Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo Book Review

“Nadia reached out and nudged Mal’s hand, “At least consider the plan. And if it all goes wrong—-“

“Alina gets a new bracelet,” finished Zoya.”

About

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fantasy

Series: The Grishaverse book 3

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Synopsis

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.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

Dear Grisha lovers,

Alina and her crew really have come a far way in this trilogy. From a small girl in Keramzin to someone who was a saint to many.

There are so many things to discuss about this book and I don’t know where to begin, so let’s start from the top shall we? 😊

SSo Alina’s stuck underground living her darkest life with the Apparat. There’s still something off putting about his character that just rubs you the wrong way. I thought with this book we would get to know him more as a person like who he was before he was an Apparat? How did he come to be? We only get to see him lead and kind of hold down Alina and her power. The Apparat is a very safe guy if there’s anything I’ve learned about him. He’s the type of person who waits for things to solve itself and then when the tide turns, he acts in whatever favor best suits him. It’s kind of a selfish and easy way to act——waiting for the world to get better while you hide in the shadows. You can’t ever see change in the world if you don’t change.

Alina fully got that sentiment.

She wanted out of the clutches of the Apparat. She was constantly under his rule and mointoarization when in the White Cathedral, which I didn’t understand a bit. If he was on her side and supported the whole idea of Santka Alina, then why would he keep her down and sheltered? I doubt it was for her safety, but more for himself. But it just made me confused because I thought he was looking out for her best interest, but it just seemed that he was just keeping her hostage.

Keeping Alina hostage didn’t really do her any good either. She still had no traces of her sun power and I think it had to do because she had no light source to summon or to emit her power—-she was surrounded by tunnels and darkness. So that’s why her powers never came to her. So this was another reason she had to leave the Apparatus clutches because she needed to be on the fighting ground to make a difference when Ravka was going to pieces.

I kind of didn’t understand the whole ordeal with why the Apparat just let them go or turned a blind eye to letting them leave. I get that the whole crew—–Tolya, Tamar, Mal, Genya, David, Stigg, Harshaw, Oncat, and Sergei—–had a plan to “plot” against escaping with Alina and then someone from the Appart’s close confidences happened to hear about them plotting and brought them to the kitchen for treason where they talked things out. Then from that, I understand that Alina takes control of her destiny and the situation in knowing that they all were really going to break out of the White Cathedral while the Apparat hides away in his room to “pray.” So I don’t get why he would all of a sudden just let them leave, knowing they’re going when he spent so long to keep them locked away.

Anyway, I never liked the Apparat, but still, it would have been nice to understand him more as a character.

I think the best part about this whole book is the unity and sense of family in this book between Alina and her crew. I loved how Tolya and Tamar were still loyal to Alina even though they secretly worked for the Apparat all this time and were a part of the Soldt Sol. I also liked how despite our initial meetings with Zoya, that she was still around. She wasn’t my most favorite character in the first book, but she really grows on you in the second book, kind of like a mushroom—–at first it’s nasty, then you start to like it. I started to like her more in the second book and in this one because she really just has a bold personality that is naturally sassy. I think she just really had her guard up around Alina at first because she saw Alina as a threat and was jealous of her. But then over time, maybe Zoya realized that Alina was the answer. Or if she was going to side with anyone or fight for anyone, it would be Alina. And I liked how they banter with each other like good natured sisters who don’t really like each other sometimes, but love each other deep down.

Then there’s David and Genya. I really didn’t have the best thoughts of David or Genya due to their betrayals, but sometimes you forgive and forget, especially when your allies are sparse and few. Also, these people have tried to redeem themselves. David is just a very analytical and objective person. He’s kind of like a working machine. His mind is always circulating, and formulating on what he should do next or what creation to make and that’s just him. He’s not really into feelings. But he really does have a human side to him. He loves Genya and shows his affection in different ways from the way he teases her and says cute little things. It’s not like I think David’s going to have a grand proclamation of love or anything, but it’s nice to see him evolving with his feelings for her when he never even noticed her. And then there’s Genya the beautiful. No matter how scared she is on the inside or the outside, and no matter how badly she betrayed Alina, I find myself liking her. I love how strong she is in the face of everything and everyone who tries to belittle her as Razrusha’ya or ruined.

