Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

The final book in the Grisha trilogy, and I am so in love with Leigh Bardugo's world and Nikolai. In Ruin and Rising, the Darkling has usurped the Ravkan king and taken the throne. Alina, Mal, and a handful of Grisha have managed to escape. However, now it appears that the Apparat is holding Alina hostage by establishing her as a Saint, and threatening her friends. While hiding underground Alina allows her plans for the firebird to simmer as she also hopes for the safety and survival of Prince Nikolai.

I can safely say I finished this series without ever changing my opinion of Mal. I still really dislike him. He does a slight character change but it isn't by much. Book 1, he either ignored Alina in favor of other people or he blamed her for being Grisha. In book 2, he was possessive about Alina, talked down about her abilities, and made it seem as if he thought she was incapable or mentally incapacitated. Now in book 3, he all of a sudden is up Alina's rear end, like she can do nothing wrong. I seriously wanted to jump into the story and give him some meds for his bipolar disorder. Whiplash, anyone?

However, on that same thread, Alina seemed to FINALLY figure out that she can stand on her own two feet. I still think she is crazy for being with Mal, but to each their own. I was happy to see that she realized that it was up to her in a way. Everyone else was doing what they could to fight, but the Darkling wanted her. He knew her power was equal to his, and I truly believe he knew how far it could go. The ending was not what I expected, but I could totally understand how it happened.

As for the amplifiers and the Darkling, I had two theories about the amplifiers going into this novel. I was happy to see that I was right about one of them. But it was also really cool that it wasn't revealed until 3/4 of the way through. I do believe that Leigh Bardugo made it really hard to hate this particular villain, because once you read his story, you begin to understand why he did those things. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning murder or torture. But I can understand why he wanted to use the Fold, and usurp the Ravkan king. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and all that jazz.

Overall I still have to rate this one 4 out of 5 stars, because the character whiplash was a little much for me. The beginning of the novel was a little slower than the first two novels, but once it picked up, it really flew by.