The Grisha Trilogy

Review of Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

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Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy Book 3) by [Leigh Bardugo]

Synopsis:
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.

Review:
It was hard to get into this, seeing Alina start as such a meek and modest person. Despite continuously not wanting to be used and controlled, she always tends to end up in situations where people are telling her what to do, how to look, how to act. She never really steps up and figures out what needs to be done- there’s always someone else there with the answer (Thank you, David).

This book was when I finally gave up any hope that the Darkling would be redeemed. So much potential for him to be changed. I did, however, quite come to like between the second and third books, Nikolai. In many ways I was disappointed in how this one ended, in part because I thought she would have made a good queen to Nikolai. Of all the things they could have done when free, I hadn’t expected what they chose.

Star Rating: ✯✯✯

Review of Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

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Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy Book 2) by [Leigh Bardugo]

Synopsis:
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Alina Starkov’s power has grown, but not without a price. She is the Sun Summoner—hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Shadow Fold. But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies for long.

The Darkling is more determined than ever to claim Alina’s magic and use it to take the Ravkan throne. With nowhere else to turn, Alina enlists the help of an infamous privateer and sets out to lead the Grisha army.

But as the truth of Alina’s destiny unfolds, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s deadly game of forbidden magic, and further away from her humanity. To save her country, Alina will have to choose between her power and the love she thought would always be her shelter. No victory can come without sacrifice—and only she can face the oncoming storm.

Review:
Running from your problems never solves them, as Alina and Mal find. While I was team Darkling in book 1, finding that he’d be willing to completely destroy Mal to get closer to Alina definitely made me dislike him. As Alina grows into her powers and learns what she believes she has to do and use her abilities for, she becomes a different person. While this is addressed several times in conversations, Mal still holds out hope that she’s still the same person whereas when this type of thing happens, two people wanting different things with their lives, generally that is when they move apart. Though admirable that Mal still wanted to stay close and do his job… is it really?

Star Rating: ✯✯✯✯

Review of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy Book 1) by [Leigh Bardugo]

Synopsis:
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold—a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.

Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite—and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift.

As the threat to the kingdom mounts and Alina unlocks the secrets of her past, she will make a dangerous discovery that could threaten all she loves and the very future of a nation.

Welcome to Ravka . . . a world of science and superstition where nothing is what it seems.

Review:
It was hard for me to get into this book at first, and it wasn’t until the third chapter that I really got into it and became invested. The relationships were definitely not enticing, and there were several times I was hoping she would give up on what she knew before and embrace what she could have instead. I did enjoy how the author had Russian influences, because it’s always fun to learn about another culture, and I will say I think it very much added to this trilogy.

Star Rating: ✯✯✯✯