Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Publication Date:
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Review:
I adored Shadow and Bone, and Siege and Storm totally blew me away. I don’t make a habit of pre-ordering books but I pre-ordered Ruin and Rising. Yeah, that’s how much I wanted to get my hands on this series finale. When I began Ruin and Rising I was expecting fireworks, angels singing, and an extremely hot guy (preferably dressed in black) to ride in on a unicorn.
I feel like this series ender gave me all of those things, although, not necessarily in the way I expected them. The beginning of the story took some time to get in to. I don’t know if it was because I was nervous that everything was going to end terribly, or because the beginning was re-capping, or maybe I am just not a fan of underground settings. Anyway, I read it slowly and it wasn’t until a little over half way through that I couldn’t put it down. From fifty-percent on Bardugo’s lovely prose took over and I couldn’t wait to see what she had in store for Mal, Alina, The Darkling, and Sturmhound.
For those of you wondering if everything is going to turn out okay I’ll put your fears at ease and tell you it does. But that is as close to a spoiler as I’m going to let slip.
The characters in Ruin and Rising were once again fantastic. Looking back over the notes I took while reading it’s a lot of “Sturmhond’s my favorite”, “Sturmhond, Baghra!” and even more “Sturmhond’s still my favorite”. At least I’m consistent, and Sturmhond is consistently awesome. Every scene he was in he stole. I like his easy, confident swagger and would love to know what happens to him following the events in Ruin and Rising.
Last Summer I represented The Darkling in YA Sisterhood’s Summer Crush Tournament. We made it all the way to the Top 8! I make no secret about how much I like the man in black…even after the events in Siege and Storm forced me to see him in a new light. I still admired his character and could see why he made the choices he did for Ravka. In Ruin and Rising The Darkling and Alina face more difficult choices and I couldn’t see their story ending any other way.
Overall, Ruin and Rising wasn’t the big epic finale I was expecting but it was definitely a satisfying read. It gave me that fuzzy “I finished a series” feeling and I am already looking forward to Bardugo’s next work, whatever that may be!
Aw. Sorry it wasn't what you've expected. While the majority of the blogosphere goes gaga over these books, I'm not at all that enthused about them. I will be reading this one just to finish them off, though.
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