Quick Thoughts: Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone #3) by Leigh Bardugo

*This review contains spoilers.*

Ruin and Rising

(Shadow and Bone #3)

by Leigh Bardugo

June 17, 2014

422 pages

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Review

Ruin and Rising is such a satisfying end to the story that started in Shadow and Bone. I really enjoyed the time I spent inside this trilogy. I've missed a good old YA fantasy!

What I Liked:

- a very satisfying ending

- the leftover Grishas becoming close and working together

- I had been spoiled on the identity of the last amplifier but I enjoyed seeing it come about

- unexpected sacrifices (particularly Baghra's)

- the Darkling's defeat, finally!

- no one was more deserving of an HEA than Alina and Mal

- the AFTER felt bittersweet but calming

- the hints at future stories

The Not So Much:

- the pacing was a little off

- so many deaths (I know wars tend to have casualties but I'm still sad)

- what happened to Nikolai *sobs* (it's a good one but I still hate the fact that he suffered)

"War is the price of change." (p. 55)

"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." (p.132)

"Maybe love was superstition, a prayer we said to keep the truth of loneliness at bay." (p. 233-234)