There’s the moment when Genya confronts the prince and we find out that he has touched her and did unspeakable things to her without consent just because she’s a “servant.” I can not stand liars, betrayers, and most of all people who take advantage of others mind, body, and soul. We DETEST that dumb king for ever laying one finger, one breathe on Genya. Gosh, I can’t stand that man! I loved how Nikolai stood up to his father enough to send him away because he knew he did Genya wrong. And I loved how David said probably the most romantic thing David could:

“I . . . I don’t understand half of what goes on around me. I don’t get jokes or sunsets or poetry, but I know metal . . . Beauty was your armor. Fragile stuff, all show. But what’s inside you? That’s steel. It’s brave and unbreakable. And it doesn’t need fixing.”

(pg. 161)

I mean baby David really came a long way in his feelings. So cute that he gave a builder kind of analogy for how strong Genya was. So fitting of David. But it was just so cute because everyone was looking at Genya with pity and the last thing she wants from others is to be pitied because they don’t understand, as David puts it, “hard of what” she’s been through, but I love how he understood that she was strong.

But, gosh, the best part was how Genya made the king quaver just as they were all dispersing out the meeting and then she was like,

“Remember me when you board that ship, moi tsar. Remember me when you take your last look at Ravka as it slips beneath the horizon . . . I hope the taste of me was worth it.”

(pg. 160)

Oooooooh a sis served him right. But my favorite thing she said to him was what she whispered in his ear.

” Na razrusha’ya. E’ya razrushost.”

I am not ruined. I am ruination.

Girl, YOU ARE RUINATION! 👏🏼

Ruin and Rising, my friends. For everyone 😆

So Nikolai’s alive! 😄 That’s a thing I casually threw in there.

I could have bet my bucks that Nikolai was alive and I was so happy that he was. I really have come to enjoy his character and especially the witty banter he would have with Alina. I loved the moment where he made his great reappearance when Alina and his crew were being held at gunpoint by some militia people. One militia girl was saying how Nikolai wasn’t and looking and then we have Nikolai in the tree praising his own name. How very him!

I also loved the whole setting of the ice palace thing where Nikolai has been hiding out. It’s pretty impressive to create your own kind of ice fortress. He really must have had a lot of time. And a lot of money. Gosh, does he have money 💰.

There was this one part before they were going to split up to look for the firebird and to do a promotion kind of parade again, where Nikolai just casually gives Alina a ring. I mean, the most banal proposal in history. And I thought he was romantic! He lost points on that one. But the gesture was there. He never really came out and said, “Alina, will you do me the honor in marrying me,” he just gave her his mother’s ring and expected her to know what that meant. I mean, we all understood what that meant. As much as I don’t feel the love connection between Mal and Alina, I also don’t feel it between Nikolai and Alina. I only feel like Alina wants to be able to love Nikolai in that way so things will be easy and that Ravka will have that Grisha alliance with her as the princess or queen. But I know deep down, Alina loves Mal, so I knew she wasn’t going to accept that proposal no matter how big and shiny the ring was and no matter how much she knew her duty. But as Mulan best put it, “Your duty is to your heart.”

And besides, Zoya was completely willing to marry Nikolai at the drop of a hat, so maybe Nikolai can find it in his heart to love her one day 😂.

It certainly wouldn’t be the worst relationship. They’re both pretty boisterous people in a good way.

But besides the Nikolai reunion, we also see Baghra ♥️. Gotta love us an old witch 😂. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I just love how Baghra is so fierce and snippy for her age, it really goes with her character. I also love how she kind of banters with Nikolai too. I guess Baghra’s love language is her ability to joke comfortably with others.

This book really opened up about Baghra’s childhood. She was Morozova’s daughter. This kind of doesn’t surprise me because Baghra is older and has been around a long time and she knows much more than she has let on, so when she revealed this, it just seemed definite. But Baghra’s past is so complicated and it kind of makes you understand why she is the way she is. Baghra had a sister who was normal and whom the mother loved more because she didn’t fear her. One day Baghra used the Cut (the ability to cut a person in half without touching them) on her sister. The dad saved the sister because he was a healer and bringing back someone from the dead is known as merozt. Out of anger or fear, the people in the village put the sister and the dad in chains and pushed her into a river never to be seen again. Many people thought he died, but you know if he could bring the daughter back from the dead, then there was a chance he could have been alive or healed the sister to live on. But no one really knows. Still kind of don’t know if the sister or the dad lived on, but it was an interesting story that made Alina think that maybe she was related to the Darkling because she had mysterious powers and the town she grew up in was near where Baghra’s dad and sister got pushed off from. I kind of believed that she too was a descendant from Morozova then. But then that meant the Darkling was out of this love square because no way José are we doing incest.

