Title: Ruin & Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Also by this Author: Siege & Storm, book 2
Series: The Shadow & Bone Trilogy, book 3
Age Category: Young Adult
Published by: Henry Holt, June 2014
Pages: 307p.
Genre: Epic fantasy
About Ruin & Rising
The conclusion to the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Alina barely survived the battle with the Darkling, were it not for Mal's intervention it would have killed her.
The aftermath drove them into the hands of the Apparat, once a loyal servant of the king, who now had other plans. That involves Alina taking the throne of the Darkling.
Will she be a puppet or will she once and for all break free from all the bonds that hold her?
My thoughts on Ruin & Rising
I remember that after finishing Siege and Storm I dove right into this one, and read it in one sitting, well maybe not one, I am an immensely slow reader, let's say it took me a week, which in my book, is damn fast. I could not put it down, and when I did I kept thinking about it.
I didn't take many notes while reading this, which means that it was so intriguing that I just forgot to stop and write things down. Also a very good thing, I really really got invested in this book. I also think that Alina finally made the choices that I had been hoping she would take before. Taking a more active approach instead of not taking initiative at all. She is still the reluctant hero but it is more in the background than it was in the other books. This makes this book a lot more enjoyable for me.
If you have read my other reviews on this series, you know how much I struggle with Alina's character. She drove me mad sometimes, it was very hard to read some of the questionable choices she made, but in the end, it made a lot of sense for the character she is. She gets thrown into a world and a position where she doesn't want to be. She finally accepts that this is the hand she got dealt and now finally makes the most of the situation. She has so much character growth throughout the series and we know have come to the climax of this.
The overall storyline about Morozova's amplifiers also comes to a conclusion, and the very large amplifier was the most interesting turn of the entire series. I had not seen this one coming, I am not going to spoil things for those who have not read the series yet, but yes this book has some surprises in store.
I liked that this book has its own lore, it helped the world-building a lot, but it also made the story more dynamic. As to the world-building, I am still sad that there isn't more to it in this series, at times I felt that the books were a bit rushed in this regard. I am glad that there are more books set in this world and hope that the other 2 duologies have more history and world-building in store for me.
Rating Ruin and Rising
This was a good conclusion to the series, the main characters ended up with their desired futures, and the world of Ravka was saved. However, to me, it was not a work of perfection, so it will still leave me stranded on 4 cats. This has to do with me not liking the main character all that much, the sometimes rushed world-building, and the overall story.
The world that was created is amazing, the magic system is very interesting and something I have not read before, and all I can say is I just want a whole lot more of that. Unfortunately, I did not receive all that. I am going to continue with the other 4 books, as I do really like Ravka, and I really like Nikolai.
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