Reviews

Ruin and Rising, by Leigh Bardugo

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coral25's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jezzebelljc's review against another edition

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2.0

"Please tell me you plan to dress up as a volcra and jump out of a cake."

Blinding Light

The best part of this one by far was the beginning. I loved seeing Nikolai take charge and the rescue missions by him are always a blast to read. Truly, I wish this series was about him as he is an amazing character but unfortunately he's not in this story much.

I enjoyed learning more about the Darkling's past and the history of this world. I thought getting more information about the amplifiers was a great touch to the story.

Again, the side characters are always fun to read about. There is a large group of very different people that all add their own quirks to the story.

Darkness Reigns

So this one was good in the beginning, progressively got boring, and then just flat made me angry. There are so many amazing powers in this story, and the heroine has this huge power that could've had such astonishing potential, and she hardly ever uses it. I am just astounded by how much her power is 'talked' up and then she barely delivers.

Back to our heroine, she makes some incredibly outrageous choices in this one. In the first one she was lacking in self esteem, in the second one she actually wanted to die in parts, and in this one she is greedy and self-serving. Yes, everyone has faults, but this is supposed to be the mobad heroine that the whole world is rallying behind and frankly she doesn't deserve the support. The way everything was 'resolved' just leaves me shaking my head. I cannot fathom the choices that were made. It was all very unbelievable to me.

Bound Together

The romance I enjoyed in this one until a crazy choice by Alina. Then I'm just trying to figure out how on earth Mal can stand to be around her.

Pyres Burning in the Distance

The series as a whole started out good and slowly got worse. I was expecting much more out of the story because the concept is so wonderful. The powers that the characters have could truly have gone somewhere fantastic. This one was a let down. The side characters are great and definitely carry the story.

valkyriejoy7's review against another edition

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4.0

*decided to write a review now that I've binged the Netflix series and Ben Barnes as the Darkling has reawakened my FEELINGS about this series*

Listen, I am trash. I am enemies-to-lover,s villian/anti-hero love interest TRASH.
Did the Darkling do a whole lotta murders to further his own power? Yes of course. Is he ultimately a terrible person? Obviously. Was I rooting for his sexy dark self to either get a redemption arc or turn Alina dark? You betcha. Mal is fine. And this series is super interesting and well written and I like it...but I just wanted a different ending. Because again...I am trash.