[A quick note: This is one of those series that grows and grows on you. I felt like Leigh Bardugo really hit her stride by this book. I really hope the series makes it through to the third book so that I can see this one come to life]
โ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ. ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ. ๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ฅ๐. ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐ง'๐ญ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ง๐ .โโLeigh Bardugo
The Shadow and Bone Trilogy goes out with a bang in this final installment. This was by far my favorite book of the series. It has tons of suspense, action, high stakes, internal struggle, and loss. The characters arenโt black and white. Not only that, it was such an easy, pleasurable read. There was just so much to love!
Leigh Bardugo continues to impress with her morally gray characters. Even the protagonist, Alina, suffers from the greed of magic and power. Sheโs not perfect. She struggles with social interactions. Sheโs never considered โpretty.โ And sheโs susceptible to making mistakes, just like everyone else. But she grows. She fights for those she loves. She does the best that she can. Her nemesis, The Darkling, isnโt entirely evil either. Some of his goals are noble. Heโs always wanted a place for the Grisha to belong. Whatโs so wrong with that? Throughout this book, we see small glimpses of his humanity that are surprising.
โ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง. ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ.โโLeigh Bardugo
And then thereโs Nikolai. He has been my favorite character of the series I cannot wait to see more of him in the later books. I wasnโt expecting his character to face darkness in the way he did, but it was a welcome surprise. He continued to be his charming, humorous self.
I adored the world building in these books. The magic system is so cool. The countries and their cultures are each unique between Ravkins, Shu, etc. Everything feels genuine and real. Even the technicalities behind the magic with light was thought out. I appreciated that!
The story was a bit surprising. It took a few turns I did not expect. I canโt say I was in love with the direction it took, but I appreciated that it deviated from being predictable. I wouldnโt have loved it any less had it been more predictable. ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐/๐โญ๏ธ