The Grisha #3

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Publication Date: June 17th, 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Pages: 422

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Summary (from Goodreads):

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

Okay, I think that this was easily my favorite of the three books in this trilogy. It was so good and mostly satisfying! Also, I'm not even going to pretend there aren't spoilers in this, if you're one who is late to the Grisha party.

The beginning of this book takes place about three months after the battle at Os Alta where most of the Second Army was slaughtered by the Darkling and his shadow army! Alina is weak and the Apparat has her under lock and key, deep underground, trying to advance his little sun summoner cult. She won't let her near her friends or basically anyone but him and his weird guards. Then her friends come up with an elaborate plan to get her strength and power back and she basically puts the Apparat in his place. Which is good because he needed to be knocked down a few pegs, creep. I hate that guy. I was angry for the whole beginning of this book because of him and his creepiness. So they break out of the Apparat's clutches and go back on the hunt for the final amplifier, the firebird. 

I loooove Alina still! She handles being forced into Sainthood a lot better than I would because I'd pry whoop that Apparat's ass. I couldn't handle all those people being all grabby hands at me all the time. She definitely has the patience of a Saint, if anything. Anyway, I don't really know what to say about Alina that I haven't already said in my reviews for the other two books. She learns to hone her powers in new ways, perfecting more of the things that the Darkling had previously only been able to do. She has to make the ULTIMATE hard decision in this book and she somehow manages to do it. She is just really kick ass. She's smarter, she's braver, she's just a little bit better than she was before. I love her. Possibly she could be my new favorite YA heroine. I don't know. Top three, definitely.

The romance in this book made me both happy and sad. Sad because for most of this book Alina and Mal just basically glance longingly at each other and avoid contact and conversation. And Alina is being pushed in other directions by everyone around her. Pushed to possibly marry Nikolai and become the Queen of Ravka, even though I don't think she ever really acts like she wants it. It's just what could be best for Ravka. But throughout it all, she only ever wants Mal. It's always been Mal, it will always be Mal. I did appreciate that, while the romance was kinda just cold for a lot of this book,  Mal wasn't just absent through the whole book til he was needed. I really liked that he was present throughout the whole book. And I really love, love, love their happily ever after!

I decided in this book that I really like David. He really reminds me of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory because he's insanely smart and he doesn't seem to understand sarcasm. I really liked his relationship with Genya. They're so cute together! His little speech about how he understands metal and she's made of steel was SO CUTE! I still love Genya, too. She surprised me because she's totally got a nerdy side too! She is such a good friend to Alina, I'm glad that she didn't really get made out to be a bad guy in this series like I thought she was going to for awhile.

And as for the Darkling, I just really liked him as a character. Definitely still not as a love interest. I was sad at the ending that he got, even though it was necessary. He was never going to give up his cause and if he kept using his power, it didn't seem he ever had plans to die, so something had to be done. I don't think that he actually had bad intentions, I think that his methods of getting what he wanted were what was wrong with him. I liked that you got to see his more human side in this book. He wasn't always so perfectly put together. Alina surprised him and threw him off guard. He was actually capable of real human feelings! I love that Alina thought she needed the aid of all three amplifiers to face him, but in the end, Alina faced him and defeated him without anything to help her. I wish he could have been redeemed and gotten a happy ending, but not with Alina.

The one and only thing that I can think of that I didn't love about this book was Harshaw's death! Maybe it's the crazy cat lady in me talking, but I was SO SAD that he and Oncat didn't get to be reunited after the battle in the Fold. I loved the relationship between him and his feline friend. I also loved his semi craziness and I was sad to see him go. I definitely saw it coming though.

What else can I even say about this book? The plot sped right along. The writing was fantastic. I really don't think that my brain is caught up enough yet to even be writing this review, but if I wait, I'll definitely forget things. More than I'm sure I've already forgotten. This was just an overall really excellent series and I would highly recommend this book to basically anyone. So glad this series was pushed at me and I am only a little bit sad that I cancelled my preorder of The Rose Society to buy these instead. But definitely no regrets!

Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

The Grisha #2

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Publication Date: June 4th, 2013

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Purchase

Pages: 435

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Pages (from Goodreads):

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm. 

I'm not 100% sure how to recap this story without it either being filled with spoilery things (I mean, maybe that doesn't matter since this book has been out for a couple years, but maybe you're slow to the party like me) or without it just being overly long winded and wordy. So the Goodreads summary will have to do! I don't really think I could do it justice either.

I still really liked Alina in this book. She has become stronger than any Grisha seems to be meant to become. She is hailed as a Saint and worshipped. Her power is changing her and she loves it and wants more and that scares her. She finds herself in some interesting new company, people who help her escape the Darkling for a second time. She finds herself in command of an army and struggles to take charge of a group who don't really seem to immediately care for her being in charge. She really doesn't seem to be as confident as she should be. I don't even know what all to say about Alina, I just really like her. I feel like I can relate to her really well. I LOVE HER!

Before I start, I am totally still team Mal. But like I found him to be a douchebag in the beginning of Shadow and Bone, I find him to be a douchebag in parts of Siege and Storm as well. He's so sweet and caring and protective in the beginning, and I can see why that changes. He doesn't really see where he fits in in Alina's immediate and ambitious plans. He is no longer a soldier and he isn't Grisha, he's just kind of along for the ride and he doesn't necessarily like the changes he sees in Alina. He kinda acts butthurt and childish, I thought, but again, I can totally see why. I feel like in the end, he at least kind of sees the error of his ways, but still, come on Mal, don't be like that.

The Darkling starts to feel more villainous to me than he did in Shadow and Bone. He has acquired a wicked new power and totally uses it for evil. He isn't really present in a lot of this book, but he is definitely not just pushed to the background.

You're introduced to several new characters in this book! Most importantly are Sturmhond, Tolya, and Tamar. I loved all of them. I loved Sturmhond's sense of humor and general outlook on life. He's so sarcastic and optimistic. Tolya and Tamar work with Sturmhond and they eventually end up as members of Alina's personal guard. They take their jobs really seriously and do a very good job and are very protective and I just really liked them too.

I don't like how this story went for Genya. Despite how Alina can't decide how to feel about her, I still really like her and I wanted better for her!! 

I feel like most of the action of this book takes place right away in the beginning and then slows down for a lot of the book. I didn't think it was bad slow, but after that epic and action packed beginning, really not a lot seemed to happen until the end. I really enjoyed the story in this book as well. This book didn't give me that lame feeling that a lot of second books in series do.

I CANNOT wait to get to Ruin and Rising to see how this series ends! I would highly recommend this series to any and all! Especially lovers of fantasy and just anyone! I'm SO glad that I finally got around to reading these, they are so amazing! 

Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

The Grisha #1

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (BYR)

Publication Date: June 5th, 2012

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Purchase

Pages: 368

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

I didn't even bother to attempt to omit anything spoilery. Just in case you're one of those people (like me) who is reading this and hasn't already jumped on this bandwagon. And this isn't even really a review. It's just my ramblings. Just in case that's not your thing, turn back now.

Okay, so I mentioned in a tag one time that my least favorite trope to read about in a book is the one where the girl finds herself to be so boring and plain and not pretty, but actually she is and everyone loves her and blah blah blah. Well, I'm bringing that up because I was just reading other people's reviews of this book on Goodreads and someone was saying something about how they felt Alina fit this trope and I disagree. So I wish to babble about why I disagree. Also, it's probably the most coherent thought I have on this whole book.

