Ruin and Rising is the 3rd and final book in the Grisha trilogy. It's been a wonderful journey and I will dearly miss many of the characters in this series. I hated to see it end but I was very happy with how everything tied up.

After Alina's showdown with the Darkling in Siege and Storm she is left hiding underground in a weakened state under the Apparat's protection. Alina is still determined to find the fire bird and take that last amplifier for herself. This book is full of reveals. Some were surprising, some I already had my suspicions about but they were all exciting.

Thankfully, Mal's behavior was less irritating to me in this book. As he comes to terms with all that is happening and focuses on his task I found myself no longer disliking him. He just lacks the charm and mystery of the Darkling and Nikolai's humor and charisma which made both of them fascinating leaving Mal a bit bland in comparison.  

I was thrilled when Nikolai made his grand appearance and is it my imagination or does he get better with every book? If Bardugo ever gives him his own series I will be first in line to read it!

"Being around Nikolai was always like this, watching him shift and change, revealing secrets as he went. He reminded me of the wooden nesting dolls I'd played with as a child. Except instead of getting smaller, he just kept getting grander and more mysterious."

Everything was wrapped up nicely and despite a good deal of loss and sadness I still walked away from this series feeling satisfied. I may not have chosen the ending that we got, and there were so many different ways it could have gone that I would have been very pleased with, but I think it was a good ending to a wonderful series!

Loved It!