Ruin and Rising - Leigh Bardugo.

 

Ruin and Rising.

Author: Leigh Bardugo.

Pages: 422 pages, Hardcover.

Genre: YA, fantasy, fiction and romance.

Published: 17 June, 2014.

Goodreads rating: ★★★★☆ (4.09)

The last book of the 'Shadow and Bone - trilogy'. Honestly, I don't know what I think about the ending of this book.. Don't get me wrong! I liked the book, but the ending feels a bit lost to me, even ordinary. The book overall was good. Some parts where better as other parts, some took me longer to read. 

The relationship between Alina and Mal is a bit disturbing in the whole trilogy. However, I liked Mal much more in this book than in the other ones. He realized that Alina her power is a part of who she is and that he can't change her. Now he isn't much of an ass anymore than in the other books, he is there for Alina and a true suport as a best friend. The ending between them is good, but sad.. they both lose everything and end up as where they started. In an orphanage.

I missed the Darkling a lot in this book. I hoped I could read more about him in this book, because he didn't appear much in the second book (Siege and Storm) either. I kinda hoped for a good plot twist about the Darkling.

The part about Nikolai was actually beautiful written. The part he became someting else but still tried and fought to be normal again. He reached for Alina, to be healed. Even when he wasn't himself, he still fought. 

"Na razrusha'ya. I am not ruined. E'ya razrushost. I am ruination".

SPOILER!!:

The ending is kinda sad. The Darkling is dead but he didn't want to die alone and he got a funeral. All he ever wanted was 'not to be alone' and that was kinda sad. Alina loses her power as Sun Sommuner and goes back to her older life, together with Mal in an orphan house. Where it all started. I think it's sad because I hoped she whould keep her power and could live in the Little palace with Mal or Nikolai or the Darkling. Now it feels like it al was some kind of dream of Alina. Unfortunaly the ending is a bit ordinary. I hoped for a great plot twist.

Storyline: 

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 worshop her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elswhere, 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 on thing that stands between Ravka and destruction -and claming it could cost Alina the very future she's fighting for.

Love,

DarkBlue.