REVIEW- Rule of Wolves (Leigh Bardugo)

Book #2 of the KING OF SCARS
by Leigh Bardugo

***WARNING- This review contains MAJOR SPOILERS***

To set things right, this series is a continuation of Shadow & Bone trilogy and it takes place some time after the events of Six of Crows duology. We are back we Ravka mainly, following the uneasy rule of Ravka's new king Nikolai Lantsov (who struggles to bring Ravka back from the consequences of the Darkling's civil war). We also have the perspective of General Zoya Nazyalensky, Ravka' most powerful squeller and one of the Grisha leaders. Then there is Nina Zenik, who is on her own quest as the king's spy in Fjerda's heart, the Ice Court, and she now has the bold Grisha Hanne Brum at her side; together they seek the way to stop a war between Ravka and Fjerda and to give Ravka a chance to win. Rumours that the birthright on Ravka's throne lays with another than Nikolai are getting stronger and Nina is trying to help Nikolai. Meanwhile, Nikolai are Zoya have to deal with the Darkling after he tricked them in the Fold and they have to save Ravka from the invasion of Fjerda and Shu Han (given the questioning of Nikolai's bloodline, it is not so easy). There are also few chapters from the Darkling's POV.

This is the second and last book of the King of Scars series. The first one was also very good, I love Nikolai so I was really excited to read it. But I didn't write a review because it wasn't so significant as the second book (also, why did they killed Isaac? He was so young and sweet and loyal. I liked him so much and this was bad). But as it turned out- there were more heartbreaks coming 💔

As I said I liked all of the series very much, Grishaverse is one of my favourite fantasy worlds and I love Leigh's worldbuilding so I am always glad to come back. This book was so packed with action, there was always something going on and it was faster than King of Scars (that was sometimes a bit slow pacing).
I love different POVs, it's always refreshing and more exciting to switch between more people. But sometimes I got the uneasy feeling of being torn out of the storyline to be suddenly entirely elsewhere and it took a long time before we got back to the point of the previous person. Then I always had to remember what exactly was happening in that perspective.

There were several plots in this book and everytime one was finished and cleared, another twist came and I liked that, it means the book wasn't boring but sometimes I didn't have enough time to recover between the plots. Maybe I am weird but I am used to think aboout the conclusions and this one didn't give me a chance 😅

There is no need to talk about the characters- easygoing and funny Nikolai is my forever love and negative, sarcastic (their common trait) Zoya has my heart in this duology (I confess I pretty much disliked her in both previous series). Than we have smart and reckless Nina who I always loved for her great comments about food and her skills as a Heartrender. Nina is slowly recovering from the loss of Matthias (I am never ever going to forgive that to Leigh) mostly thanks to her friend (something else later) Hanne Brum of Fjerda. Also lots of known and adored characters take appearance here which was so amazing- Mal and Alina, genious and ruthless Kaz, sarcastic and gorgeous Jesper (another forever love), Wylan, even Inej for a bit in the end (love her too) and of course the Darkling.

I expected some great blow to my heart here, since the duology is supposed to end with a grand battle and I braced myself slowly for who it might be. But I am not gonna lie, the blow came earlier and totally unexpected (somewhere in the middle of the book out of the blue sky) and I think nobody could forsee that coming. This incident broke my heart (even more to think of the occassion- the wedding! Poor Genya). 💔 It was totally unfair from Leigh to do that to me while I was still recovering from Isaak's death and for the rest of the book I was so affraid what else she might have prepared. And rightly of course.

In this series, we get to look to almost every country of Grishaverse- mainly we are in Ravka and Fjerda, which we now get to know a bit better, than we have a trip to Ketterdam to visit our great group of thieves and finally, we also see some parts of Shu Han which is new. I loved this connection of all the main countries and really enjoyed this aspect.

All the book I knew that Zoyalai was coming and couldn't wait for it (I was dying for them to be together for the whole series 💕), but I honestly didn't expect Nikolai to give up his throne and pass the crown to her! For me, he would always be Nikolai Lantsov, the King of Ravka! Sorry for the spoiler, I just couldn't help it and I warned you...

And in the end, there is the only one really big minus for me. It effects the overall feeling about this book. In the last 150 pages I got the feeling that Leigh thought the book is starting to get too big and long so she squeezed a lot of important incidents and twists to the final small chapters and made a quick end. Like the visit to the monastery (which was one of the main goals of the book after all and it took only few pages) or the whole Darkling's return thing (I expected it would be a bigger deal and that they all would actually be a bit more concerned?)

I still think it is a great book, but it could have easily been a trilogy and the whole series falls one step behind SIX OF CROWS duology. Finally, did Leigh really intended to give the feeling like there might be a sequel to the SoC?!?!

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The copy of this book presented in the pictures is from Knihy Dobrovský- the picture is featuring the main series of the review- The Rule of Wolves and the King of Scars and also the other Grishaverse books- Shadow & Bone, Siege & Storm, Ruin & Rising, Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. You can find the picture on my instagram account @michelles_bookshelves

REVIEW: Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo)

Happy  wednesday!

