REVIEW; Ruin and Rising
7:25 pm
WARNING: Spoilers!
Ruin and Rising is the third and final instalment of Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy. This book began with action, adventure and conflict but left me expecting more, and feeling as though I’d missed out. I wasn’t satisfied with the cliche outcome and it left me with the sting of disappointment.
When I was writing my notes on this book, I wrote “So far I like this book the best. Things are happening. They're not in one spot the entire time and I like how things are falling into place.” And it was true. This book started out great. There was suspense, action, a bit of romance, so many possibilities for the plot to twist and turn into an unlikely and (as I was hoping) unorthodox outcome. My favourite character’s returned, there was blood spilt and tension between old foes and new conflicts. We even got the back story of Baghra and the Darkling, where they came from, and who Morozova was and did. And after that everything began to go downhill.
The spark of the downfall of Ruin and Rising, I think, would begin with Mal’s plot intrusion - that’s what I’m calling it. I feel like it was a direct interference by Bardugo, like she wanted to put it there to underline how good Mal and Alina are together because it was their destiny. It took me by surprise, which was good, but it wasn't a happy sort of surprise. I actually kind of frowned at myself for not seeing it coming at first, given all the fuss about his tracking ability I thought he was another Grisha, but once I knew, I had to put the book down. I was enraged. I couldn't understand why Bardugo needed to put that in. It was obvious that Mal and Alina were not good for each other, yet, she intertwined their lives so that it gave both the characters and reader little choice but to accept it.
Once Mal’s plot intrusion was introduced and read, the plot began to go downhill too. If you’ve read my previous reviews you would know that I think the Darkling is right in his endeavours. The Grisha are oppressed, murdered and used as slaves in their world, and he wants to bring that to an end. Yes, the means to which he is doing that are his downfall but Alina, at anytime, could have negotiated with him, helped him bring the Grisha the status they deserve and all could be happily ever after. The plot, although spanning over the three books, was very basic and not a lot of depth was intertwined with it:
Kill the Darkling and get rid of the Shadow Fold.
Yes, she needed help from Nikolai with the political side, the Grisha and Apparat with the followers/army side of the battle, and Morozova’s amplifiers for power, but that was it. There was no trying to talk the Darkling out of his plans, no negotiating, compromising. No in depth plot development, I don’t know how the government there works, what do people do in their spare time? What jobs are available? What do the Grisha actually do with their powers other than learn to control them and help others look pretty for functions? Yes, there was a side romance that I didn’t believe in and had to endure for three books, and the side characters whose plots were more interesting than the whole series itself. But there was no actual depth to the plot other than kill the Darkling and save Ravka from his tyranny.
Humph.
And the restrictive nature of the POV really hit me in this book mostly because of the outcome. The Darkling literally tells Alina, “Fine. Make me your villain.” And she does just that. Alina doesn’t consider that what he is doing, regardless of the way he is trying to accomplish it, may be right and what is best for both Grisha and Ravka. Instead she makes him her villain, and goes against him without question. We don’t get to explore what might have been, what the Darkling could have brought to his people and what he could have turned out like. He even suggests that Alina “might make me a better man.” But with the limited POV, the narrow-mindedness of the protagonist, we never got to find out, and that really bothers me. Alina, however, did grow on me as a protagonist of the series. At first she really irritated me. She was mopey, ‘ugly’ and stereotypical of the protagonists in YA literature. She grew stronger over the course of the series and I think because of that, I really hoped she would come to consider what the Darkling was offering. She never truly strayed from her path against him from the second Baghra told her to turn her back on him. It just infuriates me because the story could have been SO BRILLIANT but it just stays good, level with what was expected of it.
The ending really butchered it for me. Alina chucks the equivalent to Jane Eyre, and what I HATED about JE was that she went on and on about being an individual, free woman, where no net ensnares her etc etc yet ends up conforming to the stereotype she so strongly refused and belittles herself solely to please and stay with her lover. Alina could have been extraordinary. She could have moved to the Little Palace, helped teach the Grisha how to use and control their powers, aided Nikolai with his work, and even if she didn’t want to do all that, what of her friends? And Mal, he could have trained soldiers in the army or helped Nikolai. But because he was so threatened (I guess) by Alina and her power, Bardugo interfered again and did what she did (I’m not spoiling it, I hope..) And they found themselves where they began. The story almost feels pointless and the fact that Alina had to belittle who she was to make Mal happy, whether she intended or not, gets on my nerves.
I still adore the Darkling, what he was hoping to achieve, what he stood for as a leader, protector and visionary for the Grisha. What really tore out my heart was how alone he was, and when he realises it. It butchered me. Bardugo created such a unique, interesting character, yet we only got a fraction of what he was and could have been in this series. And Alina still finds that she can shed tears over him, yet she claims she did what she did out of “mercy”?? I could go on and on about the ending but I wont. Let me just say that The Darkling deserved more, there was so much potential for him to be so incredible, and I would have really liked to see what he and Nikolai could have done as a team, if things were different.
Genya, though I haven't talked about her before, was one of my favourite side characters, as was Zoya, Tamar, Tolya and David. Their character development, especially Zoya and Genya’s, was fabulous, and I would have liked to learn a bit more about each of their back stories. The world Bardugo created was awesome, I only wished she had given more detail about it. I know the first instalment of The Dregs is out now, and I will be reading it soon, so I hope in that series she further evolves the Grisha world, it’s something I loved about this series and will miss reading about.
So, in conclusion, I adored the way the series played out, right until the end, where it was bitterly let down by stereotype and what was expected of an ending. Character development was great but there could have been more depth involved, plot was a let down and setting needed more work. I was quite sad when I finished this book, I’m going to miss it, as much as I am bitter about the ending.
