Ruin and Rising

Introduction

Ruin and Rising was written by Leigh Bardugo and published on June 17th, 2014, by Macmillan Publishers. There was once again just over a year between the release dates of Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, the final book to this truly wonderful trilogy. This was absolutely my favorite book in the series, and I was left very content at the end of it. I am one who always wants more, to exist in these fantasy worlds for as long as possible, but Bardugo did a beautiful job wrapping up the trilogy. For those who haven’t read this series yet and would like a general overview of my opinions, the Spoiler-Free Thoughts section is a great place to start. However, given this is the series finale, I do reference characters and events from the other two books. Those who have already read these amazing works and want further discussion can go on to the Thoughts section. I would love to hear other opinions, so please leave them in the comment sections on either this post or the social media posts!

If you would like to keep up with Leigh Bardugo and her other books, visit her website https://www.leighbardugo.com or follow her on social media @lbardugo.

Plot

With only the firebird left for Alina to find, she and her broken crew of rebellious Grisha hurry to summon the power necessary to defeat the Darkling and finally destroy The Fold.

Spoiler-Free Thoughts

Continuing with the last book, the characters are still incredibly dynamic and entertaining to read, no matter how good, bad, or complicated they appeared. I found myself caring about all of them to some degree, even those that we weren’t necessarily supposed to like. I wanted almost everyone to find some sort of peaceful - if not wholly happy - ending. I feel like it’s a tall task to make every character compelling, but it was one that Bardugo accomplished well. Along that vein, I felt that each character arc met a suitable end, as bittersweet as some of them may have been. The trilogy was completed well, and while I will miss this new world I was introduced to, I am happy to let it be complete.

I very much enjoyed the plot of this book, and I like that it seemed to really mold itself around the characters as much as they were molded by it, creating a really nice balance. I had a few theories and questions pop up throughout the book, which was nice even this late in the relatively short series, but as mentioned above, every character and plot line had a very satisfying ending. Ultimately, I don’t have much more to say for this book that I haven’t already said for the previous ones. Only that this ending consisted of loss, pain, and heartache, but we know that those wounds will heal with time, and those who made it to the other side will be stronger for it.

I know this is an incredibly short review compared to what I usually write, but the bottom line is I loved it. I felt that it was the best in the series, and I was truly happy with not only each character’s ending, but the end of this story as a whole. For that reason, this one earns a 9/10 from me.

Thoughts

I liked that very quickly this book establishes who is and isn’t trustworthy, even if I couldn’t quite trust every character. The coup against the Apparat was incredibly satisfying, and Nikolai’s return was just perfect for him. Never impossible, only improbable. However, as much as I enjoyed those sections, I loved finally learning what the Darkling’s name is. It was perfect too, Aleksander, a very human name for someone who became anything but in his pursuit of power. In the end, he died like any other mortal, and I felt that it was a fitting end for his character.

After the events of the last book, I was sad to see Alina weakened again, but I was much happier about the circumstances that brought it about. Instead of being weak because she wasn’t using her powers, she was weak from draining herself against the Darkling. While the Apparat is absolutely the lesser of the available evils, I still really don’t like him. To be honest, I didn’t like Genya for a while in this book either; in my mind, she had a lot of redeeming to do before she got back into my good graces. Nikolai, Tolya, and Tamar remained my favorite side characters, and my only complaint was that I wish I could have seen even more of them. I was sad for Alina that she lost her power, but I loved that it was split between the other Grisha. No longer would one person bear the burden of such incredible power alone, and no longer would the Grisha need the power divide they built with their abilities. Alina did lead the Grisha to be better and more united, as was her goal, and now she can rest knowing that she did what was right for Ravka, even granting the Darkling peace in the process.

Post breakup, Alina and Mal actually seemed to be okay in that he finally seemed to want to preserve as much of her as possible, even after she got her powers back. As intrigued as I was to see that Alina still felt a physical attraction to the Darkling, though not an emotional one, and I was still curious to see how a relationship between her and Nikolai would work, I do think that her ending up with Mal in the end suited the story well. While I am sad that she lost her powers to do it, and I do believe she misses them and the world that she had been introduced to, she was able to have the peaceful life with Mal that she had been longing for her entire life, and she didn’t need to give up her new family along the way. It was a bittersweet but contented ending, and it’s one that I was happy with.