Review: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

“na razrusha’ya. i am not ruined. e’ya razrushost. i am ruination.”

leigh bardugo

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Goodreads Summary: 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.

Rating:

Thoughts:

It feels like a sin to say this but I feel disappointed. Disappointed by the way the romance went. Disappointed by the ending. Disappointed by the aspects of the book that weren’t developed or explored. I definitely didn’t hate the book which is why I’m giving it 3 stars still, but it wasn’t as satisfying a conclusion as I had hoped.

This book was stronger than its predecessor as far as the plot went. It was much more engaging and far more interesting for me. I especially loved the twist concerning the third amplifier although I found some aspects regarding it to be confusing. I enjoyed the new places we got to travel in this installment and I really loved the way the book opened with the aftermath of what took place in Siege and Storm and the new struggles Alina now had to face. I think I prefer the battle scene from the second book over what happened in this one but both were certainly epic.

Alina is still a great character in this book. I loved her struggle against her newfound ambition and who she actually wanted to be deep inside. Watching her power grow was an exciting part of the book for me. I also loved that Bardugo maintained that strange, uneasy connection Alina had forged with the Darkling. I’m not sure what it is exactly about Mal that makes him such a meh character for me. Maybe it’s the way he resigns himself to things yet also openly pouts about them. Maybe it’s his penchant for passive aggression. He’s definitely written as a realistic character which is nice albeit a bit annoying for my taste. Whatever it is, I definitely prefer many of the side characters compared to Mal and find them to be more interesting. Zoya stole the show for me multiple times. And my poor baby Nikolai. It really felt like Bardugo didn’t have anywhere to easily write him into the plot so she just subjected him to the fate we see. I do wish that we’d gotten more of the Darkling throughout these books. He’s such an intriguing character yet we only get glimpses of him. But the glimpses we do get gave him so much development and I love the feeling I was left with in how I felt like I know the Darkling but also don’t know him at all. I just wish Bardugo didn’t have a pattern of barely writing her best characters into her books.

The ending was okay. Even though I had a pretty good guess how the book would end, I still was hoping to see a Darth Vader pulled and see a character embrace the darkness for once in young adult. And if that couldn’t have happened, I would’ve been satisfied with a different part of the love triangle (square?) explored. The complexity of Morozova’s story was a welcome surprise for me and lent a twist I hadn’t been expecting. I didn’t particularly love the price Alina had to pay in order to accomplish the ending but I am still okay with it overall. My hardback copy of the book has the Darkling’s prequel in it which I anticipate to love more than I loved this book. Onto it then onto Six of Crows!

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