#nothing makes sense. it's like TGT and the Nikolai duology are two completely different things

[aleksanderscult]

How Aleksander felt in RoW carrying that book and duology:

[unicorns-bookshelf]

Title: King of Scars

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 4/5

Beware! Spoilers to all of Grishaverse ahead!

I have to admit – I binged the whole Grisha Trilogy just so I could start reading King of Scars with a full picture. And I’m glad that I did because it made reading this book so much better. I was excited to see all the characters that accompanied Alina on her adventure. It was so refreshing to see them without being a background to her story and the relationships in the group were absolutely wholesome and made me so happy.

But off to the review we go!

King of Scars takes place three years after Alina defeated the Darkling and destroyed the Shadow Fold. Ravka, like always, is in a bad place financially and surrounded by neighbors who are ready to start a war. Not to mention the winged Shu soldiers who abduct Grisha to experiment on them with the use of parem. If that wasn’t enough bad news, Nikolai’s closest friends and guards need to make sure no one knows that the monster The Darkling had put into their king started acting up and now our favorite monarch spends his nights either sedated and in chains or relieving local farms of their livestock. 

Good time? In Ravka? Yeah, I don’t think so.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Fjerda, Nina along with two other soldiers of the Second Army is on an undercover mission to smuggle Grisha from the country to Ravka and also find a proper place to lay Matthias’ body to rest. Because we didn’t need our hearts anyway. 

I am sad to say that the one lacking star in the rating is for the plot. It was really amazing until half of the book, the political intrigue was shaping up nicely, there was the curious mystery of the miracles happening around Ravka and it was fascinating to watch how Alina’s and the Darkling’s legacy shaped up the country and what was the aftermath to the war. Zoya and Nikolai were on their way to get rid of the demon in his body and everything was shaping up so nicely. Things on Nina’s end were getting spicy too as she and her team worked to discover the mystery of a factory in a Fjerdan village and why was it poisoning the local river. At least in this end, the plot didn’t disappoint until the end.

But in Zoya’s and Nikolai’s POVs… The Saints happened. 

Oh boy. I can’t even express how random and confusing this subplot was. 

Let me get this straight - the Saints are important to the Ravkans. They’re a huge part of their beliefs and religion. Their martyrdoms and actions shaped the nation and sure, in The Grisha Trilogy we see Illya’s direct legacy have a huge part in the story, his actual descendants, the results of his experiments with merzost and it is hinted that maybe he’s even alive someone out there, kept young by his Grisha power but the whole point is that he’s not directly involved in the story. He doesn’t just appear out of nowhere in front of Alina being like “Hey girl, let me tell you about those sweet amplifiers I’ve been working on” and suddenly solving all her problems and giving her a super boost in power. He stays an element of Ravkan history and mythology, even if his past actions are crucial to the plot and behavior of certain characters. That’s what the Saints are and what they should stay. 

But no, apparently three of them picked by a random generator are locked in a pocket dimension on the fold and just chilling there until Nikolai and Zoya get somehow sucked in. Ones with the powers and knowledge that could obviously benefit the characters. It was just so… Unreal and random and we just got a half-assed explanation for it that sounds like a story made up in five minutes without any deeper consideration for the world’s lore and magic system. And I get that the Darkling’s experiment destroyed the world’s balance but this had absolutely nothing to do with anything the Darkling was trying to accomplish. It felt like something written by a completely different author with little knowledge of the source material. And if this were means to an end, I feel like it could have been accomplished in a much more plausible way.

I didn’t hate everything about the Saints subplot. I’m happy it gave us some background on how life as a Grisha was in the past, the origins of the name and some amplifier lore too. I love that Zoya got a power boost and I would love to see her change into the dragon in the second book because let’s be honest that would be absolutely awesome. I also hope that the second book will elaborate on the topic, making it more believable and incorporate it into the world’s lore in a logical way. Maybe even show more Saints so that those three wouldn’t feel like special snowflakes chosen just to achieve the ending and give the characters a power boost. I could really just roll with it if we get a more thought-out explanation in the future because as soon as they entered the Saints’ little realm I felt like I was reading about Zoya and Nikolai experiencing a mass hallucination. 

