The Grishaverse

SPOILERS BELOW

I had so much trouble getting into this book.

*Fair warning, I fear that I did not give the Duology enough attention but these will be my honest reviews although they did not meet the hype in my eyes.*

Considering I had already read the SaB Trilogy I had the knowledge of what Grisha can do, the book started off really strong with the eyebrow-raising actions of the Grisha being drugged to see what they do. But then the book flipped and suddenly you are following a gang composed of thieves and murderers which was not what I expected given my limited knowledge of what I was about to read.

Kaz starts off strong immediately with the whole "Because I've been looking for an excuse to talk to you for two days." Like, come on: my heart cannot handle this cuteness.

The chapters are crazy long compared to SaB, and I hate the constant flipping between character perspectives, I wish books came with warnings so I could avoid them. The entirety of this book was not anything I was expecting. I assumed, which obviously is my fault, that it would be similar to SaB with the acknowledgment and association of the Grisha but there is hardly any Grisha presence which was a major negative for me.

I was a little agitated that it seemed every character had their own hidden agenda that the reader knew nothing about. I can appreciate the originality of the concept where even the reader was kept in the dark with the upcoming events but it is still strange to be blind-sided randomly in the book you are reading. For instance: as a reader, you believe that Matthias is going to betray Nina by abandoning her in the cell, even after reading the beginning of Matthias's POV. But it was not until he began reviewing/giving a recount of what actually happened when he saw Brum while patrolling with Kaz, did the reader realize what was happening. A similar thing happened with Inej after she tripped the first time with Nina, in front of the guards. From a reader's perspective, you believe it was an accident that she tripped but it definitely was not. Basically anything and everything that you believe is happening or going to happen, actually is not happening at all.

I will forever recommend reading SaB first because there are so many references to characters in SaB it just enhances the reading experience.

Overall: I enjoyed the book although it was not what I expected. The heist was crazy intense and one of the most complex plans/heists I have ever read or witnessed. This book is 100% composed of "so you thought" moments. Plus there were no spots throughout the book that seemed to drag on. Bardugo's writing style definitely improved considering the length of chapters and the character descriptions. I loved the descriptions and I felt, just by reading them, that there was so much more diversity in this book compared to SaB. I love the budding romance between Inej and Kaz. I love Matthias and Nina, they are probably one of my all-time favorite couples because you have to love an enemies to lovers relationship. Then I love Wylan and Jesper so much.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

• Crazy intense heist and plot twists

• Great diversity descriptions among characters

• Different perspectives every chapter

• Does not involve much acknowledgment of Grisha

SPOILERS BELOW

I really liked this book, but I think Siege and Storm is still my favorite.

I was extremely bothered over how Alina could use the Darkling's abilities but it seemed the Darkling could not use hers. But I will forever LOVE how they could visit each other whenever they wanted. Obviously, that could have gotten messy, BUT I think it was so unique and created depth to their relationship. Plus, during the one chapter where Alina thought it was Mal in her room but it was actually the Darkling. Talk about steamy! I just wished it happened more. I cannot help but feel like we should have received more romance between the Darkling and Alina.

I predicted that Mal was the descendant of Morozova almost immediately, but I still had hoped that Alina was the descendant of Morozova's daughter instead. I also predicted after the first initial wrist touch that Mal was the third amplifier, but I predicted she would have just had to hold onto his wrist to utilize him as the amplifier instead of killing him.

But this book takes the cake for plot twists, you have Nikolai becoming that creature after the Darkling RANDOMLY appears in the mountains, then Alina loses her powers and her hair turns gray. Mal ends up dying then is brought back to life. Then the POOR DARKLING. Gut-wrenching, truly. Then you have Nikolai trying to get Alina to break what the Darkling did to him, but she is unable to.

But I will never stop believing that the Darkling deserved better than he ever got. "Don't let me be alone." Like, let me hug you. But I will FOREVER have respect for Alina considering she never did let him be alone. This brings me to my thoughts on the ending (which I HATED). I hated it because I did not want Alina to die and I especially did not want the Darkling to die both due to how I personally felt. From another point of view, I can see why both deaths were necessary. Obviously, it was necessary that the Darkling die, and I can understand Alina needed to die to receive Saint status and to continue living her life as is. I give the utmost respect to Bardugo and Alina for holding true to her promise to the Darkling to not leave him alone when it came time to burn both the "bodies" of the Darkling and Alina. I can appreciate him being laid to rest alongside the one person he only ever felt understood him, even if it was not actually Alina's body. PLUS I adore how the Darkling told Alina his real name.