In the beginning of the book, Alina kind of strikes me as an outcast. She was an orphan of the forever ongoing war between Ravka and the neighboring countries along with her best friend, Mal. They grow up and join the military together and she seems to just be off by herself. She is a mapmaker and not even a very good one, in her own opinion. She is always wishing for the good old days when Mal actually noticed her or took interest in her. The way she is described makes me think of someone who is really sickly. She constantly has dark circles under her eyes, she's way too skinny, she can't sleep, she has no appetite, she doesn't have pretty skin, etc. Then going through the Shadow Fold, she unleashes her rare Grisha powers to save Mal from the volcra and she is consequently taken by the Darkling to Os Alta where she is trained to use her powers. She fails in her training with Baghra to use her powers at her own will, she fails in combat training with Botkin because of her sickly nature, and she fails in socializing with other Grisha because she doesn't believe she belongs there and doesn't believe in herself. People only seem to be interested in her for her rare Sun Summoner abilities. 

Then she has kind of a realization/flashback about her past and realizes that she doesn't have to hide her powers anymore. So she lets it out and her sickly-ness goes away. She can sleep and regains her appetite so she fills out and loses the dark circles, but I still don't really recall anyone describing her as pretty. Maybe I skimmed over the book too fast NEEDING to know what happens next, but I don't remember that at all. It seemed to me that it probably took a big physical toll on Alina to suppress those powers for so long. And as a result of all that, she gains more confidence and finds that she's finally found a place where she fits in.

And as for the part of the trope where the character's got all these guys in love with her, I don't believe that the Darkling loves her. I think that he loves her power and how he can use it for his own gain. And as for Mal, I think that even though, to me, he came across as a huge douchebag in the beginning of the book, he probably always loved her. They grew up together and he took her presence for granted until she was no longer there and then he probably really realized what his feelings for her were. And as for everyone else in the book, I think that they all liked her just because they wanted to be friends with the Sun Summoner.

Except Genya, I think Genya likes Alina because Alina sees her as a person and treats her like a friend. I really liked Genya.

Anyway, so yeah, I really liked Alina. I found her to be really relatable. I appreciated that she didn't act like she always knew what was going on. I enjoyed that she made mistakes and ended up making some really tough decisions. I loved how she overcame everything. I thought she grew a lot in this book. I really enjoyed reading about her.

In the beginning, I thought that Mal was kind of a douchebag, as I mentioned above. I didn't really see the appeal of him AT FIRST. He seemed to be looking at other girls when he had a perfectly wonderful girl right in front of him that he never even saw until she was gone. But I decided that I was firmly team Mal at the part where he tells her he sees her now, right before they find the white stag. Ahhhhhhh... I love how he regrets not doing anything to get her back when she was taken by the Grisha after she revealed her power and tries to do whatever he thinks he can to help her. He tracks the white stag because he knows it's for her and then when his assignment changes to tracking her, he does just that and then runs away with her and tries to find her the stag still. I love the relationship that they have. I love when they are rekindling that friendship/something more after he finds her. 

When the Darkling was introduced, I didn't really see what was so bad about him. He seemed like a genuine guy, all sad about the Shadow Fold and wanting Alina's help to destroy it and what not. And I was very happy about the kissing scenes. I DID think it was weird that he never really acted all that excited about kissing her though. I think he just wanted to make out with her sun summoning ability. Buuut then I saw his true colors and I was glad that she ran away. I really didn't find him to be all that villainous though, to be honest. I mean, yeah, he's not good. But I mean, there are definitely worse villains out there. At this point he kinda sounds like he just wants to use his Shadow Fold to force peace on all the warring countries. Things COULD be worse, but at the same time, he's probably got worse things up his sleeve. I don't know yet. We'll see.

I enjoyed the writing of this book. I enjoyed the story and the plot. I liked all the characters. I can't think of anyone in this book that I didn't like. I can think of one thing that I didn't like about this book at all...

I KNEW Alexei was gonna get snatched by a volcra in the beginning. I knew it. I knew he wasn't gonna make it through the Shadow Fold. I liked him in the brief time that he was around in the story. Poor Alexei didn't stand a chance.

I'm really excited to see what happens in the rest of this series! I would highly recommend this book if you're into fantasy. I really just think that I have a thing for books where the characters have any kind of power. So if you also have this kind of thing, read this book!