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.

Three books into The Grisha Trilogy and it seems like these books and characters are finally starting to grow on me. Finishing Ruin and Rising has left me feeling a range of bittersweet emotions. There were things that annoyed me and that made me want to throw the book into the wall and never pick it up again, but also scenes which broke my heart or simply made me smile. And when it comes to in, I have to admit I’m even a teeny tiny bit sorry to have to part with this series and some of the characters for good. It might be wise to inform you, though, that this review is a semi-organized mess of

The third and final installment of The Grisha Trilogy follows Alina and what is left of the Second Army on a journey all the way across Ravka, from the mountains in the north to the far south, in search of the third amplifier and a way to defeat the Darkling and reclaim Ravka once and for good, or at least die trying.

One of my favorite things about this book and the whole serial, in general, was actually getting to see Bardugo’s style develop and slowly raise up to the level she is on today. Just when it comes to the plot structure and pacing, I feel like Ruin and Rising was much better developed than the previous installments. It was more dynamic and action-packed and very soon, for what was probably the first time in this trilogy, I found myself truly invested into the story and almost anxious to see how everything was going to down. Because of that, I dare say that this was for me the best book in this trilogy, even though I hated the turn the story took around 70%.

Here’s the thing with The Grisha Trilogy: looking at it as a whole, it kind of seems like a really long, slow-burn build-up to a grand finale. And even though I had my doubts about it, having heard a lot of people say the ending really disappointed them, I went into it with an open mind, willing to give this series yet another chance to prove itself. Unfortunately enough, what we got was even more messed up than I expected—and not in a good way. The whole thing seemed flimsy and unbelievable, even for fantasy standards. Even though there had been some foreshadowing regarding Mal throughout all the installments, the solution Bardugo opted for didn’t seem long coming at all, but rather as if she didn’t know how to tie all the loose ends so she simply decided to drop this huge-ass bomb on us.

I feel like it hadn’t really done justice to Alina either. Admittedly, she has never been one of my favorites, but I did get a feeling like she has matured a bit in this final installment and became decidedly less annoying towards the middle of the book. However, her actions at the end practically served to undo pretty much all the good things about her. *SPOILERS UNTIL THE END OF THE PARAGRAPH!* And I’m not even talking about her losing her powers, which I pretty much saw coming for a long time now (although I’d rather she willingly sacrificed them as that would’ve had a much bigger impact, but whatever), but about her fucking stabbing the one person she supposedly “loved very much” and everyone just accepting it?? She couldn’t have known things were going to go the way they did, and besides, I don’t remember anywhere explicitly saying the amplifier had to be dead in order to work. But you know what, she better just stab the motherfucker instead of trying to find an alternative, then break down crying ten minutes later because ‘Oops the whole dying thing might not be reversible :o’
Anyways, sorry about the rant, I just had to get it out somewhere. Back to the review.

When it comes to the other characters, I’ve already touched on this matter in my Siege and Storm review, but I can’t not repeat it here: I simply don’t get it how Bardugo managed to make Alina such a bland main character, yet simultaneously create so many amazing secondary and side characters. Nikolai, Zoya, Genya, Baghra, Tolya, Tamar, the Darkling (dislike him all you like, but you can’t deny he’s one of the more complex and best-written characters in this trilogy)… you name them. Each of them had their own quirks that made them almost impossible not to love and reading about them was, for me, definitely one of the best aspects of this book.

The one exception was Mal. I was more than a little taken aback by how annoying he has become in a rather short time period, especially compared to how much I liked him in Shadow and Bone. Of course, I was glad to see him finally accept Alina for who she is, but the practically 180-degree change in his personality that followed felt completely forced and out of place. Not to even mention ‘that thing that was revealed towards the end and led to the other thing happening’ a.k.a. one of the worst plot twists in the history of Incredibly Bad Plot Twists That We All Kind Of Just Want To Forget About.

Overall, this series has been a pure 3-star rating for me. It had been a pretty entertaining and quick read, even though there were aspects I didn’t really like and, while I’m not sure whether I would recommend it to anyone, I’m definitely not sorry I’ve read it. During the course of those three books, the characters seem to have grown on me and, looking back, I am sure that I’ll definitely miss some of the characters and the overall feel of this beautiful world Bardugo has created. Luckily, there are many future Grishaverse books in the making and many more already published ones featuring some (or nearly all) of these characters, so hopefully, there won’t be the need for me to reread this series in the near future.