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A review by luluwoohoo
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
☀️☀️⛅
▪️ It's difficult to articulate how a semi decent book can dissolve so quickly into ruin, as the title aptly prophesies, but this series finale manages to deeply disappoint
▪️My greatest disappointment with this is knowing that this was always the intended ending. Bardugo throws away 2.5 books of semi-decent character development in favour of our lead being reduced to nothing so that she doesn't upset her (unsurprisingly resurrected) boyfriend too much? Seriously?
▪️The plot tried to lean into the darker elements that it arguably needed to, and was mostly successful, but then we got a near-perfect ending that undid all of that work. Yes, people died, but it did not feel satisfying to finish where we landed. The death of the Darkling was laughably tame and contradicted the entire series' elevation of his character, particularly after the end of book 2 which was definitely closer to the mark on appropriate tension and tone
▪️The supporting characters arguably carried this entire book in terms of making me continue reading, because honestly the Big 3 (mostly Big 2 in this installment) were so disappointing and boring
▪️I read this series because I'd heard promising things about it and the TV adaptation, but I'm honestly reconsidering watching it knowing that I'll eventually go through this disappointment all over again. I would not recommend this series if you're a discerning reader, even at YA level, because there are just too many flaws in the ending to bother with the rest.
☀️☀️⛅
▪️ It's difficult to articulate how a semi decent book can dissolve so quickly into ruin, as the title aptly prophesies, but this series finale manages to deeply disappoint
▪️My greatest disappointment with this is knowing that this was always the intended ending. Bardugo throws away 2.5 books of semi-decent character development in favour of our lead being reduced to nothing so that she doesn't upset her (unsurprisingly resurrected) boyfriend too much? Seriously?
▪️The plot tried to lean into the darker elements that it arguably needed to, and was mostly successful, but then we got a near-perfect ending that undid all of that work. Yes, people died, but it did not feel satisfying to finish where we landed. The death of the Darkling was laughably tame and contradicted the entire series' elevation of his character, particularly after the end of book 2 which was definitely closer to the mark on appropriate tension and tone
▪️The supporting characters arguably carried this entire book in terms of making me continue reading, because honestly the Big 3 (mostly Big 2 in this installment) were so disappointing and boring
▪️I read this series because I'd heard promising things about it and the TV adaptation, but I'm honestly reconsidering watching it knowing that I'll eventually go through this disappointment all over again. I would not recommend this series if you're a discerning reader, even at YA level, because there are just too many flaws in the ending to bother with the rest.
"Thank goodness we had the foresight to be captured."
"Very quick thinking on your part. I commend you."