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.
Ruin and Rising is the thrilling final installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
An EPIC ending to an EPIC Series!!!
By Alicia
RUIN AND RISING was everything I could of hoped for and more! It had a phenomenal ending that left me utterly satisfied!! I was pleased with every angle this book took. Though I have to admit that I found myself a little shocked at the direction that this book did take. But in the end, I was left feeling complete and at peace with the series in a whole. But I will mourn the route that it didn't take, and the ones that didn't make it. But to say I'm happy with the way it ended would be an understatement, I'm ELATED!!! THE PLOT.. Alina is left all but shattered after her last battle with The Darkling in the Little Palace. She has failed to defeat him once again, and lost countless of lives in the process. She was not strong enough to defeat The Darkling, and she's paying for it now. Hiding in the vast underground tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina finds herself at her worst. With all her power dried up and gone, Alina and her remaining group are at the mercy of the Apparat and his followers. The Zealots who worship Alina as a Saint, but are under command of the Apparat. With Alina and her group weakened and highly outnumbered, they group will have to work together and use every bit of wits and strength they have to find a way out of the tunnels and away from the power-hungry Apparat. Because Alina is getting stronger everyday, and she's not ready to give up just yet. She wants out of hiding and to search for the only thing that's standing in her way of defeating The Darking, the Firdbird!!! Alina and her group set out on their final journey to find the Firebird, and hopefully the charismatic, strategizing lost prince, that took a piece of her heart with him. But they will have to overcome many obstacles and attacks along the way if they have any chance of finding the Firebird and making it to The Darkling before it's too late. Because The Darkling is getting smarter, he's taking bigger risk, and he's done playing games with Alina. And he's coming at her full force, so this time, she better be ready! The time has come for the ultimate battle of good versus evil! Which side will be left standing to rule all of Ravka? Which way will the world sway? Will they be left cowering to an evil ruler? Or be relishing in the glory of a new world? Find out in this EPIC last installment of The Grisha Trilogy!! I am so happy with this series. I know some people aren't happy with the way it ended, but I personally loved it!! I wanted this ending to happen, but I prepared myself for the worst. If it's one thing that ALLEGINAT has taught me, it's to EXPECT ANYTHING!!! So I was ready for any outcome to happen!! But this is the one I was rooting for, well not exactly. But I am HIGHLY satisfied, with plenty of tears along the way!! Overall, THE GRISHA TRILOGY will go down as one of my favorite series ever!! And I am so sad to see it all end! I will miss every single one of these characters that I have grown to love. They have all found their way into my heart, and have a special place within where they will stay! Leigh Bardugo, I am ready for whatever you bring us next! BRING... IT... ON!!!!!!!!!!
35 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
Fair.
By lamerck8
***FYI*** there are some serious spoilers in the comments of this review, so please don't read them if you haven't finished R&R. There aren't (as best as I can tell) spoilers in this review, although there are references to some of the book's contents.I finished this book with an intense amount of ambivalence for its conclusion. I found the ending extraordinarily painful BUT I also felt it inevitable; the way Ruin and Rising was written gave few, if any, alternatives. Without trying to spoil, the status of Alina's relationships were clarified while others were found irredeemable. With the options Bardugo gives us, it seemed clear that certain things (as one reviewer put it) needed to be sacrificed.We can certainly debate the this necessity of this sacrifice as well as our satisfaction (or lack thereof) with the Last Relationship Standing, but the reason I've given Ruin and Rising three stars isn't because I'm angry over the ending; I'm disappointed with its execution. My plan is to reread, but in order of my initial pet peeves:1 - I felt as if Bardugo was impatiently going through a check list: reunite people, reveal Darkling's history, resolve amplifier issue, final stand off, conclusion. There are really beautiful and emotional passages within Ruin and Rising, but they almost seem to come only when story is given room to breath.2 - The resolution of the final amplifier, just as Mal's saving in the Fold in the first book, is as deus ex machina as you come. The so-called "signs" that this was foreshadowed in the previous book are, in my opinion, next to none and certainly not enough to foreshadow THIS. And even though I found it shocking, I also found it oddly banal, insofar as the reveal precludes a whole host of possible paths for the characters. I also found it somewhat insulting as a reader; the entire point upon which the series revolves was reset because of the Morozova background reveal just scant pages prior.And this brings me to my final pet peeve:3 - No matter how I feel about the Last Relationship Standing, my feelings are similar to those regarding the amplifier resolution: I don't mind the decision itself so long as you're not herding your readers towards it as if they're too unintelligent to understand what you're doing. I want to avoid spoilers here so I won't go any further, but am happy to discuss in the comments as I need to vent somewhere, ha!I would hate to see 1-2 stars in the reviews simply because of the ending - as painful a conclusion as it is. Ruin and Rising, while problematic and certainly not worth the 4-5 stars the previous books garnered, is a genuinely decent read. It answers a number of standing questions from the first two installments and it's written with Leigh Bardugo's customary skill and flair for dialogue.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.Nothing Like Its Predecessors
By Lili's Reflections
