Book Reviews

Ruin and Rising

By Leigh Bardugo

Review by: Emma Shi

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo is the third installment in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, an adventure-dystopian series that follows the story of a girl named Alina Starkov. Set in the Grishaverse, the book describes how Alina, still struggling to harness her new powers as the Sun Summoner, must hunt down the elusive firebird to save her kingdom and stop its dictator, the Darkling, once and for all. But as she and her friends track the firebird, Alina makes discoveries that will forever alter her view on the power that binds her and the Darkling together. Caught in a world of danger and secrets, Alina must navigate the difficult path of self-discovery before war engulfs everything she’s been fighting for.

The Shadow and Bone trilogy is a great choice if you like fantasy, dystopian, or even historical fiction–while most of the Grishaverse is made up, Bardugo actually based it off tsarist Russia, incorporating enough “real” elements to give the story a more realistic feel. Details about society and government are not explained in depth, so readers have to infer a lot of information on their own, though the Grishaverse is arguably a world real enough to not need much explaining. The King of Scars and Six of Crows sequel series act to complete the universe, with cultural and linguistic references scattered throughout. 

I actually read the Six of Crows duology before I started Shadow and Bone, even though the former’s plot takes place two years after the events in Ruin and Rising. The great part about this story is that reading out of order won’t matter in the least–in fact, they are treated almost like separate standalone series, and the way they weave together is truly amazing. 

After reading the series, you can also watch the Shadow and Bone film adaptation on Netflix, which I highly recommend, or move on to other fantasy books such as Keeper of the Lost Cities. Overall, Ruin and Rising is a truly magical book, and a great read if you’re looking for a universe to lose yourself in!