*All reviews I write are spoiler free*
Since Emmi @ Books With Ems started up her blogger book club, January’s challenge was to finish a series. My choice of book for this was Ruin and Rising. This book was also a buddy-read with Olivia @ Heir of Glitter!
And so here’s my review! At long last I finally read The Grisha Trilogy! *audience applauds*
As I’ve said countless times before, all my reviews are spoiler free – but since this is the last book in a trilogy, if you haven’t read the previous book you might want to avoid reading the synopsis and skip ahead to my review.
Previous books:
Let’s talk about Ruin and Rising!
Title: Ruin and Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Indigo
Series Status: The 3rd and final book in The Grisha trilogy
Number of Pages: 350
My Rating: 4/5 stars!
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Avoid this section if you haven’t read the previous books. Skip ahead to the review.
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The capital has fallen.
The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.
Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.
Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.
Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.
Where oh where do I begin?
I’m glad to say I enjoyed this one more than Siege and Storm. From my last review you can see that I was slightly disappointed with that one.
This book is a completely different story though – well, figuratively. Technically IT IS the same story.
Anyway, right from the beginning you just seem to jump straight into the plotting and scheming. There’s a problem – a pretty huge one – and it needs to be sorted. As it does in most stories. But you see this book is based a lot more on the plotting rather than the action, and I have a feeling that’s exactly why I liked it.
As a reader, I love it when you can see the brains behind the operation, when this whole grand scheme needs to be planned out, and you can see exactly how the author has cleverly mended their story together. And that, to me, is shown through this book. The story seemed a lot more complicated and built up in this instalment. It became addictive to me. I needed to know if the plans worked or not.
There wasn’t anything in particular about the writing that blew me away, but it was an enjoyable story to read. Unpredictable and relentless, I was hooked every time I picked this book up. I did actually read most of this in one sitting, but it seemed a lot longer because of college (boooo).
Now let me just say this…I didn’t find Mal as annoying in this one! I mean, I still don’t like him all that much but I can tolerate him. The character development he went through was worth it – he’s so much more clear headed now. You can see all the characters grow and strengthen, which I found surprising since there’s quite a few of them. I think my favourite ended up being Zoya and all her sassiness.
I was a bit surprised by the lack of action to be honest. Not that there wasn’t any. The plotting and scheming just really seemed to outweigh the action scenes, so the ending wasn’t that realistic. Honestly I wasn’t that satisfied with the ending. I felt like more could’ve happened. Plus it took me a while to get my head around what actually did happen, because it seemed to come from nowhere.
One thing I will say though is I really loved the epilogue. I think those few pages themselves show just how good Leigh Bardugo’s writing can be. I wanted to add a passage as an example, but that would give away what happens so I’ll not do that. But I feel like now I can see why people might like Six of Crows more than The Grisha Trilogy, if her writing style can be as polished as that. Now I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on Six of Crows and seeing where that story leads!
Rated 4/5 stars!
Order from Amazon!
Have you read this series? What did you think?
Or is it on your TBR?
Let me know in the comments!
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Come and visit me!
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A frolic through fiction 
I gave all the books in the series 4 stars but I think this one might be my favourite – Mal was less annoying (though I still don’t particularly like him at all XD I always shipped Alina with The Darlking thinking they could be a really bad-ass evil couple) and the plotting was so well done that I didn’t feel anything drag which was rather surprising since usually I love action more. I’m glad you really enjoyed it! Great review
Enchanted by YA
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I shipped Alina with The Darkling too, but that’s more out of my own love for him haha! And thank you 🙂
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I didn’t like Mal either! I liked Seige and Storm a lot more than Ruin and Rising. I guess I prefer action haha! The ending I didn’t like at all! I’m glad I gave Six of Crows a chance though. It’s great! Her writing really did mature a lot.
~~~~~~SPOILERS below!~~~~~~~~
I don’t like how she lost her powers, but the most annoying part was how those other people got them! It didn’t make sense. After all that the end was rather anticlimactic.
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That’s what I thought about the end. The part you mentioned with her powers, I was so confused. Plus nothing really happened. I’m hoping I enjoy Six of Crows more when I get round to picking it up! Everyone seems to be saying it’s a lot better than The Grisha Trilogy.
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