The whole story also makes you understand why she raised the Darkling as so.

But wait.

Or should we say Aleksander.

That’s the Darkling’s name. Alek-frekaing-sander!!!

I would be lying if I didn’t say some part of me felt like the whole Darkling name was anticlimactic 🤪. But then again, what was I expecting his name to be? Something profound or fitting of the world. It might have been something bizarre, but I guess when you think of the Darkling, he once was a kid with a heart and would have a normal name. But Aleksander, it just seemed so ordinary. It humanized the Darkling though and I respect that. I looked up what the name Aleksander means and in Greek it means the defender or helper of mankind . . . I mean

IRONIC MUCH?!

Defender and helper of mankind?!

That’s a joke 😅.

But in a way I can see how maybe from the Darkling’s side how he would feel like he’s living up to his name. At the end of the day, the Darkling just wants unity in Ravka and to have the Grisha—-people like him—–be accepted; he wanted a safe place where Grisha could live and be treasured and not tortured for their differences. So he thinks by destroying people and causing havoc, he’s going to create a peaceful or united Ravka——the ends justifies the means—–but at the same time, the way he goes about it is so unnecessary. I also think that maybe his name was Baghra’s hope that her son would do good in the world or make the world better—–be the “defender and helper of mankind.”

Boy, did that turn out wrong though.

But back to what I was talking about. Baghra was hard on her son because the world was hard on Baghra. She gave her son a lot of pride and ambition and protected him from the world. She made her son hardened into thinking that the world would stomp on people like him so he had to be the one to stomp first. She taught him that he was better than everyone and that he bowed to no one. She also taught him to rely on no one because love was a weakness. The Darkling might be a psycho now, but you can’t say he wasn’t a good learner. I think that most of Baghra’s teachings to her son came out of a place of hurt, bitterness, and anger at seeing her dad and sister drown and knowing that her mother didn’t love her as much because she was a Grisha. Her teachings came from a place of experience, so she taught her son to hate the world too because the world seemed to hate her. And that’s no way to raise a child—–to have that perspective that the world is a cruel, callous place. But that’s why we raise our children to be better people——to be the “defenders and helpers of mankind.”

But in a way, Baghra might have failed her son. So she was trying to make up for it in helping Alina not make the same mistakes.

That moment when the Darkling came to the palace just as everyone is about to depart for their own journeys, is soooo hard. I mean Baghra uses her powers for the first time in years and she summons all the Darkling’s nichevo’ya and she jumps off a ledge and takes the nichevo’ya with her so that Alina could live. But let’s take a minute to acknowledge that at least the Darkling has a heart not to fight his mother who’s crippled because of him. But it kind of makes me confused as to his sense of morals . . . like you would carve your mom’s eyes out if she betrayed your confidences, but you won’t fight her?

I don’t understand him.

But I love how the last thing she said to him was,

“Know that I loved you . . . Know that it was not enough.”

(pg. 247)

I wonder how he can sleep at night knowing he drove his mom off a ledge? 🙃

Anyway, then the most RANDOM thing happened in this scene for which I will never truly understand. I get it was supposed to be dramatic or heartbreaking or for mercy sake because, heck, at least the Darkling didn’t kill Nikolai, but he turned Nikolai into a FREAKING FLYING MONKEY straight out of the Wizard of Oz. I was in HYSTERICS!!! 😂 WHAT THE LITERAL FREAK. I don’t know why this was the most comical part of the book, but it was just so weird that out of everything that has happened, why would the Darkling turn Nikolai into a flying monkey? What does that have to do with anything 🤪? It just made me feel like it was a convenient way to get Nikolai out of the book for a while and speed up the plot.

