Ruin and Rising

Ruin and Rising is the third installment and the closure of Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy. The journey of Alina, Mal, Nikolai and their companions against the dark army of the Darkling comes to an end, making a thundering sound. Still, I can safely say that the third part of the Russian-inspired Odyssey is the one I enjoyed the least.

There were two major elements that bothered me. First of all, the pace of the story. Usually, the third installment of trilogies is the ‘‘slower'' one and Ruin and Rising was no exception. We spend too much time witnessing the -sometimes silly and childish- interactions of lesser characters, like Zoya and David, when we could have experienced the machinations of the Darkling whose presence comes only through Alina's eyes. This is the only complaint of mine that ran through the entire trilogy. I would want to enter the Darkling's mind, instead of limiting myself to Alina's restricted perception.

The second fault, according to my opinion, was the dialogue. In my reviews of the first two books, I have mentioned that there was nothing that had given me the feeling of a YA story. The dialogue was serious, well-constructed and elegant. Here, though, the writer has dropped the ball quite a few times. There were certain instances when I thought I was watching a Nickelodeon teen-movie or one of those young adult TV series like Gossip Girl etc. The frequent use of ‘‘okay'' or ‘‘You think?'' irritated me to no end. You see, Bardugo has created such a lush landscape. Lush and bleak and haunting, full of vivid and recognizable Russian motiffs. Word choices like the ones I mentioned could not but alienate me from the story.

Having said that, Ruin and Rising is full of shockers. I was really shocked at Nikolai's transformation, the death of Baghra. Still the scene that worthed the admission alone as the revelation of the Darkling's true name. It was a simple but deeply powerful moment. So, was the ending satisfying? Yes and no.

The finalé was big and shocking and beautiful in its terror. At that istant, there was only one way possible for the story to end. And then, I was firmly back on the ground, facing my disappointment.
Mal should have remained dead, a victim of teh Darkling's power, sharing a similar fate. The conclusion was a Hollywood-esque happily ever after. After all, there is only one Jon Snow who returns from the dead and we all cheer about it.

So, four stars for the trilogy, three for the third part and two for the ending. It was an amazing journey, despite some issues. A journey that retained my faith in high-quality Fantasy and the future of the genre.