King of Scars
Leigh Bardugo does it again in the King of Scars. While this story is pretty significantly different from the Six of Crows Duology, it is very good. The story focuses on King Nikolai fighting his demon that was left inside of him from the Darkling, and his commander Zoya Nazyalensky who is trying to help him find a cure for the demon. We also see more of Nina Zenik as she continues to deal with her grief over losing the love of her life and works as an undercover spy deep in enemy country. During this story, Nikolai and Zoya are traveling to the Fold as they suspect that the demon inside Nikolai is attempting to get back there. With the help of Yuri, the worshipper of the Starless Saint (the Darkling), the arrive at the fold, only to find themselves whisked away by the saints of old. The Saints know of a way help eradicate the demon inside while showing both Nikolai and Zoya truths about their struggles and abilities, but all is not as it seems. Nina who is deep in Fjerda, where she has laid her dear Matthias to rest, discovers a munitions factory in which they are taking Grisha women dosing them with a strain of jurda parem. Having dealt with the affects and the addictive nature of parem herself, Nina feels for the women and vows to get them out. With the help of Hanne, a Grisha in hiding in the convent, they manage to find a way into the factory and attempt to aide the women, but in the process Nina finds out a hard truth, Hannes father is none other than Jarl Brum, the Fjerda commander who captures and tortures Grisha. As Hanne and Nina attempt their rescue, not only do they learn more about the plans of Fjeda, but they also devise a plan to help bring down Brum. Honest opinion of this book, I enjoyed it, but I did not like it as much as I liked Six of Crows, which surprised me because Nikolai was my favorite character in Shadow and Bone. I felt like it was really slow in parts, but there were moments that I couldn’t put the book down. The ending is a giant cliff hanger which I loved and was completely shocked by. I really enjoyed the story of Nikolai and Zoya and the hints at a forbidden romance. I also really like that you say a side of Zoya that you did not see in Shadow and Bone. You learn that she isn’t just an emotionless soldier, but someone who struggles daily with past hurt and PTSD from all the manipulation that she endured from the Darkling. Although I did not love this book as much as I did Six of Crows, I did really enjoy it. I thought that it was way better than Shadow and Bone. The characters had a lot more depth than the original characters, there were a lot more plot twists and unexpected paths that the characters followed and had to endure, and it genuinely left me wanting more.
The Grisha (S&B-Trilogy and KoS-duology) and The Heist (SoC-duology) are two different sequels. And actually, as i finished 7 books of The Grishaverse, these two sequels cannot be compared to one another. Because these two have a huge difference, has its own unique, its own story-type. And how much you are gonna love between one or the other, depends on:
What genre you are into or,
If you decide on one sequel only. (this one is not for me, I’d love to explore more into the author’s writing and get to know more about the storyline in each book)
The Grisha are written in the high fantasy story-type. This sequel tells about people who fight for their future and dare to challenge their lives for the better future they wish to have. (Obviously, recommended to read for those who love fantasy or kind of break the limits of reality, out from the “ordinary” story-type of books)
The Heist, it’s more specifically into the reality story-type. This sequel is the definition of: where the teenagers wanna have fun and be free! Yes, it was fun. I like every character's storyline. (This sequel is recommended to read for those who love the reality story-type of books, obviously)
And based on the 7 books that I read, I am more into The Grisha. From the storyline, and others. Overall, The Grisha tells about people who fought for the future— their future, it’s quite interesting, related to the purpose of life/reality adaptions. And they are all just teenagers! teenagers, who face their trauma, who fight for their future, who dare to go down to the bloody war, battlefield, fight for the future they wish to have. Accompanied by the mind-blowing, out-of-mind storyline and the universe, found family, friendship, romance pluss there are battles, war, politics, which make it more interesting, very well written.
And in fantasy, you will not only find about “the high fantasy” but also a combination of reality adaptations (so literally, you got both! you have it all!), which I enjoyed so much. Because in fantasy there are “no limits” in the state of mind, in fantasy, you will find something out of mind, out of “common” — something: UNORDINARY. And The Grisha have those all. Especially in KoS-duology, Leigh’s writing skills are completely mindblowing in this last sequel!
PS: english is not my first language. I tried my best.
How do Zoyalai hits different and the real-biggest-healthiest-superior ship? THISSS, it's not the usual boring "I can fix him" or "I can fix
Zoyalaiii 💖
Nikolai and Zoya literally deserve it all after everything they have been through for Ravka and only for this damned country named Ravka. An
She is sharp, stone-cold, ruthless, yet she is the only one who wrote a letter: "You will always be one of us." She is the only one who secr
THAT'S IT!
What I'm really loving about Rule of Wolves versus other young adult stories following the country-is-now-at-war plotline is how we had enti
Built up, weight. Based on the 7 books that I read: She is smart, a fast learner, and she had a 'strong will’ since she was only a child. Or
People calling Zoya: 'MARY SUE'? I laughed hard. Really, the first time I knew this, I laughed hard. Can I correct your lack of reading com
KOS-DUOLOGY;
Y’all… …what? How do I begin this- rant below lmao. 2. ??? 2. ??? 3. What the hell did the Grishaverse girls do to deserve all...
