Ruin And Rising

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

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.

Shadow and Bone is one of my favorite books of all time, so I went into this final book feeling excited, but also nervous. I was scared that this last book in the series might taint my love for book one if it disappointed me. This series finale definitely impressed me with the foreshadowing, plot twists, and epic feel. But it also left me with mixed feelings about how this series ended.

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Alina and Mal

One of the main things that made me fall in love with the Shadow and Bone Trilogy was Alina and her beautiful, unselfish love for Mal. In book one, Mal was more than just her best friend, and he was so much more than just her steamy hot crush. Alina and Mal shared a deep and loyal bond like they were family! Needless to say, Alina’s likeability went way down for me when she stabbed Mal in the chest.

Mal ‘s Sacrifice

I really would’ve liked to see Alina taking a more proactive role in trying to prevent Mal from sacrificing himself. If Alina had to do something so drastic as killing Mal, I needed to feel like she had no other choice. If it absolutely had to happen, I needed to feel that all other possible options had been exhausted by her first.

I would have liked to see Alina try to run away with Mal. Or I would’ve liked to see her try to keep Mal away from the final battle by slipping something into Mal’s drink to knock him out and tying him up to keep him safe. As a last resort, she could have gone to the Darkling and tried to strike a deal with him, even agreed to marry him to prevent the final battle from taking place. Obviously all these attempts would fail in the end, but I just needed to see her try.

Personally, best case scenario for me would have been if Mal could’ve found a way to somehow sacrifice himself without Alina’s cooperation. Mal could have arranged with the other Grisha to help him. They could have held her down and strapped the knife to her hand and forcefully moved her wrist to plunge the knife into Mal’s chest against her will.

What Was Keeping Mal and Alina Apart?

Whether it is true or not, to me it felt like the only thing keeping Alina and Mal apart in book three, was Alina.

Alina said she couldn’t be with Mal because she needed to make a political alliance and marry someone who could provide her with an army. But my mind rebelled against this explanation, because Alina was already besties with Nikolai. So basically, marriage or not, they had a common enemy and she already had access to his armies without marrying him. And I couldn’t help thinking: Alina is not some desperate princess. She is the one and only Sun Summoner and Saint. She is powerful enough to call the shots, to set the terms, to marry whomever she wants and still form political alliances without resorting to marriage.

LOL, who knows, maybe Alina did have good reasons. Maybe my heart just refused to accept the  idea of Alina marrying anyone but Mal 🙂

Alina and the Darkling

I am still trying to process the shock from the epically tragic way Alina and the Darkling’s relationship ended.

Despite his inexcusable character flaws, I had a soft spot for the Darkling. LOL, yes, yes, I know he was evil, but like Baghra I always hoped against all odds for his redemption. Even if he could never be with Alina, and even if he could never get a happy ending after all the despicable things he did, I always hoped his love for Alina would make him do the right thing in the end. I don’t know, like maybe he would sacrifice himself to save her from his own evil creations or something.

Alina’s Character Arc

Throughout the story, Alina says she misses the old Alina, the girl who couldn’t kill the first amplifier, I missed that girl too. I did not like her character arc. Alina reminded me a little too much of the Darkling in the end. They both started out with noble intentions but as they grew more hungry for power they started to justify all sorts of evil acts.

Alina and Nikolai

Although I liked Nikolai as a character, if I’m being honest, I didn’t want him in this series. I loved Mal, and yes, I even loved the Darkling. And because I loved Mal and the Darkling, I didn’t have space in my heart for a third rival for Alina’s heart.

Hawhaw and Oncat

Did anyone else think that Oncat was going to turn out to not really be a cat in the end? Hawshaw and Oncat really cracked me up and I was kind of hoping that Oncat would play a bigger role in the story. I thought Oncat was going to turn out to be the Darkling’s spy or something. Especially after Alina asked the Darkling why he stopped using their bond to come to her and spy on her, he said something cryptic about her not knowing things.  

The Ending

After Alina killed Mal, I didn’t care that much about the outcome of the final battle against the Darkling. Even though I had a hunch that Mal might be brought back to life somehow, it kinda felt like she didn’t deserve him anymore. After Alina killed the Darkling, I struggled to feel any joy for their victory over the Fold. Fortunately, I did have a change of heart by the end of the book. Despite everything that Alina did to Mal and the Darkling, I found my heart slowly thawing toward her again. And by the end of the book, I was genuinely happy for Alina when she married Mal. To be honest, I kinda wished the story ended right there on that high note.

Although I can understand why the extra bit at the end was included, I personally would have preferred it if the book had left it out. Everything after the wedding scene made the story drag on longer than I wanted it to, and slowly chipped away from the excitement I felt at their wedding. And, I am sad to admit, especially the last note the story left us on “they led an ordinary life filled with ordinary things” made their life together start to sound kind of boring to me.

Final Thoughts

Hehe, speaking of things that drag on too long, thanks for reading this essay of a review! If you’ve gotten this far then you should give yourself a pat on the back because you deserve a medal. And Leigh Bardugo deserves a medal too, for writing characters that I loved so much, even if my love for them ended up breaking my heart at times. Looking forward to moving on to Six of Crows soon!

When will the Shadow and Bone series start on Netflix?

23 April 2021

Which books do I need to read before I watch Shadow and Bone on Netflix?

Shadow and Bone Trilogy plus Six of Crows Duology

Why do I need to read Six of Crows to watch the Shadow and Bone Netflix series?

“While the series gets its name form the first book in the original trilogy, it’s going to combine both Shadow and Bone and the later addition to the Grishaverse, Six of Crows. In a recent press release, author Bardugo shared a little more about the unexpected choice. ‘We’ve taken stories of Shadow and Bone and the characters of Six of Crows and we’ve brought them together in what I think will be a really unexpected way,’ Bardugo explained. Eric [Heisserer] and our writers’ room and our directors have built something entirely new that still somehow stays true to the characters and to the heart of the stories.” [source: nerdist.com]