Ah the final book in the Grisha trilogy. This one I cannot keep my thoughts on the ending spoiler free but that will be under the cut. What I will say is that the book starts off strong.

Since the climax of Seige and Storm, Alina has been weak and her power faltering. A position that lets Apparet control most of her moves in the underground White Catherdral. He wants her to be a living Saint so he ccan grow his faithful army but Alina is desperate to find the last amplifier, the pheonix so they van save Ravka. The Apparet gave me such Rasputin vibes as he’s not an ally but also not an enemy but a rat waiting for the dust to settle before he makes his move and cement his own position.

Luckily, Alina’s true allies are able to get her out of their along with some faith on her part as returning to the light brings her more strength as Sun Summoner, so far that she manages to utilize the Darkling’s trick to get into his head. Unfortunately, the Darkling ha those centuries of experiences on his side and manages to unsettle her more than him.

Bardugo manages to keep things off-kilter with the plans of Nikolai and the others being quickly disrupted so they’re forced to regroup and come with new battle plans to defeat the Darkling before he enlargens the Fold.

Plot-wise, Bardugo delivers pathos and plot with the revelation of Baghara’s connection to the Darkling and thre greater heritage of Saint Mos. Character-wise, lots of great moments. Nikolai standing up against the king in regards to Genya’s treatment, Genya embracing herself as ruination, David showing his steel, Zoya being the sassy voice of reason, Nikolai fighting his volcra self and so on. For the last two I can’t wait to see them take center stage in the Nikolai duology!

Alina soon realizes that she may be one of a kind like the Darkling but she isn’t alone. All her allies have their own hurts, traumas and demons yet their ragtag group were also made of steel, they became sort of a family to her. It’s a meaningful revelarion that’s bolstered by the mini-group of Alina, Zoya, Tamar and Nadia bonding. Plus Toyla calling Alina his sister too. The character dynamics have really been solidified amidst the danger and war.

The Darkling has his fair share of development. While he may have shown some of his most heinous atrocities yet, he also shows some real vulnerability in his conversation with Alina and in his final moments. But even though he showed some humanity at those last moments, its clear that he could never be the ruler Ravka needed. While his original cause to help Grisha was just, his ego to be ruler of all through fear or death even striking down fellow Grisha just show how far gone he is after all these decades.

Meanwhile, Alina shows the greatest strength of all. It’s been theme that she wants to belong, she wants the destiny of the Sun Summoner because it will give her thatbelonging and sense of greatness that she never had as a scrawny orphan. Yet she also fears how that power will change her, possibly for the worst like the Darkling. Or maybe it’s all part of destiny. Just does she have the strength to do this?

We have seen Alina power-hungry but readers have also glimpsed that she is uncomfortable with being put on a pedestal as saint or queen so while I admire she has gained a backbone and more focused on priorities and doing what is needed but not at the cost of her humanity. That’s what makes her stronger than the Darkling, emotion-wise at least.

That leaves Mal. . .

Now the big thing is Mal and his part in the ending. Character-wise, I admire that he has grown a bit from his insecurity and aimlessness in Seige and Storm. The best part was his willingness to die for the cause. The needs of many outweigh his dream and love for Alina. I found it so admirable to the point that I was annoyed that Alina wouldn’t let him. I mean come on Ravka is more important than you two! Probably not what Bardugo intended to happen that I was invested in Mal dying rather than rooting for the two to live happily ever after.

Yet he lives. In a plot twist that just didn’t make sense. Alina didn’t have the power to ressurect someone nor did she attempt to so Mal just suddenly breathing made no sense!

Know what else didn’t make sense? That Mal was the third amplifier not the Pheonix. While I can buy that it gave him supernaturally good tracking skills because “like calls to like” and the three times he helped to boost Alina’s powers when in contact with the amplifiers but. . .

How about all the other times that Mal touched Alina throughout their childhood and teenagehood? I know Alina had been repressing it but her touching Baghara and the Darkling immediately brought it out because they were amplifiers, wouldn’t that apply with Mal as an amplifier?

So these two felt pulled out of thin air and didn’t fit with the wider world. I guess Bardugo wanted to play with the are-we-attracted-because-of-destiny-or-choice? Which she did briefly in a sweet conversation where Mal reaffirms why he admires Alina with or without powers but that’s not worth the complete unnecessary amplifier/resurrection nonsense.

So I’ll admit Mal’s part in the end brought the finale down for me. It even overshadowed Alina’s awesome takedown of the Darkling, that’s how disappointing it was.

Nonetheless, Alina did get a satisfying ending in finding peace with Mal, belonging to a family and helping orphans like her so they won’t feel like another soldier another gun in a broken country like she and Mal had grown in.

3 stars