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Review of Ruin and Rising




I am giving this book 4/5 stars! I enjoyed reading this book, and I do think this trilogy finished strong. This has to be my favorite book out of the three.

The Darkling didn't show up as much as I would have liked, which sucked because he is one of my favorite characters. I wish we could have seen more of him and that his personality (not just the villain side of him) was unpacked more. We got to see a little more of that part of him, but I think there could have been more. (This applies to the entire trilogy)

The ending could have been more climatic. It felt lacking in suspense and didn't pull at my emotions the way I would have liked. I felt more emotion when the search for the bird was completed and for what happened after the climax than I did the actual climax. The epilogue pulled at my emotions even more than those though. 

It seemed a little repetitive when looking at the trilogy as a whole. Things were continually brought up about the past, the same moments mentioned multiple times throughout. It kind of lost its power after the first few times and made me feel like I've already read the scene when I hadn't.

The beginning made me a tad irritated because Alina had grown so much in her character just to seemingly go back to the way she was in the beginning. I wanted her fire to come back for a moment and for her to stick up for herself and fight back. She may have been choosing her battles, but it just rubbed my nerves.

The pacing of the book was perfect for me. It wasn't too slow, nor was it too fast. This book kept things interesting enough for me to want to continue to read the book and not put it down when I had started reading. I can't wait for the Netflix adaption and to see Alina's journey brought to life.


This review is also on Goodreads and Bookbub!


Synopsis:
The Grishaverse will be coming to Netflix soon with Shadow and Bone, an original series!

Enter the Grishaverse with Book Three of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. The nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.
The Darkling rules from his shadow throne while a weakened Alina Starkov recovers from their battle under the dubious protection of the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Now her hopes lie with the magic of a long-vanished ancient creature and the chance that an outlaw prince still survives.
As her allies and enemies race toward war, only Alina stands between her country and a rising tide of darkness that could destroy the world. To win this fight, she must seize a legend’s power―but claiming the firebird may be her ruin.
A New York Times Bestselling Series
A USA Today Bestseller
This title has Common Core connections.


Reading log: Dec. 25, 2019 - Dec. 28, 2019

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