And that brings me to the ending. I know a lot of people hate it and honestly, I kind of share that sentiment. However, I must admit - it had me curious. The Darkling’s situation is completely different than it was in the Grisha Trilogy. I trust the author enough to give her a benefit of doubt in this case and see how she handles this situation in the next book. I’m curious about the Darklings interactions with other characters, as in TGT he was pretty much only focused on Alina. On one hand, I wanted a new villain or no villain at all, just a good political intrigue with some magic. On the other, I’m curious to watch the whole situation develop. 

Now it’s time to talk about the characters because they’re exactly what made this book enjoyable, even when the plot went south. 

I know most people came here for Nikolai and I have to admit that so did I. And don’t get me wrong, I absolutely wasn’t disappointed. We could finally see Nikolai outside of Alina’s POV and it was a feat. The prince seems a little more mature than in TGT but his sense of humor and charming attitude stays the same. We get to learn about his childhood, his insecurities, and concerns both regarding the monster that is inside him as well as ruling his country. His POV allows us to see him as a more wholesome character than in TGT as back then our opinion on him was influenced by Alina’s thoughts and narration. I was very happy to see more of him and I still love him to bits.

But it’s the girls that take the spotlight in this book.

When I read the Crooked Kingdom, I had a certain picture of Zoya which didn’t exactly line up with what I saw after reading The Grisha Trilogy. Of course, from the first book to the last, Zoya went thought some character development, growing out of her mean girl phase but all we’d known about it was that she lost her aunt when the Darkling used Alina to expand the Fold. King of Scars gives us an insight into her past, more information about her relationship with the Darkling and it’s all glorious and shes glorious and ruthless and I love how she’s not softened in any way as a part of some questionable character development. I want to see this girl turn into a dragon.

Nina’s POV made me love her even more than in Six of Crows. She’s still fabulous and ready to stir trouble wherever she goes. Her goodbye with Matthias was heartbreaking but I’m glad her whole storyline wasn’t based on moping after him. I loved that Matthias’ wolf was incorporated into the story and I hope we’ll see more of him. We also got a bigger display of Nina’s powers twisted by parem and I enjoyed it so much. Nina is always ready to help other girls and women and all I can say is… Icon. 

There was also a fourth POV introduced half into the book, one of a completely new character - a royal guard called Isaak. I did love him and he was shaping into a great character but the things happened and, well… We won’t be seeing any more of him and I was really looking forward to the part where he wouldn’t be playing Nikolai and we could see him as his own person. I feel like it was quite a waste but on the other hand, I didn’t grow to care enough to be bothered by it.

When it comes to relationships, both romantic subplots are a big yes in my book. When I started King of Scars I was very not on board with the whole Nikolai and Zoya thing but this book made me love it. Let’s just wish we don’t get some crappy love triangle in the second book. When it comes to Nina and Hanne, I was so excited to see Nin with a girl and Hanne is a great character who has a huge potential for development and the fact that she’s Brum’s daughter makes these dynamics even more interesting. Those two are going to conquer Fjerda together. 

Platonic relationships in the book are also delightful and heartwarming. I especially loved the Grisha Triumvirate and Nikolai acting like one big family and also Adrik being done with Nina starting drama in Fjerda and disobeying his orders like the Dreg she is and Leoni just applauding her? Absolute feast.

All in all, would I recommend King of Scars? Yes, I definitely would to all the Grishaverse fans and if you’re a new fan quickly go grab the Six of Crows duology and either The Grisha Trilogy or just a recap article on it since not everyone has enough nerves to go through books that have such annoying characters as Mal or Mal. Oh and also Mal. Sadly knowing at least basic stuff about the Grisha Trilogy is crucial for understanding this book so you can’t just avoid it like with Six of Crows. I’m eagerly awaiting the next book because I can’t wait to see where all of this goes.