IIt was sad for sure,that Nikolai was a dark monkey who scavenged on different organisms at random moments, but it was also weird that he would show up at random moments when Alina and the crew were traveling to see the firebird and he would just stare at him. Alina would see him hanging out in the trees and she would have hoped that Nikolai was still inside there and I loved how thorough everything she still believed in the good of him and that he was still there.

SSo with everything falling to pieces and the war speeding up, Alina goes to look for the firebird with Mal and the crew. They go to the little town where Alina and Mal grew up and then they travel for weeks on end through the mountains tracking the firebird. With this book, I was hoping to get more answers as to Mal and Alina’s past like who their parents were or what they remember, so it was kind of disappointing that when they got to the town, they didn’t remember anything. I understand though because I can’t remember a lot from my early childhood, but still, I think that there’s still a lot that we don’t know about Mal or Alina’s past. We kind of know more about Mal’s past and lineage, but not really Alina or how her powers came to be.

There was one part of their journey through the mountains where Alina really threw a hissy fit to Mal and the crew and it just highlighted how much stress everyone was under, especially Alina. She had literally the fate of Ravka on her shoulders and she had to find the firebird and take down the Darkling, so it was understandable why she was so anxious and mad, but I think I just forgot sometimes that she was a young adult and will act out of her feelings. So, I have so much respect for Alina because so far she has displayed more maturity than I could have.

TThe funny part was how Zoya chalked up Alina’s outburst to her being hungry. She might not be wrong 😆—-hanger is real. But it becomes this running joke in the book whenever someone gets angry, they’re instantly hungry. I bet we’ve all been there with our hangry-ness.

Finally they made it to this lava spewing waterfall area where there’s bones on the ground and everything is eerie and desolate. They all kind of give up hope because there is no firebird to be seen. But then the firebird came to play and flew towards Alina and Mal to eat them, but then it stopped in front of Mal and looked at it.

Now here’s the part where I kind of was highly confused.

So the infamous bird that we’ve been searching for this WHOLE time stopped in front of Mal, and somehow Mal and Alina KNEW that deep down that that wasn’t the amplifier. To me that just didn’t make much sense, with the whole bird stopping and staring and knowing that they shouldn’t kill it. Why did it take looking at the firebird to know that MAL WAS THE FREAKING AMPLIFIER?! 🤔

I mean Alina and the crew have traveled sooooooooo many miles just to realize the “firebird” was there with them the whole time?! I mean what a waste of miles and time!

At the same time, it was kind of shocking, but not. I had a hunch since the get go that Mal was more than just a normal person because of how everyone praised him as the best tracker of all time. I didn’t think that a person can constantly be so lucky as to find all the amplifiers and to track things so easily without a little bit of power, so I never knew what he was, but I knew it wasn’t human. But it made sense if you think about it all. Alina’s powers came alive when she was shielding Volcra from Mal when crossing the fold all those months? ago. Or how Alina was able to cut that mountain at the Spinning Circle when Mal showed up. Along the way, he’s always been there to amplify her powers to be the strongest it could be. He was the ultimate sacrifice.

And if Alina didn’t have it bad enough.

But the whole thing kind of made me wonder, if Mal was the amplifier the whole time, were the stag, the sea whip, and the bird just animals or accessories in the end (well, except the firebird)? Why were they the animals used as “amplifiers” when Mal was the amplifier? Or was Mal just the last “firebird” amplifier that Morozova didn’t create, but was born with the amplifier powers?

I don’t know, but we all knew that the end did not look bright for Mal.

All Knowing that Mal was the amplifier, they all were making their way back to civilization and the war. All this time, they didn’t know what was going on, but the Darkling had been a very busy man in destroying West Ravka and apparently burning Kermazin where all the children, Botkin (the trainer), and Ana Kuya were. I couldn’t believe that he would actually harm Botkin, he was such a good man. The kids were safe, but Alina didn’t know that until later. If he killed the kids, there really is no heart left in that man.

Everything kind of sped up towards the final battle with the plan to bend light to make everyone invisible. David was smart. That’s a fact because who would have thought you could bend light to make everyone invisible enough to sneak up in the Fold and the Darkling’s army to destroy them—-pretty freaking genius if you ask me.

