Ruin and Rising

Out of the books in this trilogy, I liked this one the most.

As always, Leigh Bardugo's writing was flowing beautifully and was so easy to read - I'd sit down and read a 100 pages without even noticing.
The story had a very good pacing, such that even if not much was happening, it didn't feel so. Some very good emotional moments. And a few good twists.
The main characters were way more likeable and the friendships depicted were warming my heart.
The conclusion of the story was quite satisfying and set up the following series nicely.

Now for the things I didn't like - some things, particularly relating to the small science and merzost, were not properly explained and seemed rather convenient.
I didn't get how and why Iliya Morozova managed to make sure a bunch of random people would get sun summoner's powers. I understand that he liked otkazat'sya, but why would that make him want to turn them into summoners then? And how would he have known that there would be a need for such? There wasn't even a Fold at the time. Not to mention that in no way explained Alina's power.And even if the point was to ensure that if someone got too greedy with their power, it would be taken away from them and dispensed among normal people, why would you do that? You don't know if these people want the damn thing, and you don't know if they wouldn't become greedy as well. It just felt rather random.Additionally, the way Alina lost her power was a bit disappointing. I wish she would've rather given it up than just having it taken away from her. This would've given her agency and would've made her mourning its loss more tangible.

Overall, although it wasn't a perfect book, I'm quite satisfied and rather nicely surprised by it, and this series in general.