Ruin & Rising - Leigh Bardugo // Book Review

 

Ruin & Rising
Leigh Bardugo || Publication Date - 17.06.2014

Battle worn and almost out of hope. The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of their new Saint.

Fiction | Fantasy | Adventure | Young Adult

After their last fight with The Dark One, Alina is now recovering trying to build her strength and fight to find the last of the Amplifiers she requires to beat him.

Her journey to find the Fire Bird is based on a myth, not even guaranteed to find this illustrious creature. However, though the odds are not in her favour, she and a band of her closest allies are on the hunt for their last chance at winning this war.

But like any power, great sacrifice must be made, and Alina is constantly weighing her choices to truly find if she is ready to find out what is on the line.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

I found this last instalment mediocre at best. Apologies for the harsh wording, but the premise and storyline up until this final book was fun and interesting. I had this overarching feeling through the whole series that Alina and Mal's relationship was written purposely for convenience and this final book proved my concerns.

The characters as people never improved and the ones I initially liked upon meeting stayed my favourites. Alina and Mal are quite honestly two of the most uninteresting people on the planet and faltered the story in my opinion. I can appreciate if this was intentional as some people don't like reading about already extraordinary characters gaining Chosen One powers and saving the world. That being said, making them painstakingly dull is also not a win.

My favourite characters do appear in later books within the Grishaverse, and I will definitely be delving into the other duology's by Leigh Bardugo in the future. Her writing style is nice and she explains things in her world very well. Magic systems can get convoluted and I appreciate hers being creative and easily grasped by readers. Ultimately, I feel the ending closed off the saga quite well and I didn't have many unanswered questions or unsavory explanations. 

Overall Thoughts

This trilogy was a good way to introduce the politics, systems, characters and overarching world building required for a multi-novel series. I do however, think this is best seen through the eyes of a prologue to give context to the other books set in the Grishaverse. I have not read the Six of Crows duology so I'm unsure how those books go in terms of explaining intricate details of Ravka, however if they function perfectly well as standalone books (which I will be able to advise and update this passage later) then I would simply recommend to skip this trilogy and read those instead.

That being said, if you are a fantasy fan and want something easy to read and a fascinating world with interesting side characters then this would be a nice and quick series to grab.

Siege & Storm - Leigh Bardugo // Book Review

  

Siege & Storm
Leigh Bardugo || Publication Date - 04.06.2013

The world is changing, revelations have come to light and now Alina and Mal are on the run.

Drama | Literary Fiction | Mystery

Alina and Mal have escaped a harrowing and eye opening ordeal in The Fold, and are now on the run to try and find the remaining Amplifiers to complete Alina's goal - destroy The Dark One.

They find themselves sailing with a brigand of privateers under the watchful and respected eyes of Sturmhund. All while being stalked by The Dark One, who has emerged from The Fold with a new unnaturally strong power and a need to regain his control of the Sun Summoner.

Alina has some choices to make. Grow her power and continue to seek out the Amplifiers. Remain on the run with Mal, constantly being hunted by The Dark One. Or, surrender to The Dark One and allow him to take control of her and her powers for his own twisted plans.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

This book was a step in the right direction considering the first book. More interesting (my favourite actually) characters are introduced into the story and character development runs rampant. However, I believe in the case of Alina and Mal, this character development is just running in circles asking the same questions until the book passes to the 3rd instalment.

I enjoyed the continuation and, explicitly, this section of the plot compared to the first book. It had more action, it was written a lot smoother and had a genuine feel of developing substantial character relationships. The world development however lacked here, and even though it did give a grander scale to Ravka which would be explored in the following book, I felt that it was not nearly enough to give enough of an urgency as the book seemed to require.

Unfortunately I don't seem to have much more to say for this book as I did the first... which is disappointing as I was expecting the 2nd book in the trilogy to really set the stage for the finale novel and give the push forward this story deserves. 

Overall Thoughts

In my opinion this book was a fine continuation of the story. As stated it had a lot more elements to it than the first but I still don't think it bridged the gap as well as it should have when I compare it to the next volume.

If you have read the first book and enjoyed it, I would not be reserved to recommend to read this one as well. However, if you did not enjoy Shadow & Bone, I wouldn't recommend continuing. I feel the other books in the Grishaverse are more worth the time and energy than what is essentially a prologue spread out over 3 books. 

