Review: Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

“𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

― 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐮𝐠𝐨, 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬

When I first read Shadow and Bone, I hate Zoya Nazyalenski. Now? I would BEG her to step on me. It is really no wonder that Leigh Bardugo has exceeded all expectations - once again. So, my review contains some spoilers so please, please look away. Especially if you haven't yet read King of Scars or the Grishaverse books at all. I will be giving a warning each time I mention something which I believe might be a spoiler.

“𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩- 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭.”

― 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐮𝐠𝐨, 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬

Anyway, moving on, I liked Nikolai ever since he appeared in the second book of the original trilogy of Shadow and Bone. And I have never once stopped liked him. Like Jane Bennet once said, "He's everything a young man ought to be." *Dreamy little sigh.* Rule of Wolves makes King of Scars like a very much stretched prologue. It took me a few minutes to get into it, however, the main reason being (SPOILER BEGINS) that I was afraid Leigh Bardugo will make the Darkling the nemesis again. Thankfully, it was not so. Honestly, it was SO funny to see the handsome and fearsome Aleksander reduced to a not-so-easy-on-the-eyes sort of gangly monk. The way the former leader of Grisha tried to bring the monks together was way too funny. Moreover, the re-emergence of the Darkling brought a volley of emotions on our Triumvirate which was enlightening. Probably because we never saw it clearly through the eyes of Zoya before. I love Ben Barnes but Darkling doesn't deserve to live. Even as an almighty tree. (SPOILER ENDS).

“𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞.”

― 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐮𝐠𝐨, 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬

I loved my homegirl Nina's character arc. At the beginning of the King of Scars, I couldn't stop wanting to lie down in a fetal position while reading her POVs. My poor babie. *sad sigh* But I LOVED her here more than I did in King of Scars. She would have made Kaz proud. So scheming, so smart, so HOT!!! She deserves a happy ending, undoubtedly. (SPOILER BEGINS) I loved her with Hanne. Never liked that sussy prince anyway. And what a beautiful way to bring in a trans character! (SPOILER ENDS).

All in all, the King of Scars duology was never about Nikolai, to begin with. I feel like it was about Zoya. But mainly, I think that it was about the Saviours of Ravka as a whole. Even Genya, David, Tamar, Tolya and Alina, too.

“𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝. "𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐙𝐨𝐲𝐚. 𝐀𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧."

― 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐮𝐠𝐨, 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬

SPOILERS: Things I did NOT like about the Duology:

1. I did not like the coming back of Darkling, to begin with. I don't know but it makes me feel like it negates all the importance of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, including all the pain Alina went through.

2. Darkling sort of redeeming himself by becoming a tree. Does he deserve to be the saviour of Ravka after almost destroying it?

3. Genya and David deserved a happy ending. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.