Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
The Demon King.
As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lanstov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm - and even the monster within - to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king’s gift for the impossible.
The Stormwitch.
Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.
The Queen of Mourning.
Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.
King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.
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My copy of this highly anticipated book is already filled with tabs and sticky notes and note margins and underlines, that should tell you all you need to know about how much I loved this book! I was newer to the Grishaverse so I didn’t wait as long as most for this book to come out but it was still one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it blew my mind! It was such a good tie together of the entire Grishaverse, a culmination of everything these characters have worked towards in the past 6 books. It was massive and I managed to binge read the entire second half in one single night. I couldn’t put it down. The action, the banter, the friendships, the reappearances of favourite characters, it was all so amazing and my heart was full by the end. As I said before, my copy is tabbed to the max and all I’ve done for the past week is reread my favourite chapters and quotes. Obviously this one is a very highly rated read for me. And if you’ve never read any Grishaverse novels, nows the time to start so you can read this big, beautiful book!
In the Shadow and Bone trilogy we get introduced to this amazing world as well as a good majority of characters and we follow Alina as she helps Ravka through a civil war. Then in the Six of Crows duology we meet some of the outcasts of Ketterdam who pull off the ultimate heist and then get caught in a battle of espionage and war crimes between two of Ravka’s biggest opponents. In King of Scars and this new one Rule of Wolves we get the backlash and consequences of the past series’ plots and once again, Ravka is propelled into a war. With Nikolai’s demon living close to the surface, Zoya’s new powers becoming nearly too much to handle, and Nina’s grief making all the wrong choices, these characters bring us to the most stressful battle I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Honestly, could not guess a single part of this book and I loved every minute of it even if it caused me to lose a little bit of hair…
Leigh Bardugo absolutely kills it when it comes to diversity. In the past she’s visited the topics of race, sexual orientation, and disabilities with strong characters representing the most amazing diverse cast of characters in one story. In this book she did not disappoint. I loved her representation of Zoya as a Suli (in my mind this is the Grishaverse version of the Romani in our world) and showing the latent prejudices against these “nomadic” people and then having Zoya, a powerful general and right hand to the King of Ravka, be one was a very powerful message. Leigh also went into great representation with a transgender character. I will not name names as I don’t want to spoil the book but the story behind this self actualization was heart warming and, in my opinion, a very relatable way of approaching the subject, not making a big spectacle of it but having it be something so natural to this characters storyline. I loved it.
The characters will always be my favourite part of the Grishaverse. They’re so well developed and even when their story seems over, there’s still character growth. In the very first book I absolutely hated Zoya, in this one I think she became one of my top three favourite Grishaverse characters. Going from the “bitchy” popular girl with an attitude to this layered woman who has suffered and and overcome personal trauma and found ways to be soft and trusting even with all the harshness the world had dealt her was amazing. Nikolai grew up big time in this book, always so aloof and carefree and cocky, he was always my favourite character because of his wit but in this book we got to see a more human and insecure side to him as well which made me love and respect him all the more. Nina of course blew it out of the water, her resilience amazes me and the total anarchy she brings with her still makes her the most badass character of these books. And then, of course, we got fun cameos from a lot of other beloved characters that just made them all feel like a big family. They were all there for each other when the country most needed trust and friendship.
I will admit, in the book previous to this one I was left a little wanting. There were three different plots going on and it felt like we didn't have enough time to fully get into each one, but this book had about a million plots happening all at once and we managed to get the full in depth story of each one. Everything in the first book made so much sense after reading this last one and all the open questions left from the other series were tied into this book as well. It made for a very action-packed read from start to finish. It was almost reminiscent of Return of the King for me in that you can't look away because the excitement starts right on page one. I think it really speaks to this authors talent in that she can have so much going on in one book with so many characters and still not sacrifice a thing. The various characters didn't dent the plot or make it confusing and the many different POV's and action sequences all throughout this made up world didn't hamper us from getting to know these characters more in depth than ever before. It was fabulous.
I can’t go into any more detail without starting to give away spoilers so I’ll leave it at this: If you’ve ever even considered entering the Grishaverse, this book will make that entire journey so worth it! 5 stars!