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[SPOILERS] Ruin and Rising (Grisha Trilogy Book 3)


kairparavel

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Guys, how hasn't this thread already been started? I'm late to the party even! I've read all three books in the past week.



Wow, what a rollercoaster. I loved this book. And even though I'm not satisfied with the ending, I think it's the right one, through and through. Anybody else have thoughts? I'll add more as we go on.




ETA


I updated the title so we don't need to bracket the whole thing.



I finished it last night too! The epilogue made me a little weepy.


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I went searching for a thread on this earlier today, having just finished the book last night.



I really enjoyed it. Reading the reviews on Goodreads, it seemed like a lot of readers loved or hated it depending on who they expected/desired/desperately wished Alina would end up with (i.e. the Darkling, Mal, or Nikolai). I went into this not having a private plan for how things should turn out and trusted Leigh to tell the story she wanted to tell, and I think she did and did so very well.



It's the final volume of a trilogy and there's a pretty pervasive sense of "EVERYONE MIGHT DIE!" through the entire story. And while some characters do die (some quite horribly), even the ones who live do so as massively scarred (physically or otherwise) individuals.



This was the latest in a recent run of books I enjoyed so much that I wanted my subway ride to last a little longer so I could keep reading.




Ok, so I have mixed feelings about the fact Mal survived. On the one hand, I wanted Alina's sacrifice to be even more massive than it was, but I think I'm ultimately okay with it because he lost his tracking power and, well, the epilogue was just lovely.



By the way, is this a spoiler thread? I did the spoiler tags on that specific bit just to be safe, but I figure if we are going to talk openly about the events of the book, should there be a SPOILERS type notice in the thread title?



(Also, I feel obliged to point out that the BWB collectively got a shout out in the acknowledgements. Woot!)


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I LOVED the first book, liked the second, and liked the third.

And even though I'm not satisfied with the ending, I think it's the right one, through and through.

This is pretty much how I felt. I felt the ending was the right one and it was clear that was the story Leigh had always intended to tell...but it wasn't what I wanted.

Actually, I was all kinds of sad at the end of R&R until some 13 year old goodreads fangirls showed me the errors of my ways and helped me see what really happened at the end of the book and then I was okay with how things worked out.

i.e. the Darkling so faked his death just like he has done a ton of times before and he lives.

Yup, that's my ending and I'm sticking with it!

I think Leigh created a really rich and interesting world in the trilogy. I loved the topography of the land and the places she created. I love how the trilogy bookends itself with the beginning and ending chapters.

And I liked how both Alina and Mal end up without their powers at the end.

The weakest part of the trilogy for me was the

Apparat and how he just sort of fizzled out at the end and was sort of a non-entity. The only thing I can think is that maybe she is building him and his role up for a future book since she is continuing with this world in her next series.

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Lady N, I concur though I believe the Darkling's truly gone. Alina, as she so often does, actually showed him mercy by ending his empty and lonely existence now that she was no longer his equal or near equal. And because she lost her powers, she was able to be with Mal, If she hadn't I would have rooted for her to be on her own. I didn't see any of the three really being her partner in life as the Sun Summoner.



Now, my two big gripes?



1) Harry is the final horcrux! So he's not really dying, it's the horcrux dying...



2) And with this fancy axe, I will give all the peasants of Ravka the the ability to be vampire slayers and summon the sun, while completely losing my own...



<sigh>




The Apparat was Ros. He provided mythposition to Alina in a different way from Baghra and a plot device hideout.


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Lady N, I concur though I believe the Darkling's truly gone. Alina, as she so often does, actually showed him mercy by ending his empy and lonely existence.

You speak logic but....NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! *covers eyes and ears* Its much more fun sailing down de-Nile with unicorns and rainbows and other fangirls.

Agree with you on the Mal/Horcrux.

Can I just say for that moment when Alina thought the Darkling was her great-great-whatever Uncle was rather priceless. ROTF.

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You speak logic but....NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! *covers eyes and ears* Its much more fun sailing down de-Nile with unicorns and rainbows and other fangirls.

Agree with you on the Mal/Horcrux.

Can I just say for that moment when Alina thought the Darkling was her great-great-whatever Uncle was rather priceless. ROTF.

I was a fan of the Darkling, and hoped for his redemption right up to Keramzin. That was a bridge too far.

So, Mal. We got to find out why he had his powers. Why could we not solve the mystery of Alina's parentage. (R+L=A?) It seems impossible (improbable) she came from anything except Morozova lineage given her unique power and strength. Or she was descended from another saint.

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Oh I never hoped for the Darkling's redemption. I rather liked him as he is.

I did buy the B&N special edition of R&R with the extra Darkling chapter. *sniff*

As for Alina, I think Leigh might write a story about Alina's parents. At least I remember her saying something like that in a Q&A. Not sure if they would have had Grisha powers or not but clearly someone in her past did. Unless we find out she is the sister of Anakin Skywalker and the midiclorians are responsible.

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I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Certainly a bit more than the second book which I felt had a little too much teen angst stuff. I was quite fine with how the book's ending and felt it was the right one. Especially as, like Mr. X said, I was expecting pretty much everyone to die.

I got the B&N edition too and thought the Darkling chapter was really good. I'm hoping someday some of the extra bits and short stories will be collected into one edition.

I LOVED the first book, liked the second, and liked the third.

This is pretty much how I felt. I felt the ending was the right one and it was clear that was the story Leigh had always intended to tell...but it wasn't what I wanted.

LadyN, so how would you have wanted the story to end?

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