Book Review: Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay….I thought King of Scars would break me, because it did. But RULE OF WOLVES...good lord that book should come with a warning: Let’s break Brittany in half so much, that once we get to that part where Zoya transforms into a dragon, that’s when Brittany’s Skyrim-senses start to tingle. Because good lord, this book-though it took me half a month to finish it, was so good that I had to take a night off from reading anything else, to keep my mind clear before I sit down and do this book review. Like before, I’m going to break this down by the multiple POVs that showed up:

Nikolai: Still the King of Ravka. Still has the demon inside him. Still a sly son of a bitch. I loved the fact that throughout the book he kept Ravka in mind, even when they were about to go to war with Fjerda. He didn’t even marry Princess Ehri, which I thought would happen in the story. But then, as the story went on, he fell in love with Zoya that he gave up his throne for her-gave up his throne-for her, and is going to be next to her forever, which I think I loved the most about Nikolai’s character development throughout this book. He moved up to being one of my favorite characters of all time and I love him so much.

Zoya: ALL HAIL QUEEN ZOYA NAZYALENSKY, QUEEN OF RAVKA AND DRAGON QUEEN. Holy shit Zoya’s storyline just blew me away. Blew me the fuck away. Chef’s kiss. She went from soldier of the first army, a summoner/squaller and commander of Ravka’s first and second army, and then Saint...WHEN SHE TURNED INTO A DRAGON. A full-blown, holy moly there’s a huge dragon in the sky dragon. That for me was the best part of the story, because after what happened in King of Scars, I got worried for Zoya. Like, honestly worried. But then, as I kept reading and taking notes, you realize that Zoya is a caring woman, and yes she’s half-Suli (I think, please correct me if I’m wrong), but honestly...becoming queen at the end was beautiful. Just beautiful. I loved it, so, so much.

The Darkling/Aleksander Morozova: I know, I know-daddy Darkling is back. I was shocked when he came back, and honestly, like everyone else, I thought he would come back and be civil. But NO. What did he do (dammit, Aleksander)? He kept asking for Alina, and he got her alone in a room...to stab her in the palm so he could get his power back. As if he was saying, “Jokes on you, bitch, I've had my powers this whole time.” Then, as Yuri, he’s getting all of his followers together to GO TO THE BATTLEFIELD so he can put on one big show. Well he didn’t-he helped Nikolai with his demon, and then turned around and cried out, “Sankta Zoya!”. Then he sacrificed himself when they finally caught him again, and he got stabbed in the heart like Nikolai did, and got sucked in the tree.

Nina Zenik: Nina had grown into a character and my favorite human being right now. Still masquerading as Mila Jandersdat, she has integrated herself into the Brum household. Even though she hates Jarl Brum, commander of the druskelle and Hanne, her girlfriend’s father. She had a mission to get close to the Little Lantsov, Demidov, and to get the letters of Queen Tatiana from Fjeda’s clutches. Well, she didn’t-she found instead Magnus Opjer, Nikolai’s real father, locked up behind bars in Jarl Brum’s office. She didn’t get him out, per say, but she almost killed Joran after she found out that he killed her love, Matthias Helvar. Hanne stopped her, and it did worry me that she thought Hanne died on the boat, Levithan's something I can’t remember. The shocking thing throughout this whole entire thing was that Joran, JORAN, shot Jarl Brum, and Prince Rasmus was the one that actually died, and now she and Hanne/Rasmus will be king and queen of Fjerda.

And the appearance of the Crows made me smile hugely because GOD I missed them so much, though now Inej is a captain now (and Kaz misses her SO DAMNED MUCH.) I loved every bit of it and I want more.

View all my reviews