Book #10 of 2018:
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo (Grisha #3)
This final novel in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy is the first one that I feel really approaches the quality of her later Six of Crows series. (Or to put that more charitably, the five Bardugo books that I’ve now read get steadily better when arranged in publication order. She’s definitely growing as a writer, and I’m excited to see what she produces next.)
I was lukewarm on the Grisha series for the longest time, but this closing volume crackles with all of the excitement and originality that I wanted from the first two books. The characters are deeper, more decisive and tragic where before they could feel somewhat petty, and the love triangle resolves with a minimum of fuss. I’m not sure if it quite makes up for the earlier weaknesses, or if I’d even recommend the trilogy as a whole. But Bardugo really nails the conclusion here, and I enjoyed it far more than I expected to.
This book: ★★★★☆
Overall series: ★★★☆☆
Book ranking: 3 > 2 > 1
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