Shadow & Bone - Leigh Bardugo // Book Review

  

Shadow & Bone
Leigh Bardugo || Publication Date - 05.06.2012

The weight of the world rests in the scarred hand of an orphan and her childhood best friend.

Fantasy | Young Adult Fiction | Adventure

Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev started their lives as orphans. As they grew into young adulthood, they would enlist themselves into the military.

Alina had taken on the role as a cartographer. She would be going all over the country and drawing her maps safely out of harms way. Mal would be drafted to the frontlines as a soldier. Their journey's coincided with each other when they were to be sent with a convoy into The Fold, a void of darkness which scarred their landscape and held a variety of horrors - created by The Dark One.

On this journey through The Fold, something goes horribly wrong and the once normal Alina is discovered to be, what the world call, "Grisha". These people are equipped with the power to control the elements. And hers is the key to overpowering the darkness and saving the World.

Upon her disbelief, she is whisked away to a new life, leaving her beloved best friend behind. Nothing she knew would ever be the same again.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

Like myself, most new people to this series may have picked this up due to the release of the Netflix series. I am one of those people who would prefer to read the source material before going into the TV adaptation, and Shadow & Bone was no exception.

Following Alina on her journey made a bunch of new characters come forward. Unfortunately, I had the immediate impression that everyone else in this story was more interesting than our 'Chosen' main heroine and her best friend Mal. Their personalities left so much to be desired and this was a common theme throughout the entirety of the trilogy. I could compare it to being dragged, very slowly, over gravel for a few hours in heavy clothing. Not going to harm you much, but not very enlightening.

The relationships which bloom around our main character Alina with everyone else other than Mal are infinitely better, and allow her to be shown as more than someone who is constantly pining over her best friend. Despite the latter being the reality of a lot of her internal dialogues and is the flame for her primary concerns after discovering she is Grisha. This lead me to believe wholeheartedly her ties to Mal and their incoming relationship upgrade was entirely for convenience and nothing more.

The world and the storyline however, are very well thought out and amazing to invest into. The magic system is also something to be admired and is very interesting in terms of how it forms the world's alliances/challenges. As Ravka is currently in the middle of war, there are battles being fought against the northern and southern bordering countries which just adds to the tension. The fact I enjoyed the base setting of this trilogy so much is 100% my motivation to pick up the next duology in the Grishaverse - Six of Crows.

Overall Thoughts

My thoughts on this series are mixed. Ultimately I feel the main character, Alina, brings this world down. As this is how she acts throughout the entirety of the trilogy, this seems purposely done and I believe not a fault of the author but an inability on my own behalf to enjoy people and characters that are as she is. The world however is a completely different story and is entirely my reasons for rating these books consistently. I love the magic system, I love the world events and a lot of the other characters which appear in this series are amazing and colourful and witty.

As this is a young adult fantasy, if you enjoy world building and interesting magic systems and don't particularly care for the characters then I would definitely recommend this book and series.

Nightshade & Oak - Molly O'Neill // Book Review

  

Nightshade & Oak
Molly O'Neill || Publication Date - 03.02.2026

A delightful tale of unexpected meetings, trust, friendship & what it means to be human

Fantasy | Adventure | Mythology

Mellt is the Goddess of Death. Her task for thousands of years has been to assist the dead and dying towards the afterlife. After a battle between Britons and Romans has left a field full of carnage, she sweeps through the despair with her hounds, pulling souls from their tortured and mortal lives and ushering them away. As she leaves the battlefield, one final scene captures her attention. A woman lay dying with her soul tethered to her body, unable to escape. When Mellt touches the woman's face to coax her soul, the next thing Mellt knows is that she's mortal and comes into contact with Bellis, a princess.

Bellis is the reason why Mellt is no longer a Goddess, and is now trapped within a mortal body. Much to her dismay, she is forced to travel weeks westward to enter the afterlife and by chance regain her Immortality. Bellis on the other hand, wishes to go to the same place, in order to save her sisters life.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

I would like to thank Hachette UK for providing me a copy of this book for review purposes.

I did feel the beginning of this novel was a bit clunky. Being written in first person is not much of an issue, however the profuse use of 'I' at the beginning of each sentence got irritating very quickly. As the story progressed, this became less of an issue and I was able to really sink into Molly's writing style, which I did end up really liking. By about 20% of the way through, it was exactly the kind of Adventure Fantasy which I was hoping for.

