Concluding my reread of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, we have the finale Ruin and Rising, a book I expected to deliver in at least one plot line – but did it? The short answer is yes, but there is room for improvement. If you want the essay answer, keep reading because there is a lot to discuss.

First, let’s address the overall plot. Ruin and Rising was handled neatly, giving reasonable chunks of time and focus to key events, a few chapters in between to ease the tension and excitement into the next stage of the book, and ultimately following the tried and true third-act structure with the build-up, climax, and denouement. But was it satisfying? I can’t quite say it was. Don’t get me wrong, the build-up phase is brilliant. There is a lot of character development, political shifts and conflict tension to keep the anticipation high, and the beats fall into their perfect places one after another until the last step before the climax.

In my opinion, the climax felt lacklustre to the rest of the book. Details seemed to fall short of previous action-based sequences, such as the Spinning Wheel fight scene and even the tunnels scene at the beginning of the book. The damper hanging over the group from the revelation almost seeps into the climax too much, inhibiting the emotive reactions and tense atmosphere. The events of the climax also felt too easy, too basic at the end of this long magical journey. The punchiness isn’t there, and it falls more into an emotional catharsis followed by an equally emotive denouement, making the ending skew too far in that singular direction.

I wish the characters had a little more action to send them off, to wrap up this trilogy and propel the recurring characters into the next phase of the Grishaverse. Things seemed to harken back to that half-baked state I felt with Shadow and Bone. I understand that Alina’s perspective is heavily tied up in the emotions she feels, but we go from a lack of emotion at the beginning of the series to an overabundance that diminishes the full effect of the ending.

The description throughout the novel is rich and engaging, especially with the variety of locations we see. The character dynamics also make the story feel gripping and make the stakes feel high – not because Alina realises this as early as one would expect, but because the weight of the others’ lives makes the reader feel that high tension-high stakes energy from the book. We get the strong emotions and thoughts of the others that round out the impact of the conflicts, and the turmoil such surprises and catastrophes have on their plans. This is a series about more than just one person and Alina’s singular perspective limits the overall impact of Ruin and Rising.

It is still a great YA book, a great fantasy and a great entry-level fantasy series to get into as the language has that fantasy flare without being too heavy. Leigh Bardugo switches to multiple perspectives in her King of Scars and Six of Crows duologies, so the central point of my gripe with the series is addressed. I wish there was something a little stronger here, as there is with the duologies.