As everyone prepared for the battle, Mal and Alina have such an intimate moment together that was worth mentioning. It’s kind of disheartening how they knew that things might not work out with the battle and how they were saying goodbye to each other in a way with all the “I love you,” and “You are all I’ve ever wanted,” and “You are the whole of my heart.” I could feel the love and passion there. And boy did that night they have PASSION, if you know what I mean 😉. But you know what, they’ve been through the Fold and through wars and they deserved to have one good moment together if that was going to be there last.

The whole end battle started off pretty smooth with everyone invisible and in their place and then came the part where heck ensued and Alina had to do what she had to do in order to defeat the Darkling: she had to kill Mal. And gosh, my heart just went out to her! There was no easy way to stab the love of your life. But she did and the whole thing just brought me to pieces because I could only imagine how horrible it would be to be the one to wield the knife that takes the love of your life if it meant saving the greater good. But what came after that was just WOW!

I don’t know what I expected to happen when she harnessed the power of the third amplifier——maybe to light up and glow like Captain Marvel did in the movies——-I don’t know 😆. But I didn’t expect what did happen in how all her powers were gone and she was surrounded by darkness. Then she saw all these people from eh Soldat Sol with weapons, glowing like she used to glow. From my understanding, by sacrificing Mal this allowed the power of the amplifiers to multiply a thousand times, but in an army, and not just her——it created all these summoners to fight off the Volcra.

I thought that was pretty darn cool. A thousand is always stronger than one and at least Alina didn’t have to bear this battle alone.

The army battled the Volcra, and there’s one thing left for Alina to do.

She had to finish this with the Darkling.

Like calls to like

“I don’t need to be Grisha . . . to wield Grisha steel.”

(pg. 383)

And she stabbed that sucker through the heart. In all honesty, I thought he would have made it much harder for her to kill him, but maybe he gave up hope in a way because he knew he was going to lose against the light. Maybe the Darkling was ready to be with his mother and die in peace. If that’s the case, maybe Alina did him a mercy.

At the end, I thought there was something very humanizing in how the Darkling wanted someone to say At the end, I thought there was something very humanizing in how the Darkling wanted someone to say his name one last time. Alina again granted him that sentiment even though she put her through the grinder and back. But you know what made this whole scene harder, was the fact that the Darkling was all lucid and was like, “Blue sky,’ and “Someone to mourn me. HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE ALONE 🥺. I can’t even describe the love-hate relationship I have with villainous characters. I mean they are hot, they are good people, who just have known so much hurt. I mean, I didn’t know whether to cry or scream in joy. Truly, though, I was mostly crying.

*Also cue, the song, say my name, say my name*

Gosh, bad person, but still a person. No one deserves to be alone in their final moments.

Everything around them was settling back to normal and Nikolai went from money to man and the Fold was going away and the Volcra retreating.

And MAL was breathing!

I repeat Mal was breathing!

And we thought he was human. Gosh he’s not.

I’m happy that Mal was alive because Alina and Mal deserved to have a happy ending. To be really honest, I had no idea who Alina would end up with at the end of this and when it was revealed Mal was the amplifier, I was like, well we love a strong independent woman. But I mean, if that strong independent woman had a strong man by her side, we are not opposed to that either.

Alina thought the reason that he’s alive was because he had two lives where he was a merzost and one where he was human. So when he was stabbed, that part of him that never belonged to him was amplified back to every living thing and why there were new summoners created. And that’s why the human part of Mal lived. It kind of makes me wonder if Alina was ever truly Grisha or was she just highly connected to Mal and that’s why she had powers? I don’t know.

I loved how Nikolai and Alina had a deep conversation about how to move forward. I felt kind of bad for Nikolai because he was a monkey and that changed something in him and brought out this darkness that he’s going to feel for the rest of his life. He also never got the girl and was reluctant enough to marry a Shu or Fjreda woman as an alliance. If there was one thing I admired about Nikolai it was his ability to bounce back in the face of adversity. He was a monkey and he went back to business as usual with trying to make alliances and control everything after the fallout with the Darkling. I think maybe he pushed himself in his work so soon to bat away those dark shadows. He really needed time to heal before he broke some more. He’s a fragile, but good soul.

