Book Review: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Published in 2014. Fantasy. This is the last book of the trilogy and continues Alina’s story as she and her group of followers have sought shelter with the Apparat. They are safe from the Darkling in the White Cathedral, deep underground, but they know they can’t stay there much longer. At some point, they will have to surface to confront the dark forces, the only question is when and how. The answer comes sooner rather than later as Alina and her group strike out from the confines. They seek any survivors of the last battle, especially Prince Nikolai, and hope to join forces with him to destroy the Fold. But her efforts are stymied when the Darkling launches another attack, weakening her already decimated forces.

I enjoyed reading this entire fantasy series. The story was captivating and the characters interesting. And I liked the ending. Although Alina and her friend, Mal, are the main characters, I particular enjoyed meeting Prince Nikolai, the bastard heir to the throne of Ravka. Because the story relies heavily on Russian traditions and language, some of the words may be unfamiliar and they are not clearly defined. But I got the gist of it.