“Nikolai had been told that hope was dangerous, had been warned of it many times. But he’d never believed that. Hope was the wind that came from nowhere to fill your sails and carry you home.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars
Leigh Bardugo never fails to impress does she😃. I never thought I could love Nina or Nikolai more but here I am. The first few chapters from Nina's POV were so DIFFICULT to read for obvious reasons. It just made me want to cry. And the ending…oh God the ending…I am LIVING for the ENDING!! I literally squealed so loudly my pet dog thought I was in danger and started howling in alarm 😂. Anyway, unto the actual review (or just my reactions to stuff that happened because I seem to have lost the capability to write a proper review lmao)
Now, I strongly advise you to read both the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology before picking this one because there are major spoilers from the previous two which are carried on here. If you haven't I suggest you don't read this review because it is filled with spoilers from S&B and SoC.
First thing first - David and Genya are MARRIED~~~~ and they are still the cutest couple ever - so cute it's gross! Nadia and Tamar are also married. Now, if you know the events of Ruin and Rising you must know what our poor sobachka, Nikolai, went through (my poor babie) and this…hiccup is what the book's plot's driving force is. The plot is amazing and well-executed, although some things happened so fast I had to read them twice to fully understand what was going on (I read the last 3 chapters 2 times each lol) And at the beginning, a part of the chapters from a Nina's POV tore my heart out. Needless to say…she was not over the events of Crooked Kingdom :D.
Talking about the main characters: Zoya was our most usual ruthless Queen, the most powerful Squaller in the history of Ever. I lived for her conversations with Nikolai. Zoya's character arc makes me weep and bawl and…just curl into a fetal position and cry.
"Zoya of the lost city, Zoya of the garden, Zoya bleeding in the snow. You are strong enough to survive the fall."
Nikolai has been given comparatively fewer chapters as compared to Zoya, but that is enough for me to fall in love with the cute little golden retriever all over again. His insecurities and the fact that he never got over the little things in his life which had tormented him right from his birth were brought into the open in an amazing way. There was an added depth to her character that we hadn't got in S&B. Genya and David are their usual cute selves. Tolya still loves to spout poetry while in conversation. Tamar and Nadia are together. And Nina…she is not just a Grisha anymore, she's also a spy. It's wonderful how powerful she has grown, how cunning she has become thanks to her time with the Crows. It's just wonderful.
There are many shocking revelations in the book. (Spoiler, kinda: I might like to hint at them by stating this line from Marjorie: What died didn't stay dead. The ending has me dead. I am currently writing this from atop my burning pyre because I needed to talk about it. Like always, Leigh Bardugo has executed the f out of this book perfectly, and I am gonna give it five stars.