautifully. I'm always taken off guard by how brutal these books can get, but at the time time they do it in such an enchanting way that as gruesome as it is I can't look away from the page. 

As always, the world building is what gets me the most. I want to live in Ravka! Or maybe a peaceful version if there is one. There's just so much atmosphere in these books that I can't get enough of it. I would find myself daydreaming about the setting, which is absolutely amazing. For those of you who want to learn to write setting well, the Grisha trilogy is a great teacher.

TL;DR This book did not disappoint. I know ti split fans, but I approved of all the choices, including the final ship, and had a hard time saying goodbye to these characters I'd grown very attached to.