Book Review: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising (Grisha Trilogy #3) by Leigh Bardugo

Blurb:

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

My Review:

Alina wakes up powerless after her last failed attempt at ending the Darkling, in a set of underground tunnels called The White Chapel. There she and her band of survivors are under the rule of the Apparat who preaches to Alina's followers that she's a living saint who will one day be queen. But that's hard to believe when Alina can't summon anything but shadows after dipping into merzost. 

Mal and her friends devise a plan to get her sun summoner power back and escape from the White Chapel and soon they are back above ground to search for Morozova's 3rd amplifier and their ally Nikolai. But the Darkling isn't going to make it easy for Alina and her allies. 

As Alina, Mal and the others hunt for the firebird more of their friends will die at the hands of the Darkling, others will be changed forever, and Alina will wonder if its' even possible to win against the Darkling. And when a startling discovery about the third amplifier's true identity comes to light it might be too much for Alina to bear.

Can Alina kill the Darkling and destroy the fold without sacrificing the thing she loves most in the world? Or will ending the Darkling steal Alina's life as well?

I liked this book, even though I couldn't read Siege and Storm in between Shadow and Bone and Ruin and Rising. (in my defense, the library's only copy was checked out.) There were things I obviously missed out on in book two, like when Mal and Alina meet Nikolai, which I would definitely like to go back and read as well as Alina's second attempt to kill the Darkling, but I felt that bits and pieces were rehashed at the beginning of the book, enough so that I could get some idea of what had happened. 

My favorite character in this book was Nikolai, his personality was a breath of fresh air among the grim happenings of the rest of the book. I can't wait for him to get his own book! I still don't understand why Alina chose Mal, but they didn't bother me as a couple so much by the end. 

I actually love the way the ending of the trilogy was plotted. If everything had been easy and Mal had no trouble finding the firebird and Alina could claim it so easily as the third amplifier it would have been a dull book. This gave the characters struggles to deal with along the way, sacrifices to potentially make, and tragedies to overcome. After all, this is war and not everyone could make it out alive.

I both liked and disliked the ending. I liked the resolution and how things were wrapped up, even if I disagree with how Alina chose to make herself disappear at the end, but I really liked the "After." It fit well with the story even if it wasn't the choice I would have made. After all, the ending was all Alina had wanted from the beginning. 

Overall, I think this is definitely a book worth reading and a good end to Alina's story. I can't wait to read Nikolai's story in 2019 and see if any of the other characters in this book pop up and how, if they do.

My Rating:

★★★★1/2

4.5 of 5 Stars!