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tinysierra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“There had been a time when words were the only place he could find solace… each spine had been an open doorway whispering, "Come in, come in. Here is a land you've never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you're frightened, to play when you're bored, to rest when the world seems unkind.“ pg 154
I would not recommend reading King of Scars if you haven’t read Six of Crows or Shadow & Bone. It’s debatable on if you need to read Shadow & Bone before Six of Crows, but in my opinion they are both a must read before King of Scars. King of Scars will not be impactful if you have not read them. The Crows (besides Nina) are not in this book, but they are mentioned.
Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina are all beautiful characters. I love that we got to see King of Scars through their eyes. Leigh Bardugo’s writing is beautiful. The new characters add to the story.
The pacing felt slow and sluggish in the first half, although it did pick up in the second half. I wish I could have skipped straight to the second section.
Again, I love Leigh Bardugo’s writing, but the plot in King of Scars didn’t hold my attention like Six of Crows or even Shadow and Bone did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Fatphobia
nightfell's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Tell me why it felt like nothing happened and yet too much was happening at the same.
If I didn't love Zoya, Nikolai and Nina as much as I did this book would probably be a 3-3.5 star read but their personalities are what really made reading this book such an enjoyable experience.
I loved Zoya's character arc towards the end of the book. Her growth was subtle but impactful, and I loved how she grew into herself (even more) and her powers, I love seeing her embrace herself and gaining strength. I love her character so much.
For a book named after Nikolai, there was a lack of his presence throughout the book. He was present for most of it, and all his scenes and internal monologues and flashbacks were great, but I was left wanting more. I think his character could have been fleshed out even more, and his relationships with other characters apart from Zoya.
Nina really shined and came into herself, and I loved seeing her growth from grieving to regaining her strength. I think the turn about from her grieving to moving on was abrupt and sudden, which was a bit unrealistic, but it could be argued that it makes sense in context.
This was such a comforting read, and anyone who had read the previous Grishaverse books should read this one, I flew through it.
<spoilers>
I wasn't expecting this book to be full of SNAKES but after every few chapters they kept appearing. Yuri's whole character was annoying because I should have predicted he'd do something like give himself up for the Darkling to inhabit his body, but that's probably a me problem be I don't care to guess ahead, but it still annoyed me.
The Darkling's return was expected due to spoilers, however I like how it came about, and it left a perfect cliffhanger for row.
I love how after genya, David and the others realised Nikolai and Zoya were missing they acted like they could not care less. The ambivalent way they were acting made it seem like they forgot they ever cared about them in any way, it's so funny for no reason. They didn't even question it, they just said: anyways so....
Nikolai and Zoya's relationship was depicted in such an authentic way for their characters, I loved it. I loved the small nuanced parts when they would get jealous or briefly question why they're feeling weird that they feel a certain way. When Zoya would feel conflicted over being the one to organise brides for Nikolai and THE ENDING when he just proposed to Ehri and she was like what. Or when Nikolai would want to move closer to her or have an excuse to talk to her. It was so good and I can't wait for their wedding in row.
I loved the storyline concerning Zoya's amplifier and how she got it, how it broke and how Juris trained her before she killed him and took his scales as her amplifier. It was satisfying in a weird way. I also kind of liked when she was sobbing over her broken amplifier in a sick way, because I pretty sure that was one of the only times in the 500+ page book where she showed an emotion other than bemused impatience (I'm not complaining, just saying).
Nina and Hanne's relationship was so sweet, I also knew it would happen due to spoilers but it was still a nice surprise? They were so cute I love them. Nina simping is what I didn't know I needed, "and then you're glorious" *screams into pillow* I can't wait for them to confess their feelings in row I'm waiting. I also love the sapphic representation as I know tamar and nadia are sapphic rep but their relationship was never focused on nor that developed, so it's nice for nina and hanna to have a built up relationship. I just hope Hanne isn't too mad at nina for continuing to lie (about what I don't know I lost track of her lies lol)
I wasn't expecting the whole fake Nikolai plotline with Isaak but i enjoyed it. There's a sort of beautiful symmetry in Isaak and Ehri's relationship: they were both pretending to be someone of high status than they really were, they fell in love and then they died, only for the real Nikolai and Ehri to get engaged. It's twisted, but in an engaging way. I actually thought they were cute until realised she was trying to kill Isaak, he didn't deserve that.
If I didn't love Zoya, Nikolai and Nina as much as I did this book would probably be a 3-3.5 star read but their personalities are what really made reading this book such an enjoyable experience.
I loved Zoya's character arc towards the end of the book. Her growth was subtle but impactful, and I loved how she grew into herself (even more) and her powers, I love seeing her embrace herself and gaining strength. I love her character so much.
For a book named after Nikolai, there was a lack of his presence throughout the book. He was present for most of it, and all his scenes and internal monologues and flashbacks were great, but I was left wanting more. I think his character could have been fleshed out even more, and his relationships with other characters apart from Zoya.
Nina really shined and came into herself, and I loved seeing her growth from grieving to regaining her strength. I think the turn about from her grieving to moving on was abrupt and sudden, which was a bit unrealistic, but it could be argued that it makes sense in context.
This was such a comforting read, and anyone who had read the previous Grishaverse books should read this one, I flew through it.
<spoilers>
I wasn't expecting this book to be full of SNAKES but after every few chapters they kept appearing. Yuri's whole character was annoying because I should have predicted he'd do something like give himself up for the Darkling to inhabit his body, but that's probably a me problem be I don't care to guess ahead, but it still annoyed me.
The Darkling's return was expected due to spoilers, however I like how it came about, and it left a perfect cliffhanger for row.
I love how after genya, David and the others realised Nikolai and Zoya were missing they acted like they could not care less. The ambivalent way they were acting made it seem like they forgot they ever cared about them in any way, it's so funny for no reason. They didn't even question it, they just said: anyways so....
Nikolai and Zoya's relationship was depicted in such an authentic way for their characters, I loved it. I loved the small nuanced parts when they would get jealous or briefly question why they're feeling weird that they feel a certain way. When Zoya would feel conflicted over being the one to organise brides for Nikolai and THE ENDING when he just proposed to Ehri and she was like what. Or when Nikolai would want to move closer to her or have an excuse to talk to her. It was so good and I can't wait for their wedding in row.
I loved the storyline concerning Zoya's amplifier and how she got it, how it broke and how Juris trained her before she killed him and took his scales as her amplifier. It was satisfying in a weird way. I also kind of liked when she was sobbing over her broken amplifier in a sick way, because I pretty sure that was one of the only times in the 500+ page book where she showed an emotion other than bemused impatience (I'm not complaining, just saying).
Nina and Hanne's relationship was so sweet, I also knew it would happen due to spoilers but it was still a nice surprise? They were so cute I love them. Nina simping is what I didn't know I needed, "and then you're glorious" *screams into pillow* I can't wait for them to confess their feelings in row I'm waiting. I also love the sapphic representation as I know tamar and nadia are sapphic rep but their relationship was never focused on nor that developed, so it's nice for nina and hanna to have a built up relationship. I just hope Hanne isn't too mad at nina for continuing to lie (about what I don't know I lost track of her lies lol)
I wasn't expecting the whole fake Nikolai plotline with Isaak but i enjoyed it. There's a sort of beautiful symmetry in Isaak and Ehri's relationship: they were both pretending to be someone of high status than they really were, they fell in love and then they died, only for the real Nikolai and Ehri to get engaged. It's twisted, but in an engaging way. I actually thought they were cute until realised she was trying to kill Isaak, he didn't deserve that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I went into this book fully expecting it to be completely centred around Nikolai and for him to be the star of the show, but this was definitely not the case in a surprisingly good way. Instead, the female characters absolutely SHONE in this book and completely stole the show. They were just incredible. It was a joy to read from Nina's perspective again, but it was actually Zoya who I fell in love with. She's had such an incredible character arc over the course of the Grishaverse and that was really revealed and expanded upon in this book. She's such a bad ass and doing a much better job of being the main character than Nikolai is.
Being back in the Grishaverse was a delight, but so was reading Bardugo's writing again. It is wonderfully descriptive, and her plot development here is truly on another level in comparison to Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. I really enjoyed seeing her expand her world-building, and she REALLY knows how to write incredible endings.
I docked a half-star for two reasons. The first is that I felt extremely disconnected from Nikolai, to the point where (shockingly, given he was one of my favourite characters in Shadow and Bone), I was dreading his POV chapters. The second is that for the first half of this book the plot felt a little directionless in that I didn't really know what the book was going to be about until like 250 pages in.Also, the return of the Darkling kind of feels like a cheap enemy and I'm worried about how it's going to impact my enjoyment of Rule of Wolves.
Being back in the Grishaverse was a delight, but so was reading Bardugo's writing again. It is wonderfully descriptive, and her plot development here is truly on another level in comparison to Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. I really enjoyed seeing her expand her world-building, and she REALLY knows how to write incredible endings.
I docked a half-star for two reasons. The first is that I felt extremely disconnected from Nikolai, to the point where (shockingly, given he was one of my favourite characters in Shadow and Bone), I was dreading his POV chapters. The second is that for the first half of this book the plot felt a little directionless in that I didn't really know what the book was going to be about until like 250 pages in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Alcohol
brokencastles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Such an amazing book as always from the Grishaverse, I wanted to to go on forever if I’m honest!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Addiction and Fatphobia