This is my second read of this book and I actually enjoyed
it even more the second time through. Alina and Mal are doing their military
service in the army where she is a trainee cartographer, and he is a tracker. Having
grown up together as orphans in the house of a local duke they are very close
and often seek each other out despite leading slightly different lives now.
Their regiment is headed for what is known as “The Rift” a
vast swathe of darkness which splits their country Ravka nearly in two. When
they reach here their regiment is joined by those known as Grisha, individuals born
with incredible powers who help them stand a chance of keeping the monsters which
roam the darkness at bay and ensuring their safe passage.
However when they are attempting to cross The Rift
everything which could go wrong does, it looks like they will all die trapped
in the darkness and torn apart by the Volcra whom roam its reaches, until a
bright beam of sunlight bursts forth from Alina while she is trying to protect
Mal from a fatal blow.
This is a truly climactic area of the story and the pace never
really slows down from there. Shortly after this we are introduce to the
character of The Darkling, who is the leader of the Grisha, he is a very
interesting and multifaceted character who manages to display both warmth
towards Alina and still instil terror and command complete obedience from those
around him.
I spent quite a bit of the book annoyed at Mal for not
returning Alina’s letters and effectively pushing her into the arms of the Darkling
but I do find that this book has quite a satisfying ending.
STOP READING HERE TO AVOID SPOILERS!
I was really surprised when Bagra helps Alina to escape the
palace and wonder how the Darling was not able to see it coming having known
her for his whole life, but I’m so pleased that she did. I’m probably reading a
bit too much into it but I feel that the Darkling is almost a cautionary tale of
how one mans greed can destroy nations, not an original idea but one that Bardugo
is able to display artfully in this rich world that she has created. I was so
heartbroken when Alina and Mal are caught and the stag is killed but then
couldn’t believe it when they were actually able to escape again and board the
ship. The twists in this book really drew me in, as you can see, and it’s a
book I recommend you clear your schedule for as you’re going to want to fly
through it to see what happens. I know there are two more books which follow it
and as soon as my book buying ban is over in January I intend on binging them
all together!
Comments
Post a Comment