YA Review: Ruin and Rising

Ruin and Rising (Grisha, 3) by Leigh Bardugo, June 17, 2014. 417 pages. Published by Henry Holt and Co. Source: Library.

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.

First Sentence:

The monster's name was Izumrud, the worm, and there were those who claimed he had made the tunnels that ran beneath Ravka.

Shortly after finishing Ruin and Rising, and two other amazing books, my brain was literally broken from too many great reads-full story here. So much so that I could not even pick up a single book for a little over a week.

First things first, Leigh Bardugo totally nailed it with Ruin and Rising and blew me away with, not just her writing and world building, but just everything in this series. From beginning to end, the Grisha trilogy is fresh and different; it also has every thing to make a fantasy book lover's heart sing in excitement.
    I'm going to say it now, if you have not read Leigh Bardugo's Grisha books you do not know what you're missing. They are most excellent and I really do want every single person to read her fantastic writing.

So, what made Ruin and Rising such a great closer to the series, well, that would have to be the fruition of the plot line and how every thing came together. Truly, I was surprised by a couple of things that came to pass before I closed the book for the last time. There were aspects of the story I had seen coming together through the first two books, but, the ending was unexpected, to me, yet perfect.
    Just thinking about Ruin and Rising while typing up this review is giving me 'feels' all over again. There's definitely something to be said about a strong close to a favorite series.

Talk about going for the heart! This book took no mercy when it came to the one's feelings for the characters; built you up, brought you down, and then glued your heart back together. Yeah, that is how I felt watching Alina's struggle to regain her purpose and abilities; seeing Mal trying to keep his distance and still help. There's just something about each of the characters and their personal stories, even that of the Darkling, that gets to one. While this might sound cruel, I enjoyed watching them struggle with not only their adversary but with their-self; more-so because the writing perfectly captures their failures and triumphs.
 
 While Leigh Bardugo's Ruin and Rising left me in a sever book hangover, I managed to keep dry eyes throughout the entire book. While there were moments that I felt the strings of my heart being pulled, I cold shed no tears as that would prevent me from carrying on with seeing how things would play out. Plus, I had spent all my almost tears on one of the other books that broke my brain. Even though I remained dry eyed, this was one intense read as I feared certain characters would meet their demise. Now, while I won't tell you who meet their end and who carried on, I will tell you this; from the writing to the final unfurling of the plot, this book will get into your head and make you hurt.
   I regret nothing about delving into this wonderfully written and plotted book. Not the lost sleep. Not the inability to read for days on end. Nothing.

As a huge fantasy book lover, I cannot even begin to recommend this series enough. It was truly one of the best written fantasy series I have read. So, if you are still one of the few who has not read Leigh Bardugo's Grisha books, I highly urge you to remedy this as soon as possible.

Final Verdict: Ruin and Rising- An ending worthy of this most excellent series.

Ruin and Rising earns