Rule of Wolves (King of Scars #2)

  Synopsis

The wolves are circling. And Ravka's time is running out.

The demon king. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm-- and even the monster within-- to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by the young king's gift for the impossible.

The stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mother die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The queen of mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

 King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.

Loved

**Contains spoilers from Ruin and Rising and Crooked Kingdom.

• Nikolai and Zoya. Ahhhh my heart is still happy thinking about these two and how their story ends. I just adore them. I've loved Nikolai from the moment he appears at Sturmhound in Siege and Storm- how can anyone resist his outrageous confidence, charm, wit, and ability to outthink everyone? I hated Zoya during the Shadow and Bone series, but in this duology we see some major development in her character as we get glimpses into her past, her grieving, and her desire to save her country, and she's quickly become one of my favorites. Plus, she and Nikolai's sloooow burn romance is to die for- I'm still smiling to myself just thinking about it ;)

• The Dregs!! I about died when Kaz Brekker, Jesper, Wylan and Inej showed up in this story- not just for a cameo- but for a HEIST!!! Yes, we actually get a Kaz and Nikolai-led heist and it was so fun to combine all the best characters in the Grishaverse for a few chapters. I also love that we get some Alina and Mal in this story!

• The character development. The main characters all face major heart-wrenching challenges in this book, and they all have to do some introspecting and evaluating. All the main characters grow, change, and sacrifice- for their country and for each other- and it's gratifying to watch since we've known them throughout so many books. Queen Bardugo truly outdid herself with the endings for each of the characters- wrapping up their stories with creative, exciting, and perfect pieces that fit together to complement each person's development and arc.

• The plot twists. The beginning of this book felt a bit dragged out just because there were so many politics and different points-of-view at play, but wow the plot really delivered with some mind-blowing twists and turns. It's evident reading this story that the author has had a lot of practice writing, and her storytelling, imagery, wit and character arcs are virtually flawless in this seventh book of the Grishaverse.

Didn't Love

• My only complaint is that I do feel like Nina recovered from Matthias's death a little too quickly, and I still feel pretty conflicted about her romance in this duology. She and Matthias are just my favorite ever, so to have her end up with someone else only a few months after his death hurt my heart! But I suppose she deserves a happy ending- I just might need some time to process it ;)

Content

• Language: 
• Occasional uses of "damn," "hell," and "ass."

• Sexual content: 
• A few mellow kisses between main male/female couple, not much described. Some innuendo between them about undressing, etc.
• A headier kiss between female/female couple- described as lips being bruised from kissing and being found with their gowns half off.
• Some jokes with innuendo.

• Violence
• Some battle scenes where many people are killed with swords, guns, bombs, and Grisha powers.
• Many people die in a bombing raid, including a secondary character.
• A new weapon is implemented that sounds a bell so loud it kills those around it and makes the ears bleed of anyone who hears it.
• Grisha are drugged with parem and forced into violence.
• Soldiers are used as science experiments and their bodies are tampered to make them deadly and violent.
• A body is found flung from a tower in an act of violence.
• Lots of talk of assassinations, war violence, and attempted murders.


• Other themes:
• Some of the characters are saints who have been worshipped for centuries. Talk of cults, fanatics, saints, and icons.
• LGBTQ+ Rep: Two secondary female characters are married. Two main female characters have a romantic relationship that forms much of the story. One female character identifies as male. 

Overall Thoughts

At first I thought I might be over my head with this book. While I have really enjoyed the Grishaverse books, I wouldn't consider myself a super-fan or anything like that. But I quickly found myself immersed in this story with its complicated plots, twisty surprises, and mostly its characters who I found myself loving even more than in the other books. This story is engaging because there are so many subplots, enemies, and mysteries to solve, and everything comes together so nicely at the end. The best part of this story is how each character reconciles with his or her demons (in Nikolai's case quite literally), and each becomes more selfless, sacrificing and forgiving in his/her own circumstances. I am also still melting at Nikolai and Zoya's romance and it's definitely my favorite romance in the Grishaverse. If you enjoyed the other books in the Grishaverse, I highly recommend this one as it very well might be the most well-written, have the best plot twists, and 100% has the best character development of any of the other books.