★★★☆☆ - (3.5 Stars)
Love, Natalia
xx
When I was writing my notes on this book, I wrote “So far I like this book the best. Things are happening. They're not in one spot the entire time and I like how things are falling into place.” And it was true. This book started out great. There was suspense, action, a bit of romance, so many possibilities for the plot to twist and turn into an unlikely and (as I was hoping) unorthodox outcome. My favourite character’s returned, there was blood spilt and tension between old foes and new conflicts. We even got the back story of Baghra and the Darkling, where they came from, and who Morozova was and did. And after that everything began to go downhill.
The spark of the downfall of Ruin and Rising, I think, would begin with Mal’s plot intrusion - that’s what I’m calling it. I feel like it was a direct interference by Bardugo, like she wanted to put it there to underline how good Mal and Alina are together because it was their destiny. It took me by surprise, which was good, but it wasn't a happy sort of surprise. I actually kind of frowned at myself for not seeing it coming at first, given all the fuss about his tracking ability I thought he was another Grisha, but once I knew, I had to put the book down. I was enraged. I couldn't understand why Bardugo needed to put that in. It was obvious that Mal and Alina were not good for each other, yet, she intertwined their lives so that it gave both the characters and reader little choice but to accept it.
Once Mal’s plot intrusion was introduced and read, the plot began to go downhill too. If you’ve read my previous reviews you would know that I think the Darkling is right in his endeavours. The Grisha are oppressed, murdered and used as slaves in their world, and he wants to bring that to an end. Yes, the means to which he is doing that are his downfall but Alina, at anytime, could have negotiated with him, helped him bring the Grisha the status they deserve and all could be happily ever after. The plot, although spanning over the three books, was very basic and not a lot of depth was intertwined with it:
Kill the Darkling and get rid of the Shadow Fold.
Yes, she needed help from Nikolai with the political side, the Grisha and Apparat with the followers/army side of the battle, and Morozova’s amplifiers for power, but that was it. There was no trying to talk the Darkling out of his plans, no negotiating, compromising. No in depth plot development, I don’t know how the government there works, what do people do in their spare time? What jobs are available? What do the Grisha actually do with their powers other than learn to control them and help others look pretty for functions? Yes, there was a side romance that I didn’t believe in and had to endure for three books, and the side characters whose plots were more interesting than the whole series itself. But there was no actual depth to the plot other than kill the Darkling and save Ravka from his tyranny.
Humph.
And the restrictive nature of the POV really hit me in this book mostly because of the outcome. The Darkling literally tells Alina, “Fine. Make me your villain.” And she does just that. Alina doesn’t consider that what he is doing, regardless of the way he is trying to accomplish it, may be right and what is best for both Grisha and Ravka. Instead she makes him her villain, and goes against him without question. We don’t get to explore what might have been, what the Darkling could have brought to his people and what he could have turned out like. He even suggests that Alina “might make me a better man.” But with the limited POV, the narrow-mindedness of the protagonist, we never got to find out, and that really bothers me. Alina, however, did grow on me as a protagonist of the series. At first she really irritated me. She was mopey, ‘ugly’ and stereotypical of the protagonists in YA literature. She grew stronger over the course of the series and I think because of that, I really hoped she would come to consider what the Darkling was offering. She never truly strayed from her path against him from the second Baghra told her to turn her back on him. It just infuriates me because the story could have been SO BRILLIANT but it just stays good, level with what was expected of it.
The ending really butchered it for me. Alina chucks the equivalent to Jane Eyre, and what I HATED about JE was that she went on and on about being an individual, free woman, where no net ensnares her etc etc yet ends up conforming to the stereotype she so strongly refused and belittles herself solely to please and stay with her lover. Alina could have been extraordinary. She could have moved to the Little Palace, helped teach the Grisha how to use and control their powers, aided Nikolai with his work, and even if she didn’t want to do all that, what of her friends? And Mal, he could have trained soldiers in the army or helped Nikolai. But because he was so threatened (I guess) by Alina and her power, Bardugo interfered again and did what she did (I’m not spoiling it, I hope..) And they found themselves where they began. The story almost feels pointless and the fact that Alina had to belittle who she was to make Mal happy, whether she intended or not, gets on my nerves.
I still adore the Darkling, what he was hoping to achieve, what he stood for as a leader, protector and visionary for the Grisha. What really tore out my heart was how alone he was, and when he realises it. It butchered me. Bardugo created such a unique, interesting character, yet we only got a fraction of what he was and could have been in this series. And Alina still finds that she can shed tears over him, yet she claims she did what she did out of “mercy”?? I could go on and on about the ending but I wont. Let me just say that The Darkling deserved more, there was so much potential for him to be so incredible, and I would have really liked to see what he and Nikolai could have done as a team, if things were different.
Genya, though I haven't talked about her before, was one of my favourite side characters, as was Zoya, Tamar, Tolya and David. Their character development, especially Zoya and Genya’s, was fabulous, and I would have liked to learn a bit more about each of their back stories. The world Bardugo created was awesome, I only wished she had given more detail about it. I know the first instalment of The Dregs is out now, and I will be reading it soon, so I hope in that series she further evolves the Grisha world, it’s something I loved about this series and will miss reading about.
So, in conclusion, I adored the way the series played out, right until the end, where it was bitterly let down by stereotype and what was expected of an ending. Character development was great but there could have been more depth involved, plot was a let down and setting needed more work. I was quite sad when I finished this book, I’m going to miss it, as much as I am bitter about the ending.
★★★☆☆ - (3.5 Stars)
Love, Natalia
xx
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