3/5

For fans of: Grishaverse, fantasy, international war, spies, thieves, bastard born royalty

Synopsis: Picking up immediately where King of Scars left off, King Nikolai has returned from his failed obisbaya. Still harboring a demon and now with the Darkling returned, he must prepare Ravka for what seems like an inevitable war from all sides. Zoya is plagued by doubts of who she is and if she can face more losses in the coming war. Nina, deep undercover simmering with rage, must continue to serve the man who oversaw the death of her great love and who threatens the home she desperately wishes to return to.

Review: While I love the Grishaverse in all its messy wonder, this ninth installment into the world is too messy for my taste. Let’s start with what I loved. I loved the expansive feel of the story. Multiple POVs are a major turnoff for a lot of people, but it is one of my favourite writing styles. Pinging from Nina, the Monk, Zoya, Nikolai, and Princess Ehri was just so much fun as their plot lines weave in and out of each other. Another great plus of this book was getting to see so many familiar faces from throughout the Grishaverse. I won’t spoil any cameos, but none of them were a disappointment. Finally, Zoya Nazyalensky. Soldier. Squaller. General. Member of the Grisha Triumvirate. Queen of my heart. Her story throughout the entire Grishaverse has been my absolute favourite and her role in this story did not disappoint me for one second.

Moving on to the turnoffs. A good chunk of chapters felt very repetitive. The same inner turmoil of major characters being brought up again and again with very little movement or change slowed down the story. The pacing felt very off with so much repetition in addition to a variety of plot points that were underwhelming in their execution and climax. I don’t know if this was done to pave the way for more future stories, but it just felt too muddled. The climax was also quite underwhelming as well even though I appreciate the sly political maneuvers done to justify the resolution. Finally, the Darkling. The ending of King of Scars had me in a chokehold with his return and I was expecting for his role in this story to be massively world changing. It wasn’t. In fact, his presence was barely felt at all. He was trotted out here in there throughout the story just to remind us of his existence and eventually used in the final moments of the book. I hated it. Overall, this was an underwhelming conclusion to a great first half and I sincerely hope it is not the overall conclusion to the Grishaverse series. The characters deserve better.