How are you all? Today is 28th October, which is a national day here in Czech republic- Czechoslovak Independace Day. Eventhough in the current situation we can't talk about freedom much (or democracy or freedom of movement). I had another reason to left home today and join my family for a little family celebration. My future brother-in-law (in case you missed it on my Instagram, I am going to get married in July 😍😁!!!). Anyway my future brother-in-law just turned 30 today. So I cooked a lunch and my future mother-in-law made a quick homemade cake. It was a nice family afternoon and when I got home, I finally had a time to finish my current read- SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo.

I have to say that this book was on my TBR for so long that I am really ashamed I haven't read it earlier. I really don't know why it took me so long to read it. I loved the first Grisha trilogy (Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and rising), I loved the whole setting and the characters of the Grishaverse and I was so eager to start the second duology. I took me very long but I am really happy I finally got to read it.

This book was amazing! As I said, it is the first part of a second Grishaverse series by Leigh Bardugo and eventhough I loved the first series very much, I think that this one was even better. But don't get me wrong. When I say better, now I just mean better written (I am not talking about the plot right now). It seams the author gets better and more experienced with every book and it is visible in her writing style. She is very good at describing the surroundings, the detailed plans of buildings and cities and the description of nature. I always appreciate it because I love to picture the world in my head as I read. It is even better if there is a map in the book too (voilá! There are even two of them 😍!). 

I was glad to see also other background than only Ravka as in the first trilogy. In Six of Crows we move from Ravka across the True sea to a smaller island named Kerch, there is a detailed description of the city of Ketterdam, its layout and the city's rules. The second part of the book takes place in Fjerda, we follow the frozen northern nature and very detailed plan of the Ice Court. 

Aside from different setting, there is also a diversity of characters and I loved that very much. Among the six main characters we can see almost all nationalities (Kerch, Zemeni, Ravkan, Suli, Fjerdan) and in the end even Shu. It added a kind of variety to the story, because every one nation has its own traditions, Saints and qualities they value. It gave me a chance to understand the characters a little more (their behaviours, natures and reasons for doing things). I also always enjoy books with multiple points of view which was a plus here. We could follow the story through the eyes of six different people so we often got a different POV on the same event or we could follow two people doing different jobs at the same time. 

All POVs are told in the third person (not by the character itself) and the narrator is omniscient, that means that the narrator knows everything about the characters. Since I have studied literature I always thought that the omniscient narrator was the hardest (for the readers to get to know the character). It is so much easier to empathize with a character who tells the story himself (first-person narration), if you can follow their feelings, moods, emotions and inner world. So according to me, not each author can achieve this through a third-person narration. But Leigh made it and that I really call a Writer with a capital W! When I read it, I felt like I knew those people, I knew their fears, their qualities, their limits and their emotions. 

I hate it when I can't emphatize with the characters, the story feels incomplete, shallow and I really can't enjoy the reading. But this definitely was not that case!

The theme of criminals was very interesting to me because basically they are bad people but I saw them as the good ones (eventhough they were killers and thieves, selfish and cruel). I usually read about good people so this was a refreshing change. I have to say that some parts were hard for me, I am a sensitive person (I admit I often cry while reading 😁) so it is hard for me to read about the cruel conditions the children have to endure (such as Kaz when he is thinking back about his arrival in Ketterdam) or the girls being forced to slavery. It always makes me sad to see the contrast between poor people fighting to survive every day and the rich who often don't deserve it. A book that reflects those conditions is always a strong experience for me (even if it's fictional).

WARNING- POSSIBLE SPOILER!

I think that there is only one minus that I have to point out- and that is the Grisha. I loved the topic of powerful gifted people in the first trilogy, how they used their power and all the incredible things they were capable of. But in this book, there was only one Grisha that could do something. All the others who were mentioned in the book were pictured as weak slaves under the effects of some addictive drug so it kind of ruined my image about the powerful and dreaded Grisha army. And because of that I will take a half star down. I expected more Grisha power as in the first trilogy but this book is mostly about "ordinary" people who are skilled but not in the supernatural way.

The beginning was a bit slower and it was hard for me to catch on what was going on. Partly it was because the English was a little bit more difficult than I am used to. But when I adapted, it was thrilling and I just kept reading.

In the end, it was a very well-written book full of interesting characters, dangerous and thrilling twists during this impossible quest. 

I highly recommend!

MY RATING 4,5⭐/5⭐

REVIEW: Shadow and bone (Leigh Bardugo)

Hello everyone!

Yes, you noticed right that I am writing an English review after (let me think...) a veeeery long time I would say. I had a new job, also some exams left from last year and the school his getting harder with the last year so I really have lots of things to do. That's the reason why this is my first article after five months (I think? The time flies...) so I wanted my comeback to be magnificent. If you are not sure enough with your English, scroll down to the second part of the article which will be in Czech (pokud si svou angličtinou nejste natolik jisti, sjeďte na spodní polovinu článku) 😊
I hope you will like this review at least as much as I liked the following book...

I guess it's time to tell you the name of the book we will talk about, don't you think? So this review is going to be about Shadow & bone, a book One from the Grisha trilogy written by Leigh Bardugo who became really famous after this book had come out. And it is justly deserved because this book was really really good.