Book Review :: Rule of Wolves, by Leigh Bardugo

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
ISBN: 1510109188
Series: King of Scars #2, Grishaverse #7
Also in this series: King of Scars, Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Six of Crows, Demon in the Wood
Published by Hachette, Orion
on 2021-03-30
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 592
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The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.

Last updated on 13 February 2023

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My thoughts on Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

While I usually try and do a bit of recap of the story for readers (that’s you!), for fear of spoilers I won’t do that in this Rule of Wolves review. Rather, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the book, avoiding spoilers.

I do mention the appearance of some characters in this review, so if you really don’t want to know anything, perhaps don’t keep reading.

Plot

Rule of Wolves follows nearly directly on from the events that happen in the first in this duology, King of Scars. Nikolai and Zoya are both trying to rule and lead the country of Ravka with the monsters they hide, while Nina in the north is still undercover for Ravka and what it stands for.

There’s just as much drama, action, friendship, loss and love as the other books in the Grishaverse. Some things were predictable, but other things took me completely by surprise.

Characters

We’re once again given a story from Barudo which is broken up into different perspectives: Nikoli, Zoya and Nina. I enjoy how Bardugo does this, as it not only allows us as readers to jump around in the world she’s so wonderfully created, but it means we’re getting those personalities drawn out by the characters themselves.

However, in the second half of this book, we’re suddenly hit with two other perspectives and while I can see why it needed to be done, there was one whole side storyline that I just didn’t care for and I found myself reading quickly through it, eager to get back to the main characters (whom I LOVE).

“This is what love does. In the stories, love healed your wounds, fixed what was broken, allowed you to go on. But love wasn’t a spell, some kind of benediction to be whispered, a balm or a cure-all. It was a single, fragile thread, which grew stronger through connection, through shared hardship and trust.”

Speaking of characters, there is a LOT that tore my heart out and stomped on it in this book! No spoilers, but something does happen that made me want to throw the book at the wall, pick it up again, and then burn it. If I were a crier, there would have been buckets. But then Bardugo SOMEWHAT redeemed herself a few chapters later by bringing in Kaz Brekker from the Six of Crows duology and I almost forgave her for ripping my heart out.

“Let the hounds give chase. I do not fear death, because I command it.”

The cameo appearances of Kaz, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck and Inej Ghafa was absolutely golden and I loved having them back in the story, even for a short time. The Six of Crows duology might just be my favourite book series of all time, and if Rule of Wolves is anything to go by, then I hope I can accurately speculate that there will be future books featuring the Crows (and by jeepers golly I’m excited already!).

There were other characters from the Grishaverse that are part of this story too, more so than King of Scars where it was mostly focussing on Nikolai, Nina and Zoya. Some are characters from the Shadow and Bone series, some from Six of Crows duology, and I LOVED how all the stories are overlapping more and more as more books are released.

Overall

There were aspects of the story that I do think were unnecessary, and for that reason, I think the book was too long for the content that was there. Some parts of the story (especially the side story that took us away from the main action and into the perspective of another character) was okay, but I don’t think it was necessary to have an entire sub-splot line that was that intricate. I wonder if a smaller subplot would have been better, for it to be left open for another duology or series there. Unsure.

However, once again, it was another wild ride, and while I still didn’t love this duology as much as Six of Crows, I still really enjoyed it (and more so than Shadow and Bone series).  Pretty sure I’ll read anything in the Grishaverse these days.

Have you read Rule of Wolves? What did you think?