I’m gonna be honest, I don’t remember the last time I was so disapointed by a book. Also, before we go into it: I just finished reading and my eyes are so tired I feel like there’s gonna be some spelling errors, but I HAVE to put my thoughts out so that I can sleep. You’ve been warned.

I feel like Bardugo’s first mistake was making the book so plot heavy. I’ve read all the previous Grishaverse books, and without a doubt, the relationships between the charactes as well as the development and inner monologue of the characters is her strong suit. She demonstrates this skill, in my opinion, in Zoya’s and Isaak’s chapters. With Nikolai? She missed the mark. There was so much to do with the character, but it all just kind of fell flat and felt shallow.

The plot? All over the place. Walking into the book, I expected a political drama about the Ravkan court, while Nikolai deals with his demon and Nina finishes her arc with Matthias and gives us that SOC thriller element. And don’t get me wrong, I did get all that, but I also got an,

in all honesty, absurd resurrection plot for the Darkling.  LEAVE THE MAN TO REST. It makes no sense for him to come back. He should have been left to Alina’s books. I truly hate this plot. Also, how the fuck is Bardugo going to bring the Darkling back without pulling Alina and Mal back into the story? Are you trying to tell me that they would not find out? That they wouldn’t act once they knew?

It makes the plot way too overwhelming!

One final major fall for this book: the pacing. This book didn’t have to be as long as it is. The begining drags, so does the time in the Fold-thing. Because these things take up so much place the ending feels rushed.

All this is not to say this book was necessarily bad. It had its good moments. The political drama had me hooked. I wish Bardugo had had the courage to lean into it more. Zoya’s character development was marvelous. I adored her. Seeing Nina bury Matthias and find her new purpose was good, though it felt a bit… empty. Regardless of the books shortcomings, the prose itself was fantastic, as usual.


I just can’t help but think that maybe the book should have been through a few more edits. Maybe Bardugo should have had more time. I think I’m as disapointed in this as I am just because I KNOW she could have done better. I’m tempted to rate this higher, but Bardugo fell short in the areas that matter the most: in the areas she normally shines in. I cannot stress this enough: I know she could have made this better!