I also liked the moment with Genya where Nikolai pardoned her for poisoning the king. Alina also gave her the position to lead the army with David and Zoya, to which Genya was equal parts excited and irritated because she didn’t want to work with Zoya. But I just loved the whole idea that Genya had a more respected role in the Grisha verse than a servant. I also liked how Genya, David, and Zoya were all going to be representatives for Grisha and how Alina wanted all Grisha to have a voice no matter their rank. It’s really a new dawn for the Grisha verse.

At the end, Santka Alina died with the Darkling. People praised her sacrifice and didn’t know that the sun summoner still walked among them, but as a human. But I understood why Alina would separate herself from the exalted person she was and who she was now because deep down, I feel like Alina didn’t feel like it was ever her role to save the role or be a saint, but to be human. But she did what she did—–played the part—-to give people hope. And now everything was going to get, hopefully, better. So the people didn’t need to know she was alive. So they buried Ruby posing as Santka Alina. Next to Rosie, was the Darkling and while everyone chanted Sankta Alina to remember her and her sacrifice, Alina said the Darkling’s name. Alina was always going to remember him for better or for worse, but in that moment he was not forgotten.

“I didn’t know what came next or who I was supposed to be. I owned nothing, not even the borrowed clothes on my back. And yet, lying there, I realized I wasn’t afraid. After all I’d been through, there was no fear left in me—sadness, gratitude, maybe even hope, but the fear had been eaten up by pain and challenge. The Saint was gone. The Summoner too. I was just a girl again, but this girl didn’t owe her strength to fate or chance or a grand destiny. I’d been born with my power; the rest I’d earned.”

(pg. 394)

Alina and Mal grew old and got married together. It was such a quick, but fulfilling epilogue if I ever read one. They didn’t know what the future held for them, but I sure did know now. I loved how they moved back to the village where they grew up and started an orphanage for the kids who were left alone after the war. It went back to their roots in how they grew up together in an orphanage. I loved how homey it sounded with the girl with the bleached blonde hair reading the kids stories and the boy was charming and taught the kids how to fight. I loved how they made a life for themselves that involved kids and the family they made with Zoya, Nikolai, Genya, David, Tolya, and Tamar. I loved how the crew was described as coming back and bringing presents for the kids and that they would all gather together and talk and laugh for hours and it was cute.

It was also interesting to see how after all this time, Mal and Alina still loved each other and had each other’s back. I loved that they would steal kisses in the dark or say sweet things to each other—–keeping the spark alive. They also had their dark days when the darkness and all that they’ve been through still crept up on them in their thoughts, but they lived a life together, fighting it off. I loved how they lived the ordinary life of ordinary things and that they found love.

I think the epilogue was so fitting and simple in a good way. I loved how everything came full circle in how the journey started with two orphans living in a small town, to two owners of an orphanage living in a small town. I loved how they were just normal people without powers, but instead of hiding their love for each other, they were open about it. They all have really come a long way from fighting off the darkness and having all these powers and to surviving death. I’m happy they could build a life together and I wish them happiness. I honestly do.

I’m still wondering if Genya and David ever get married or if Nikolai finds a bride. Is Nikolai the new king of Ravka now? What are Tolya and Tamar up to? I wonder if Mal and Alina would have kids of their own?

Anyway, I thought it was a good ending to a decent family series. I liked how things resolved themselves, but some things in the middle didn’t make sense to me or were kind of anticlimactic, but I enjoyed the story nevertheless. I can’t wait to see what Six of Crows holds for the Grisha verse.

If you read this book, what were your favorite parts? Least favorite parts? Did you like how the series was resolved or would you change anything? Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you 💕

I hope you always have a bright and beautiful day and bring them ruin 😆

As always, with love,

Rating

4.12 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: I loved how everyone was in this book for a last hurrah! Heck, everyone basically lives on except some people——he who won’t be named. Just kidding, he has a name and it’s Aleksander.

Plot: In the end, I really did like the way this book was resolved. Just some parts were confusing and not as interesting as I would hoped it to be.

Writing: Leigh Bardugo is an excellent writer that’s easy to get into.

Action: All the action scenes were more gory with blood than fighting. Most of the fights are just talking through problems—–but there’s nothing wrong with communication—–so if you love peaceful fightings, this is a good series for you. But there are some stabbings, so be warned.

Romance: The love square finally finally solves itself. Also, highly praise David for making an effort in being romantic in this book.