Ruin And Rising (Shadow And Bone Trilogy #3) By Leigh Bardugo
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Web ID: 2211363Would read again!
Probably the fastest I've ever binge read a trilogy, loved every moment of these books!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Disappointing and predictable series
Contains some mild spoilers. So I was intrigued by the Shadow and Bone universe after seeing the trailer for the show. I love dark fantasy and I thought the magic had an intriguing aspect so I bought the first book and ended up getting all three - sunk cost fallacy, I admit. It never lived up to its potential. The writing is okay, but it's not stirring the way Tolkien can be, despite the stakes in the book. You know straight away the 'secret' and you wonder how dumb most people are to not see it. I hate books that do this. The 'quests' to get the foci are kind of fantastic, and the last one revealed is just... eyerolling. The book also suffers from the trash, burn and destroy problem, with people and situations set up just so they can be torn down. And then when a redemption or explanation that softens the antagonist finally comes, it's too little too late. Bardugo has gone out of her way to paint them as this horrid person that it's almost a caricature and unbelievable, so you almost don't feel he can be real anyway so the redemption is silly. I already was sort of ambivalent about him by this point because he was such a stereotype that it all was meaningless and lacked any depth or sense of feeling genuine. He felt like a construct, not a person. Gollum feels like an entity, a full one, with dreams and hate; the antagonist here just is cardboard until towards the end an effort is made to swoop in and change that. And there are quite a few inconsistencies. This is the worst one: book two sees Alina hidden underground. She can't summon her powers without light... yet she does it all the time in the Fold. Kind of a big mess up and oversight, but just look over it, gentle reader, and buy the next book! No effort is made to explain this- it's kind of an insult, as if we won't notice this glaring contradiction?! Either she has the light inside of her - which is kind of implied - and can summon it, or book two is completely useless and a throwaway. The climax in book three is anything but - you read the confrontation and then it's just simply over. Don't get me over how kind of silly the plan was and there was a ton of Deus ex Machina in there for it to go precisely the way it did. I can't express how disappointed I am in this series. It was kind of high school plotting and writing, a waste of an intriguing idea and universe. Mal is kind of a jerky character who sort of has a come to Jesus moment after Alina gets her powers and it feels tween-y. I feel tricked when you're presented with this grand, sweeping, world changing situation and it's reduced to stereotypes, one-dimensional characters and massive plot problems.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Unpredictable and suspenseful!
The Apparat is supposedly caring for Alina, the Sun Summoner, while all of her allies have been accused of treason. The group escapes and goes in search of the Firebird, the third and last amplifier. Once again, Nikolai saves them and he brightens up everything with his clever wit and resilient personality. The elevator scenes made me laugh, with the great dialogue! The group fights the Darkling again and horrible things happen. The author brings the characters to life with her details and the development of Genya is impressive and creates empathy for her struggles and amazement for her bravery at the same time. The descriptive world building made me feel as though I was in the middle of the action. I could feel the air move as the Firebird flew by and my ears hurt with its screech!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Underwhelming, but decent read
Underwhelming, but still a decent read for me. I can't say I'm super happy with how this ended, but I guess I'm not totally displeased with it either. I think with all three books, there was just no surprise factor and everything was so flat. It seemed like there was a lot of build up to prepare for a big ending and there was a lot of potential but at the same time, I didn't really get the reason for all the build up and was rather disappointed and underwhelmed. There was no surprise twist, no complexity, and it honestly took me quite long to read because I just... didn't have an urgent need to find out what happens. Overall, this series was okay. I do like the world though, so I'm hoping Six of Crows is a much more exciting series.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved the entire series
Everything leads up to this epic battle between Alina and the Darkling. The book was fast paced and filled with action. I really enjoyed this whole series. Lauren Fortgang does an amazing job with the narration. She’s quickly becoming a favorite. I love the way she embraces each character and breathes life into them.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
This Was Definitely a Third Book
I don't know about this series; it wasn't poorly written in the sense that if felt like a child wrote it. I think with better characters, the writing would've felt a lot better. I just think the main characters that we are supposed to follow/like feel very flat for me. Alina and Mal just weren't that interesting as characters; she definitely comes across as somewhat weak, allowing herself to be pushed and pulled into positions she clearly does not want. One theme that keeps repeating since SIEGE AND STORM is that she "must seek a crown," but it's never really explained why she must nor why she is allowing herself to, just that the plot keeps pulling her in that direction, narratively speaking. The ending was...interesting. I didn't hate it, but I didn't really see the climax coming. Honestly, I was glad to be done with this series. I can't wait for RULE OF WOLVES to come out on paperback so I can purchase the box set, because Nikolai was definitely one of my favorite characters in the 2nd and 3rd books. Also, now that I'm done with this series, it's time to move on to SIX OF CROWS and CROOKED KINGDOM. But I probably won't be purchasing/reading any of the short stories/novellas anymore, as I had originally planned. (Can we get some not-so-positive tags?)
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
AHHH
So goood!!! Broke my heart and put it back together <3
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Intriguing!
Ruin and Rising, the conclusion to the Shadow and Bone trilogy was exciting, intriguing and full of surprises. Alina and Mal must find Morozova's last amplifier and try to defeat the Darkling once and for all. I liked the plot that was really interesting. I also liked how Alina has developed as a character and seems more confident. And the other characters were just as great. A memorable series and I'm looking forward to reading more from Leigh Bardugo!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com