Series Wrap ups! #1 The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Hey Guys!


I have actually managed to finish a few series in the last few Months and I really want to talk about them! Most I have talked about here a lot but I have my favourites and finally getting though my most anticipated ones!

First I have both started and finished the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo last month! I could not put this series down it was soooooooooooo good. The series starts with Shadow and Bone which I read in like a day as I was hooked and needed more.

This series follows your average girl Alina in war torn Ravka, not only do they have enemies on all sides but right down the middle is the Shadow Fold! An area of pure darkness with crazy creatures living there when Alina a Cartographers Assistant in the first army along with her team and a few friends try to cross the fold when they are attacked. With her best friend Mal down for the count Alina finds a power within that saves them and could be just what Ravka has been waiting for. Making the ranks of the Magical Grisha she meets The Darkling, a loner who keeps to himself but the leader of the magical second army!

I mean come on that basis has to hook you in, I consider this sort of intro to fantasy as it has a lot of these elements to it but doesn't fully make a classic fantasy series. The world building is great though and I never found myself bored by the descriptions and details that you need to have when reading a book like this. Ravka is beautiful and mystical, throughout the series you do travel around to a lot of places with Leigh's writing style for me it just felt effortless. The landscapes, the buildings plus maps even make you feel like your there with Alina and Mal fighting the good fight.

Alina was a great protagonist too, I loved watching her grow through all 3 books to realise she isn't just average no one is and that she can be so much more but also mean more to herself. Growing up in a orphanage with her best friend Malyen, Alina has been sheltered and watching her go out into the world and experience so much was cool to see. And I love there relationship as well the way it grows and changes throughout the books. She is for me easy to relate to and even though I wasn't the biggest fan of her in the first book I grew to love her more and more.

Mal is a great character himself and a great person to have opposite Alina who will call her on her shit. I loved watching him grow as a character as well and how he took being in this environment and thrived on it.

The relationships between Alina and the other characters are great over the series especially her and The Darkling, the back and forth they have were some of my favourite parts in the books! I love how Alina was always by herself but throughout the books she meets some really cool people and builds relationships with them, Strumhound is a favourite of mine as well as Tamar and Tolya,

The romance in this series did annoy me at times but the way they were handling it made sense for what was going on, I would have liked to see a bit more from it but enjoyed what I got. A lot of people do have issues with the first book as you are sort of thrown into this world but I think its like most fantasy type books that you need to keep reading and get past those bits so you have been warned.

The Darkling's Story

I really loved the magical system in this series too as well as paring it with the normal royal system, normally these days you find you get them mixed or one without the other and the political side of this series was very interesting but new and different for me as a reader. I love how you have The Darking with his darkness abilities and then you pair it with elemental magic like water, air and fire movers. Even to include someone who is good at making stuff be a magical equivalent was super cool in this series. I particularly would be a Heartender, your like a healer but can kill you instantly at the same time!

I feel like this series just got better and better with the direction of the plot and the building of the characters, especially The Darkling. With a name like that you would think we should hate him but I hated to love him. He was so mysterious in the first book that when you keep reading you realise there are so many layers to him and I felt the same at the end. There is also a sort of novella on him before all the action in the Grisha series which I recommend you read either after the 1st or even after the second one.

I loved this series and even though it has a lot of mixed reviews I'm happy I read it, there are so many cool little folk stories as well that go along with this too which really help to bring the story to life. All of this has got me even more pumped to start reading Six of Crows Leigh's newer series set in the same world but with a new exciting cast! This is also a Duology and both books are out so I will be getting to these soon.

Hope your doing well!
Peace : )