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.

5 Star Book Review: Siege and Storm

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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Edition: Paperback

Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository

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Related Reviews: Shadow and Bone

Rating: 5 Stars

There will be SPOILERS for the first book in the series in this post.

OHMYGOD NIKOLAI

Siege and Storm takes place a short time after Shadow and Bone ended, with Alina and Mal seeking solace and protection across the sea.  When the Darkling comes and disrupts that peace in order to gain more power for Alina in the form of a sea dragon she and Mal barely escape with the help of a very interesting privateer who is more than he seems.

OHMYGOD NIKOLAI

Can that be the entire review?  Okay, maybe not, but just FYI, Nikolai is my newest favorite fictional character and is a precious baby I will protect.

I actually really like all the characters in this book.  For you Mal haters out there, I don't hate him, but he's very "meh" to me (I know how the series ends relationship-wise but will refrain my thoughts until the final book).  Other than that I adore everyone.  Alina is one of those rare narrators who is absolutely absorbing in every sense of the word and the world around me falls away when I'm looking through her eyes.  I credit this magic to Leigh Bardugo's own magic, which still seeps off the page as I was reading.

Like with Shadow and Bone, the world of Ravka is fantastic.  I wish I lived there, honestly!  And the myth building in this one was fantastic.  I loved how she explored the legends of the world and how realistic they all felt.  Sometimes I forget, too, how bloody her writing can be and how dangerous this world is, but the climax of this book was mind blowing and amazing!

After finishing this one I immediately wanted to start Ruin and Rising, but alas, I must wait a bit so as not to cause a massive book hangover.  Soon, though, because these books are addictive and probably some of my all time favorites.

Book Review: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy, #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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Edition: Paperback

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Rating: 4 Stars

I have had a copy of Shadow and Bone since it came out in paperback.  Which is a crazy long time.  And not once did I bother to pick it up to even try the first page.  I would glance at it on my shelf, think how pretty it looked, and then say I would get to it later.  Well, the fates aligned and I picked it up completely on a whim.  I had no inclination of starting this book for a while still, but after all but deciding I would go to Book Con and seeing the author would be there, and also waiting for a book to arrive in the mail, I couldn't stop myself.  And do you know how fast I read this one?  24 hours.  Right after Cress.  So, yeah, it was crazy addicting, and I'm so glad to have been bitten by the reading bug again.

Shadow and Bone takes place in a fantasy world based off of Russia.  It follows Alina, a mapmaker for the First Army.  When she and her regiment cross the Unsea, a dark place that exists because of twisted magic, she learns she is one of the Grisha- those who have magic (of a sort; it's called "Small Science").  And not just any Grisha, but a Sun Summoner.  She's whisked off to court where she must learn to master her powers in order to save her world.

I will admit that this book started off slow.  I wasn't completely sold until she arrived at court, around chapter six.  It wasn't a bad story before then, but it was a bit cliched and the setting hadn't had time to cement itself.  Once things got going, though, it was all I could do to put it down and go to sleep.  I even managed to dream about this book in the hours between reading!  The plot moves quickly, and there wasn't anything unnecessary.  Every plot development advanced the story, and it could have been a trilogy all on its own, with the amount of things that happen.

The strongest aspect of the story is the setting.  Gorgeous!  And I mean it practically comes off the page.  It's a subtle world-building that relies on a few phrases, people's general idea of a romantic version of historical Russia, and a taste of magic in the writing.  Every once in a while I stumble into a book with a location I actually want to visit, and Ravka is one of those places.

As for the writing and characters, at first neither really stood out.  Once the ball got rolling, though, neither disappointed.  I look forward to continuing this series, and plan to pick up the rest of the trilogy very soon.