I am so disappointed with this book. It's not a book I hated because, in all honesty, I think it's impossible for Bardugo to deliver a novel that I would absolutely despise, but I honestly feel as if Bardugo could have done better. While her writing is still gorgeous and her characterization is always above and beyond expectation, the plot of this one was seriously out of whack and I found myself becoming more and more frustrated as the book progressed. Books one and two are among my favorite novels ever, but it almost seems as if this book was written by someone else.With all plot problems aside, Bardugo's writing style is so lyrical that it'll always drag me in. I am a reading slave to this woman. I will read anything she writes, though I may go in with more reservations now than I would have prior to reading this novel. One thing is for certain and that is the fact that Bardugo knows how to paint beautiful pictures and enrapture you with her prose.Her characterization is also some of the best I have ever seen and this book gets major points for all the hilarious banter. All of our main characters grow in some way or another. Alina is still the reluctant saint that is simply fighting to battle evil and save Ravka. The Darkling is perhaps one of the most fascinating and amazing young adult villains of all time. His havoc and characterization are still unparalleled, though our last few scenes with him were not worthy of his legacy and power. For such a strong character, our last encounters with him were not only disappointing, but also lackluster. All other main characters and even some of the new secondary characters were strong and unique. It's certainly impossible to forget anyone in this series because every character stands apart from one another in their own way.This book has a love square, I suppose. After reading the rest of the series, it's obvious that there are three contender's for Alina's heart and for quite a while, it's hard to figure out who she will end up with. While I had my specific ship, I could respect all three potential suitors because they were as different as three men could be. If there was even a small similarity between these men, this love whatever-you-want-to-call-it would not have been so successful, but in the end the only thing that these three men had in common were their admiration and love for Alina. With that in mind, I have to say that the person she ended up being with and the reasoning behind it was perhaps one of the biggest literary cop-out's ever. She had so many options and I can respect her for choosing one without stringing others along, but the reasoning behind her choice makes me shake with anger because of how I can use prior books to discount certain things. I was so heavily invested in her and her romance regardless of whether my ship was chosen or not, but the romantic resolution was extremely lacking.Furthermore, I feel as if this book was predictable. Typically, this is a word I would not associate with Bardugo because when is Bardugo ever predictable? Books one and two constantly surprised me, but book three almost felt as if it mirrored its predecessors in general plot structure, but lacked in the detail they had. Things fell too conveniently into their laps. Many bad things happened, yes, but what's the point of having bad things happen when literally almost all bad things get resolved easily with a flick of a wrist? If characters die, they should stay dead. If they lose someone or something, some weird little form of redemption comes out of the wood-works. Events came out of nowhere and, at times, the explanations for potentially monumental moments were throwaways that didn't make much sense or didn't fully answer our questions. I kept reading out of curiosity, but my desire to be wowed slowly diminished every time I encountered an instance such as this...which actually happened often.And, of course, there is the final battle. It wasn't what I wanted it to be. It didn't seem grand or powerful. Again, a lack of detail. There was way too many miracles and too many wrongs being undone out of nowhere. While lives were lost, the carnage wasn't what I expected of the Darkling. Really, I just wasn't wowed. This lack of true interest was continued in the epilogue of the book. While somewhat adorable and almost fairytale-like in the way it is written, I can't say it made me any happier with Alina's final decisions. While I can see why Bardugo chose this specific ending for Alina and her love interest, it doesn't change the fact that it was a lukewarm ending to a simply satisfying read.While many people will hail this as an amazing novel, I can only say it wasn't for me. My expectations for this one were high, and perhaps that contributed to my utter disappointment after completing the novel. The bigger they are in your mind, the harder their fall is, right?In the end, this book is definitely worth reading. It wraps things up. Whether you like how the book wraps things up is an entirely different situation. I know people who both hated and loved this one. Truly polarizing, it is worth the reading though I caution readers to check themselves and go in with realistic expectations. Perhaps your reading experience can be more enjoyable than mine was then. Either way, I will read anything Bardugo writes, but I will be a bit more cautious when beginning future reads.
