4.5/5 STARS

I FINALLY READ KING OF SCARS AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE. I wish I could rate it a full five stars, but there was one thing that really annoyed me, which I’ll get into later.

I really wanted to read this book because of Nikolai. After rereading the Shadow and Bone trilogy this year, I realized how much I loved his character and I was so excited to see more of him. Zoya, on the other hand, I didn’t love so much in S&B. She was just a little intimidating and rude, and I wasn’t sure about her. But this book changed everything. Nina was also not one of my favourites from SoC. I really, really, really hated her relationship with Matthias, and while Nina herself was great, her + Matthias just made me roll my eyes.

King of Scars really changed my opinion on all three characters though, and I loved the growth they went through in this book.

I’ll always be impressed with how Leigh Bardugo tells a story. She has a way of weaving in plot threads that you’ve sort of forgotten or weren’t paying attention to that closely, and you’re left scrambling in the end because you’re shocked, but it makes sense, but you’re also in denial and everything is a mess