Rule of Wolves

This book was agonizing. I loved it.

The last hundred or so pages in particular stuck out as strong. And when I say strong, I mean “I damn near threw the book against the wall on page 527.” If you know, you know. It’s rare that a book sparks that sort of reaction in me, and this one did. Ignoring all of the rest of the positive qualities of the book, that alone would be enough for me to give it 5 stars. This was an experience packaged in paper and binding—I hope I can read something like it again soon.

Note: This review will contain spoilers from the previous books from the Grishaverse (including the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology) and from King of Scars.

The worst part about finishing a Leigh Bardugo book is that you have finished. Rule of Wolves is purportedly the second of a duology so it is unclear whether we will have more stories from the “Grishaverse” but I (and all Bardugo’s myriad fans) certainly hope so.

I reread the first book in the duology, King of Scars, and am glad I did, because Rule of Wolves picks up immediately where King of Scars leaves off. King Nikolai of Ravka is still battling his (literal) inner demon and his undeclared love for his army general, the powerful Grisha Zoya Nazyalensky. show more In terms of policy, he is working towards peace for his beloved country of Ravka and to establish a sanctuary for Grisha, reviled, hunted, used, and abused in the world at large. Grisha are gifted people who can manipulate matter at its most fundamental levels. They mainly employ their extraordinary abilities to help people, but their talents can be used for ill as well as good. And non-Grisha fear them, and so resort to repressive behaviors common to those who fear “the other.”

Zoya has fused with the Grisha Juris and his dragon amplifier, and she doesn’t quite know what that means yet, but she is afraid to find out. Juris keeps telling her she cannot realize all of her powers now until she “opens the door” - i.e., stops closing herself off emotionally, but nothing terrifies her more than the pain of loss that accompanies love.

Nina Zenik is undercover in Fjerda posing as “Mila Jandersdat” and serving as Nikolai’s eyes and ears there. She is also tasked with trying to rescue any Grisha not yet caught and enslaved by the Fjerda. The Fjerdans have been experimenting on Grisha with Jurda parem. This drug can transform and enhance a Grisha’s power into something new and dangerous so the Grisha could be used as “weapons.” But the price for the Grisha was addiction and after a short time, death.

Nina forges an unlikely alliance with Hanne, the beautiful and fierce daughter of Nina’s enemy, Jarl Brum. Brum is commander of the Drüskelle, the Fjerda force that hunts Grisha for trial and execution as witches at the Ice Court.

Alternate chapters relate what is happening to Nina Zenik. Nikolai sent her, along with two other Grisha, on a secret mission to Fjerda to help endangered Grisha escape that country. The Fjerdans have been capturing Grisha and experimenting on them with Jurda parem. This drug can transform and enhance a Grisha’s power into something new and dangerous so the Grisha could be used as “weapons.” But the price for the Grisha was addiction and after a short time, death.

Complicating matters, the Darkling, a powerful Grisha who used his skill for evil purposes, is still alive and seeking to make a “comeback.”

Nicolai, Zoya, and Nina alternate as narrators.

As the story builds to its tension-filled dénouement, all of the main characters are confronted with life-and-death choices that will affect their identities and places in the world. Moreover, the lives of many others depend on what they choose to do. These factors add monumental gravitas to the decisions they need to make.

Evaluation: Bardugo makes human passions come alive on the page. You can feel and taste the hungers of her characters, and experience the pain of loss and thrill of young love as if you were going through those emotions yourself. I also appreciate the fact that Bardugo's characters are so idealistic and noble. We need that so much right now in the world! The dialogue is intelligent and emotionally resonant, and the political intrigue and challenges seem realistic and significant. This is an engaging book that gives you a lot to think about, as well as a lot to savor. show less

I absolutely adored Rule of Wolves, there was so so many moments that made me giddy. The perfect ending if Leigh chooses to leave it off here.

