Book: Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
Read From: 11th October - 16th October 2021
Rating: 5/5 stars
Summary (King of Scars): The dashing young king, Nikolai Lansov, has always had a gift for the impossible. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to stop the rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nicolai will risk everything to save his country and himself.
Consider this the official petition for Leigh Bardugo to give her damn characters a break because they didn’t half go THROUGH IT in this book. I cried, I smiled, I got angry, I laughed. Then I got all sad again because I realised this is the Grishaverse FINALE!? (Although with that ending we must have another)😭 The Shadow and Bone trilogy was okay, the Six of Crows duology is one of my all time favourites and I loved the King of Scars duology so much - and was actually one of the rare instances where the sequel was better. Now that my journey with this world has come to an end I couldn’t be feeling more bereft.
I'll admit, I initially gave this book four stars, which would place it on the same level as it’s predecessor King of Scars. Not only did I find this book to be better overall, I also found it to be a lot more memorable. I think any book that won’t get out of your head, or any book that instantly has you googling memes or fanart after finishing deserves a top rating. I was guilty of both after finishing Rule of Wolves and so I’m far from embarrassed to admit that I’ve bumped it up to a big fat 5 stars.
It’s going to be hard to say ANYTHING without spoilers, not just for King of Scars but also for the Six of Crows duology and even Shadow and Bone. It’s because of this that my review will lack any form of substance, so instead here are some out of context spoilers that were pivotal for me - if you have read the book, you’ll get it. But if you haven’t read the book, this won’t ruin anything for you either.
- Chapter 20. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
- Absolutely living for the queer rep in this book
- "Kebben" 😭😭😭 These chapters seemed out of the blue but I ended up growing to love them and the back story/context SO MUCH
- “I hope it will bloom for you. And I hope you bloom too” crying
- THE LAST SENTENCE !!!!!
This was overall incredibly amazing and I will forever be holding out hope for another Grishaverse book. I regret taking so long to read this book but I couldn't be more glad that I finally got around to it, and that it was everything I could have wanted and more.