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A review by onefineelephant
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
6/10. I am only rating this book this high because I like the premise and some of the side characters but I could hardly stand the actual plot and main characters. I am going to go through the small bits I liked and the big bits I disliked.
Likes:
I liked the part when they break out of the underground cathedral. The scene in the kitchen especially is one of the best scenes in all of the books, imo. The journey to the surface was well done and I like most of the times that everyone is together, almost as a family. The scene where they are being cornered in the field and then Nikolai comes and saves them also was very good.
The Spinning Wheel is really cool and I liked that part of the book. I liked how Baghra sacrificed herself so that Alina and them could escape, it seemed badass and fitting. [After they escaped the Spinning Wheel, I liked the book significantly less.] I also liked the epilogue, it seemed very fitting for Alina and Mal and it was good to read that they and the orphans were able to have some joy.
Dislikes:
I can't stand Alina's power-craving sentiments or Mal's self-sacrificing bs. We barely got Nikolai in this book and then he was turned into a monster. Sergei's death really rubs me the wrong way because it makes it seem like people with mental health conditions are better off dead. The Darkling crashing the Spinning Wheel was super jarring to me and it felt like the author didn't know how to move the plot along so she decided to make him attack (even though it doesn't make any logical sense as to how he got all the way to the Spinning Wheel without being noticed). Nikolai becoming a monster doesn't seem logical either, it felt like a device for the author to just get him out of the picture for a while. Also, the big plot twist of how Mal is the third amplifier is honestly nauseating to me, especially how Alina "knew" the firebird wasn't the third amplifier because of how he "told" her. Then Alina freaking stabs Mal and murders him only to have her immediately lose all of her powers and have them transferred to all the non-Grisha in the area. None of the ending battle scene is logical and all of it makes me mad. Mal is somehow resurrected even though it is not explained at all. And then Alina doesn't even need to have any powers let alone all three amplifiers to stab and murder the Darkling simply because they "lost their connection so he didn't see it coming." It was extremely anti-clamactic and Alina showed too much pity and grace toward him. She stayed with him as he died, humored his request of saying his name, and then allowed him to be honored in death with a proper ceremony and no grave. It honestly makes me sick to think that this man who needlessly murdered and maimed hundreds of people because he "loved his country" was comforted during his final moments. He deserved no mercy.
Likes:
I liked the part when they break out of the underground cathedral. The scene in the kitchen especially is one of the best scenes in all of the books, imo. The journey to the surface was well done and I like most of the times that everyone is together, almost as a family. The scene where they are being cornered in the field and then Nikolai comes and saves them also was very good.
The Spinning Wheel is really cool and I liked that part of the book. I liked how Baghra sacrificed herself so that Alina and them could escape, it seemed badass and fitting. [After they escaped the Spinning Wheel, I liked the book significantly less.] I also liked the epilogue, it seemed very fitting for Alina and Mal and it was good to read that they and the orphans were able to have some joy.
Dislikes:
I can't stand Alina's power-craving sentiments or Mal's self-sacrificing bs. We barely got Nikolai in this book and then he was turned into a monster. Sergei's death really rubs me the wrong way because it makes it seem like people with mental health conditions are better off dead. The Darkling crashing the Spinning Wheel was super jarring to me and it felt like the author didn't know how to move the plot along so she decided to make him attack (even though it doesn't make any logical sense as to how he got all the way to the Spinning Wheel without being noticed). Nikolai becoming a monster doesn't seem logical either, it felt like a device for the author to just get him out of the picture for a while. Also, the big plot twist of how Mal is the third amplifier is honestly nauseating to me, especially how Alina "knew" the firebird wasn't the third amplifier because of how he "told" her. Then Alina freaking stabs Mal and murders him only to have her immediately lose all of her powers and have them transferred to all the non-Grisha in the area. None of the ending battle scene is logical and all of it makes me mad. Mal is somehow resurrected even though it is not explained at all. And then Alina doesn't even need to have any powers let alone all three amplifiers to stab and murder the Darkling simply because they "lost their connection so he didn't see it coming." It was extremely anti-clamactic and Alina showed too much pity and grace toward him. She stayed with him as he died, humored his request of saying his name, and then allowed him to be honored in death with a proper ceremony and no grave. It honestly makes me sick to think that this man who needlessly murdered and maimed hundreds of people because he "loved his country" was comforted during his final moments. He deserved no mercy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail