Clare L. Deming

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo is the first book in another duology set in the Grishaverse (paid links). I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Lauren Fortgang. You can read my reviews on other books set in this world here:

• Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone #1)
• Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone #2)
• Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone #3)
• Demon in the Wood (graphic novel/prequel)
• Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1)
• Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

Here is the blurb:

The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war–and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried–and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

I think that Nikolai’s character is a fan favorite, and he certainly is one of mine, so I was excited to find out more of his fate in this book. Even though the Darkling was defeated by Alina in the finale of the Shadow and Bone series, remnants of his evil magic still linger in the world. Ravka has been weakened by that recent struggle, leaving it vulnerable to those same enemies that the Darkling purportedly schemed to protect them from. And the grisha-enhancing/enslaving drug jurda parem is still out there, despite the efforts of the Crows to destroy it in the previous series.

This book is told through the viewpoints of three characters: Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina. The blurb above makes this out to be Nikolai’s story, but I think it is more of Zoya’s story, especially in the next book (but that will be my next review). At first I had mixed feelings about this, because Zoya was never a friendly person in the earlier books, but her character grew on me. By the end I understood why she had developed that personality and empathized with her.

Nina, one of the “six” from Six of Crows, is also a highlight in this novel (paid link). In that earlier series, Nina suffers some devastating changes and losses, so it makes sense to see her again in a new story, because her tale isn’t done. Her plot gives us a new look inside Fjerda where she tries to deal with her grief while staying true to her mission.

I was shocked by the ending of this book, but I can’t say anything else for fear of major spoilers. Have you read it? Let’s discuss that ending in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.