A review by hannahdavidson05
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

4.25

As this is my first book of 2023, as well as me not wanting to rely on my friend picking up the phone for me to express my thoughts on the things that I read, I am going to write this review. 
I really enjoyed this book! Admittedly, I first read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom and then decided that when rereading the duology it would be really fun to have the context of the Grisha trilogy. I also think having watched the show just before reading Shadow and Bone meant that I didn't enjoy it as much. BUT I also think having watched the show it made me warm to Mal because he was just more fleshed out in the show and having that context helped me empathise with his character. Anyways, Ruin and Rising! 
I cried at the end when Alina killed Mal and when the Darkling died (even though I dislike his character – will never forgive him for what he did to Genya and SO MANY OTHER CHARACTERS which is a moral dilemma because Ben Barnes in the show is so beautiful) – honestly I had no clue that Mal would end up being the last amplifier and it DID take me by surprise so I enjoyed that plotline. I was fully engrossed in the story. 
I WILL say that the beginning of the book aggravated me and I got a bit lost but once things started to pick up I started enjoying it a lot more. I am so excited to read King of Scars because I LOVED Nikolai and knowing that the series is centred around Zoya, Nikolai and Nina makes me SO EXCITED. I just finished the book so the details are a bit hazy but I really loved Baghra as a character and how she begrudgingly loved Alina. Also Misha is so cute and I loved his addition to the book.
A thought that I have now that I've finished this book is one about grief. This is definitely not profound or anything but how even though the battle is over, the Darkling is dead and the Fold is being repaired, the main group of characters are forever changed. After a war, there may be happiness but there is also a reminder of those who were lost and how there can't be complete happiness because those you have loved are gone and they are not here to enjoy that victory. All the main characters (Alina, Mal, Nikolai, Genya, Nadia, Adrik, Misha, Zoya are ones I can think of at the top of my head) are irrevocably changed by what they had to go through and no victory will be able to fix that. 
Also – "I am become a blade" made me die and I really hope to never hear those 5 words again, I'm just pretending they don't exist.
I'm happy with the ending – I like Mal and Alina together (again, maybe helped by the show) and I enjoyed the end. It was happy and they were happy and that's all I wanted for these characters. Looking forward to starting KOS :)))