Once again, the "After" part of the books are my actual favorites because it gives the reader additional information about the stories without having to give it from the perspective of the reader.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

• A promise kept even in death

• A battle between the good and bad

• Roller coaster of events

SPOILERS BELOW

Is it just me, or is the second book in the series is always better than the first? I loved this book more than the first one, although, the first one had the Darkling romance I wanted. But this book had Nikolai whom I just adore.

I feel this book got a bit darker in terms of Alina, and the Darkling himself. For starters, Alina gets a second amplifier which means she supposedly is the first Grisha to possess more than one amplifier, and now she is trying for a third, which I 100% am scared to see what she becomes after gaining that third. WHICH, I have a theory that Mal is lowkey the third amplifier (every time he has grabbed her wrist they have a weird energized connection; seems too big of a coincidence to me). Now not only is Alina starting to go to the darker side, and have darker more sinister thoughts but now the Darkling has some sort of an open connection to her meaning he can appear to her randomly. But these random appearances seem to be whenever Mal and she are together. Sidenote: I love how Alina now has THREE guys swooning over her, three if you include Vasily which we all know is not genuine.

I truly just want Alina with Nikolai though. I mean, you have the Darkling whom we thought actually wanted her but only truly wants her for her powers and their weird power connection. And then we have Mal, who cannot for whatever reason let her do what she feels is right. Then you have Nikolai which SEEMS to just want to be there for her. BUT, I also worry he only wants her for what it would mean if he got the throne. But regardless, I have a soft spot for him. And still no distinctive diversity (correct me if I am wrong) or romances besides heterosexual. The in-depth world-building has clearly stopped because it was basically completed in book one considering how widely spread out Alina traveled.

I feel Alina has had so much character growth since the beginning of book one. She arrived at the Little Palace, little more than a nobody. The only thing she had going for her was that she is the Sun Summoner. Now, she is the leader of the Second Army and a bad bitch (even though she is struggling).

And now we have the biggest plot twist: she has lost her powers?! (Bardugo definitely had me fooled. I felt she was going to submit to the Darkling because of how bad she was caving because of the two amplifiers). I feel the Darkling has them. And if he does not have them, then I think he is the way to get her powers back. But do not get me started on how royally fucked the Darkling is. Whatever magic he is using to create his shadow creatures is definitely going to be his downfall but it is clear his mother was right - his is past saving.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

• We have character growth!

• The ending was a rollercoaster of events

• We have three guys all interested in the MC

SPOILERS BELOW

I love this story. I love the idea of the Grisha and how instead of being actual magical beings like most stories, the Grisha instead manipulate matter around them. For instance, you have the Etherealki (the Summoners) which consists of Squallers, who manipulate air pressure, Inferni, who manipulate combustible gases meaning they can summon fire, and the Tidemakers, who can summon water. Then Bardugo creates the concept of the Shadow Fold, which is an area across Ravka consisting of near impenetrable darkness filled with deadly creatures. A concept I feel I have never encountered in a book before.

So aside from the intricate world-building that Bardugo created, she also creates two of the most powerful Grisha to walk the world: The Darkling and the Sun Summoner, both of which have polar opposite summoning capabilities. Which ideally creates the ideal power couple. But, like we learn almost all romances in book one, do not make it to book two and of course, The Darkling is not who we thought him to be. *Sigh*

I felt the book did not last long enough! Given it was only 300 or so pages, I was expecting so much more because my kindle show I was roughly 50% finished with the book, and then suddenly, it's the end. In terms of diversity, I cannot recall much among the characters (please correct me if wrong). Among relationships, there has not been any diversity yet. In terms of romance, there are a few steamy spots but nothing too significant.

This book seemed to be predominantly centered on world-building, character-building, creating the basis for the plot, and false hope. All of which are vital to the story, but I wish the book had been longer than what it was. I also which there was more of the Darkling (I could have waited until book two for the plot twists and betrayal).

Overall, I am beyond excited to finish book two to learn more about who Alina is going to become, and anything that relates to the Darkling.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

• Great world-building

• Great plot-twist

• Shorter than I wanted