I LOVED this book. That is, until the ending.

King of Scars very nicely continues in what the Grisha trilogy and Six of Crows built. In fact, it was one of the things I likde the most, that we got to see the fallout of those previous actions. There's no happy ending in sight, only a country that, despite defeating a difficult enemy, remains troubled by war and various other problems.

This book is part of Nikolai duology but it's really about Zoya (and lesser extent Nina). I'm okay with that. Leigh Bardugo can write strong female characters that nevertheless don't feel like Mary Sue, and I think there needs to be more of them in books in general. And Zoya really shines in this book, we learn more about her backstory and she is humanized a bit, yet she never loses her acerbic edge (plus she levels up significantly).

Nina is another character who steals the spotlight from Nikolai. However, her story feels a bit disconnected from the main plotline (which makes sense because it literally takes place in another country) and they never get to reconnect. I assume it's going to happen in the second book, so I'm not too bothered by this.

Nikolai is a bit diminished, both in comparison to his female counterparts and because of the plot itself. Hopefully he gets back to his old self in the second book.

Either way, so far so good. But the ending. I really hate this storytelling element in general and here in particular. It pretty much cheapens all that happened until now (and renders the whole Grisha trilogy almost pointless). It smacks of lazy storytelling and a lack of ideas. There was plenty going on with that could be extended further, that this addition feels really unnecessary.

My rating would've been much higher if it weren't for this.