Review: The Grisha Trilogy

I finally got around to reading the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. I am torn on how to rate this. I enjoyed it but it didn't wow me the way Six of Crows duology did. I think this is Bardugo's first series or at least one of her earlier writings but and I think you can tell. I will say that if you want to read King of Scars you do need to read this series or else Kind of Scars will make no sense.

I think the thing that made me the most confused about this book is the religion. I felt like Leigh Bardugo tried to base the religion of Ravka on the Russian Orthodox Church without actually understanding the Russian Orthodox Church or its connection with Russian culture. I cannot don't expect things to match exactly when you are parodying but there were things like the roles of saints and the Apparate that confused me and I was unclear how they related to the church. Maybe it is because I am Orthodox that it didn't make sense and wouldn't bother someone who isn't Orthodox.

I struggled to related to Alina and spoiler I do not agree with Alina and Mal being the final couple. I totally wanted Alina to be with Nicolai because Nicolai was the best character in this whole series. Honestly, the series would be 10 times better if there was more Nicolai. I read through these books pretty quickly so I might need to reread to have a more clear picture of what wasn't quite clicking for me about these books.

Side note: I specifically bought these covers because I wanted the onion domes. I am really disappointed that the new covers do not have onion domes.