For years, I tried to read King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo and I just couldn’t get into it. I really like her Grishaverse works. The Shadow and Bone trilogy has so much world building and landscape diversity and I adore many parts of the books. As for the Six of Crows Duology, well, I am an avid fan and rate each book a 5/5 for a variety of reasons – world building details, relationship conflicts and developments, character interactions, character authenticity, an engaging and thrilling plot, the effortless banter and witticisms, and the shadows of trauma and loss that plague the Dregs. With the release of Shadow and Bone season two and the impending season three on the horizon, I wanted to give King of Scars another shot. Third time’s the charm, right?

The first read back in 2020 got me a chapter short of part two and I don’t know what it was – maybe the timing just wasn’t right for me – but I couldn’t bring myself to continue it. Then I tried again in 2021 after purchasing King of Scars and Rule of Wolves. It sat on my bookshelf for over a year until I decided to sell them. This brings me to May 2023 – the month that I would finally sit myself down and read King of Scars. I wanted to read it without revisiting the previously mentioned books in the Grishaverse to see if it could stand on its own or if it requires assistance from its older siblings. I admit I did skim read until I got to the part I first stopped at but, I kid you not, within the next four pages is the shift I needed to get hooked in.

I will say I wasn’t very interested in what was going on with Nina in this book. I knew that it would be significant later on, but to me, it felt a little slow compared to the hustle and bustle of the Little Palace and the rising tension there. Another thing, which is partly my fault, is that I kept forgetting who the characters were (TV show characters were on my mind and as readers know some book characters are portrayed differently on screen). Overall, I think part one has a little too much of the “establishment phase” where it sets things up and draws up images for us without there being fast-paced plot and tension to immerse us into the storyline. Part two jumps right into it and it really is the reason why I not only managed to finish this book (finally!) but also speed through Rule of Wolves (another post for another day).

My rating for King of Scars sits firmly at 4.0. I can’t shift it up because again the slow start and disinterest in one of the three perspectives for the majority of the book caps the rating at 4 for me. I’m not too worried though because Rule of Wolves carries the duology for me and I’m more than happy to let King of Scars serve as liminal space separating the Shadow and Bone trilogy from this duology.