Ruin and Rising

"This book was amazing! Great conclusion to this series. I had to hold in my tears throughout the whole book. The ending was nice and I didn't expect it. Great story, and I'll definitely re-read this whole series!"

"A fun conclusion to a great series!"

"Loved reading this book. Several unexpected twists. "

"this book really kept me on my toes, everything happens really quickly but that just made for an even better read. i truly loved the character development and was very moved by the ending and everything was wrapped up neatly. "

"Such a great trilogy!!! "

"Okay this was a lot…and absolutely great! So many plot twists that were VERY unexpected. Mal’s and Alina’s relationship was written especially well in this book.The little lgbtq representation made me really happy. I love how this book can be very serious where people are getting for war and death, but then the next moment they make silly little jokes about something really helps to take off some pressure! Finally, the conclusion was beautiful! Couldn’t have asked for a better ending! "

"I liked the first one best, but they were all sooo good! How about you?"

"Alina has now found 2 of the magical objects needed to amplify her magic. But, has been weakened by an encounter with the darkling. As she “rests” after her battle, she realizes that she needs to do more in order bring the Shadow Fold down and defeat the darkling. The plot twist that R&R brings us is so crazy it kept me on edge until I finished that book. An ending that brought me to tears and absolute shambles. You will not be disappointed with how this series ends! "

"My first and most furious complaint will be about The Darkling. Arguably the most complex and interesting character in here. But where does his arc lead? Nowhere. He is rarely seen throughout the series. Like I said in my other two reviews, multiple povs would have solved a lot of my issues with the story. For instance the main girl being outright underwhelming and unmotivated. And the obvious, The Darkling's less than agreeable screen time.<br/><br/>Oh I'm not done bitching about the lack of love The Darkling got shown but I'll get to that later. Alina slowly started to become interesting. The power taking her over. Would she keep her witts? Would she turn into The Darkling given enough time? But still throughout the seires Alina had no inspiration to do anything but what people told her. Even so later on I believe she could have just walked away from war and would have been just as happy, leaving the fold to be someone else's problem. I couldn't connect with her on any level. Ugh and Mal and Alina were so hot and cold I really don't even care to elaborate how much I don't care.<br/><br/>"You might make me a better man."<br/>"And you might make me a monster."<br/><br/>If I'm being honest I think this book was the best of the three. The one dimensional characters started to fill out here but that should have happened two books ago. The banter was nice and gave me feels from the next Grishaverse series. But everyone paired up too easily here. Somehow even after all the deaths it felt like a happily ever after which didn't sit right with me. The twist where very good and I applaud that.<br/><br/>Though now, after watching the show on Netflix, it seems they added the "Six of Crows" to spice things up and it might have backfired because I was just waiting for them to come onto the screen and to hell with the rest. The Six are so much stronger than "Shadow and Bone" I think the story was worse for it seeing as how I read "Six of Crows" first and got a taste of what real crew dynamics and character development could truly be from this author.<br/><br/>Again The Darkling, oh man I just felt like it was so much waisted potential there. He was unbelievably interesting and complex. Most eternal love interest are humble but The Dark General was a whole other breed we didn't even get a true glimpse of. Death is meaningless, connections, what's the point when they will die with the rest. Many characters only fake at being alone The Darkling is truly one of a kind, changed by the harshness of the world. The short story could have been included here. More glimpses of his past so you could begin to hint at the fire raging within. The lackluster ease of which he was thrown away was devastating."

"3.5/5 hated the friends to lovers "