Confessions of a Literary Addict

This review is spoiler-free!

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha #3
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Release Date: June 17th 2014 by Henry Holt and Company
Format: Hardcover, 422 pages
Rating: ★★★★☆
Find it here: Goodreads || Book Depository

I am so mixed on how I feel about this final book. Almost the entirety of it I was loving, and Bardugo really has such a nice and captivating writing style … but the ending?

I don’t know how to feel about the ending. I mean, I was happy for the characters, I couldn’t bring myself not to be pretty happy about that “After” bit because of how nice it was, but.

It wasn’t the ending that I wanted, ya feel? I’m not going to totally spoil and explain what happened, because I don’t roll that way, but we can say pretty fairly that what happened in the story was not what I wanted to happen. And, yes, maybe what I wanted to happen (I had four or five scenarios in my head that I would have been more pleased with as I was finishing up the book) was pretty unrealistic to the storyline, and it’s not my book, but what did happen was just not my cuppa.

The meat of the book, though, I love love loved. The storytelling was so good and the descriptions of the landscapes and the journey were wonderful, and I really wish it had actually had more of that in the book. It wouldn’t have made up for that ending, but I would have been happy.

So, why did I give this four stars instead of less if I was so unhappy with how it ended? Because, really, it was still a very good book. And I did smile at the ending, all the same. Plus, Bardugo redeemed herself with certain bits that I won’t mention after royally destroying my feelings here and there as the book went on, and that always puts me in a star-happy mood. It might be more of a 3.75 in actuality, because I definitely did war with myself between three and four stars, but I’m going to let it keep that solid four on Goodreads.

Mostly because you can’t do partial stars on the site, but whatever.

Now, it’s time for Six of Crows, and my expectations are high. Don’t let me down.

(Please. I want to be as into the duology as everyone else is. It looks like so much excitable fun.)

Thanks for reading!