The Darkling having his POV chapters was excellent, and added a lot to his character. In the previous books, we only saw him through others eyes, so giving him a voice really added a lot to him, but also the narrative as a whole. I love how Nikolai and the demon seem to just co-exist now, and how Nikolai has chosen to weaponize this part of himself, no longer fearing it. He is not Grisha, but he is not exactly Otkazat'sya either, anymore. I was surprised that I actually vibed with Zoya being elevated to Sainthood/Queendom at the end, as I didn't think the whole uber-powerful dragon thing would show more work, but, it did for me, because of how it was set up in King of Scars. I adored Nina's arc as well and her relationship with Hanne. The only 2 things I would change are I think I might have liked if the ending was one or 2 chapters longer, and if we got an extra POV around there from the Darkling's perspective. As we didn't, my Darkolai heart is pleased that we had it in Nikolai's POV at least. show less

I feel like Bardugo really tore off the Band-Aid with this duology. No more tiptoe in the water... it's sink or swim from here on out. Absolutely loved the queering of all things binary with the conclusion of the duology. I've been waiting for this since the first books in the Grishaverse, and was openly cheering out loud when my favorite character finally found some joy with another character who shall remain nameless, but has moved to the top of my "characters I wanna marry" list.

Character arc heavy, in-depth views of all the places we've wanted to go, and more vulnerability than we've seen from Bardugo yet. I'm now a very enthusiastic fan.

Sound mysterious? Want to know more? Definitely pick the duology up and dive in!

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo is better than its predecessor, but I still can’t say I am 100 percent a fan of this duology. I love Nikolai, and Zoya grew on me. Still, this felt a bit like a rehash of the first trilogy in some ways, especially with the appearances of certain characters. At least the Crows take on new and interesting challenges. Speaking of, I was glad to see them show their faces once again. They were a high point in the story. The ending is okay. At least, I didn’t see it coming. Still, I’m not convinced I like the direction Ms. Bardugo took. I remain excited about the last two lines in the novel though because I suspect it means more of the characters I do love and want as much of as possible. So there is that show more silver lining. show less

I'm disappointed but not surprised.

This book was much, much too long. It had no business being nearly 600 pages long. I initially assumed Leigh Bardugo produced this massive tome because it was intended to be the last book in the Grishaverse, but evidently, it's not going to be. It's just self-indulgently lengthy.

Everything I disliked about the first book was amplified here. There were so many POVs and storylines going on that I struggled to get invested in any of them. When the book finally meanders to its resolution, it's in a deus ex machina way that makes the two novels I plodded through seem pointless. Not very satisfying and definitely not worth the 1100 pages it took to get there. It was like a train crashing through show more molasses.

Bardugo's written some excellent books, and I really think she has it in her to be a fantastic author. However, in her attempts to weave the Grishaverse together, she turned it into a tangled disaster. It's time to leave it behind. show less

Actual Score : 4 Stars


This book had it all , it had the action , the adventure , the romance, the drama. Unfortunately it had too much for all of them. The book was essentially a hot mess of multiple plotlines overlapping and intersecting and affecting each other.

I've taken a point off for two reasons :
1) The Reader has no break :
The book dives headfirst into the grishaverse ( which is always good ). However here we were constantly jumping between the 3 main POVs ( Nikolai, Zoya and Nina), who for the most part have different plot lines.At one point it becomes sort of like a tennis match( But a very confusing tennis match where the three are passing the ball to each other and random times ) and I really had to put my book down and show more say 'Woah! This is too much '. Nevertheless I cannot fault a book too much for an intricate plotline.

1) The Depiction of the Darkling: Lots of Darklina shippers have been outraged by the depiction of the darkling.As a non- darklina shipper, I'd grudgingly agree. The resurrection of the Darkling seemed unnecessary to me in KoS and in RoW he's just conveniently available to solve one of the plot points . What I will say though is that the Darkling POV chapters were written so so WELL

Positive points
1) Zoyalai :);)
2) The dregs ( yes well I'm a simp for the crows and they were simply marvelous )
3) Zoya Nazyalensky ✓✓✓✓
4) Genya and David
5) No seriously all the plot points seemed to seamlessly blend into each other and every but of this book was a joy to read show less