Both Mallt and Bellis as characters were unique and fun to get to know. We have snippets sprinkled through the novel of Bellis as she grows up, watching her sister being born and experiences life as a Princess and the next leader of her people. The only excerpt we get regarding Mallt and her duties as a Goddess are within the first couple of chapters. However I feel this provided the perfect amount of context to the book and gave enough of the world building to allude that we are within a historic tale woven with Mythology.

As a decent hook for this book is a journey to the gates of the afterlife, this novel could have blown the travelling portion out significantly longer than it did. I believed that a decent chunk of the 270 pages were going to be the characters travelling. Molly needs an award or something, because this is not even what the book is narratively going to focus on. The afterlife is corrupted, and in danger of being destroyed. This is what the novel is truly about and what a pleasant surprise that was.

What lowered the rating for me in terms of enjoyment was the final stages towards the ending of the book, which felt rushed. A lot was packed into the last 30 or so pages and it was jumping around trying to close off plot lines while also adding in a smaller side possibility at the same time. It didn't harm the narrative overall, but did make the ending appear lightning fast, and I do feel it made the final moments a little less impactful.

Overall Thoughts

What I loved the most about this novel is that it is a STAND ALONE Fantasy! So many lately have been a part of a series and I've been hanging out for a novel I can sit and devour without having to worry about a sequel. Another thing I loved about it was both Mellt and Bellis. Nothing overstayed its welcome and the story moved swiftly and steadily towards the conclusion.

If you're looking for a novel that's easy to read, fun and a Fantasy under 300 pages, please look no further than 'Nightshade & Oak'. It certainly wasn't a perfect read, but it was exactly what I've felt the Fantasy market has been lacking for a very long time and it was a refreshing welcome.

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros // Book Review

  

Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros || Publication Date - 02.05.2023

Basgaith, a war college where you either graduate... or die.

Fiction | Fantasy | Adventure | Romance

Violet Sorrengail begins her journey vehemently reiterating to her sister how she wishes to follow in her father's footsteps and enrol as a Scribe at Basgaith War College. She wishes to continue meticulously listing the history of the war college, noting down heroic Riders and strategies which have won or lost battles along their protected land.

She is instead, however, being pushed to become a dragon rider by her mother who is the General of the Rider's Quadrant. Understandably she is terrified. There is only one way to measure success within this area of the college, by students surviving, or dying.

Despite her fears, she emerges on the other end of the parapet as a Rider. What comes next is a variable onslaught of studying, training, and dodging death as she makes her way becoming a force to be reckoned with. A force that is ensnaring her greatest rival, Xaden Riorson, who holds the key to blowing apart all she understood about their world and what could possibly be existing outside Basgaith's protective boundaries.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

It has been so long since I've read a Fantasy like this. It was gripping from page one, the premise was interesting, the characters were amazing and the entire world was shadowed and mysterious. I loved how the characters were all challenged in different ways. They all had their strengths and weaknesses which made it interesting to see how they would overcome their struggles, or simply die. I appreciated that Violet from the beginning is actively dealing with a chronic illness that affects the way she achieves her goals at Basgaith. Not only was she resourceful as a character, but she also didn't let her condition impede her success. This further cemented Violet as the feminine warrior I was really hoping for going into this series.

Rebecca's writing is fabulous. She has an amazing writing style that is easy to follow and explains the world, magic, dragons and action scenes very well. There is also just enough put out by the story that things remain very obscure, until they're revealed, and everything clicks into place smoothly. It was very satisfying!

There was no sugar coating how this college operated and I appreciated the blunt nature of a lot of the characters in this novel. It was very matter of fact, living where death could take anyone at any time, especially with the training and dragons. There was a real sense of uncertainty through the novel and it only made the final words of this book all the more impactful.

After finishing Fourth Wing, I genuinely sat on my couch staring into space for a good 10 minutes before I registered what I had just read. I then immediately pre-ordered Iron Flame and had been waiting impatiently for November 2023 to roll around so I could continue this series.

Overall Thoughts

What do I think of this novel? Almost certainly one of my top books for 2023. If you love fantasy, a strong female lead, dragons and great characters I won't even hesitate to ask you to read this book. I've recommended it to everyone I know who loves Fantasy.

I do want to warn you, this book put me into a HUGE hangover after finishing it and also put me into a slump. It took me a month of mediocre reading afterwards to get back into normality. Nothing felt as amazing or as polished as Fourth Wing until I had read another amazing Fantasy later that same year (review incoming).