Ruin and Rising- Leigh Bardugo
Date Completed: December 16, 2021
Reviw: 9/10
"I am not ruined. I am ruination."
While it was beautiful, there was something vaguely lackluster about it as compared to the previous two books. I believe the ending was perfect and Mal and Alina's ending was absolutely beautiful.
SPOILER ALERT//
Aleksander's death. Wow. I've never cried that hard and consistently during a book as I did for this one. I mean, every 3 chapters I cried. But the ending? Took me out. Wiped me out for 2 whole hours where I just couldn't stop crying.
His death, his final words, spoke with me personally, but I also feel really let us glimpse into his character whole-heartedly. We saw that he was just a broken man terrified of the dark, of being alone for good. He didn't want to live alone and he surely didn't want to die as such.
Ending the book with burning "Alina" and Aleks together was a beautiful tribute, and having her send a prayer with him as everyone was sending prayers to her made me shake violently.
My one issue? I don't think it should be possible he died.
Allow me to explain.
He'd been stabbed and shot multiple times, right? Why was it that when Alina did it he died? She stabbed him after she lost her powers, so even if she was the Sun Summoner, it would have made a little more sense, but she wasn't the Summoner anymore, so what was so different that it constituted his death?
Gorgeous ending to a gorgeous trilogy.