Bardugo is a master world creator. Ravka is brought to life so wonderfully and with so many details that slip into it effortlessly. History is wonderful so the fact that Bardugo modeled Ravka after Imperial Russia? Flawless, absolutely flawless. History buffs will appreciate comparing and contrasting the two. Okay, okay, that may just be a me thing because I definitely enjoyed it. She was able to mirror Imperial Russia just the right amount to impress me and help me to better visualize Ravka, yet not enough to where it lost the fantasy aspect.

I also enjoyed the flow and pace of the plot. There was action right from the start, which for me really helps to grab my attention and keeps me interested. Yet, it did slow down enough throughout that you didn’t feel like you were just jumping from one scene to the next (I absolutely hate when that happens). Don’t worry about getting bored though, there’s so much to the story that it will keep you turning page after page to see what happens next!

Alina. Where do I even begin? She’s the …show more content…
He’s just blah. He brings nothing to the table to make me think, what a cool dude. Nothing, zip, nada. I’ll be honest, when he disappeared for a while, I was so glad and was hoping he would die in a hunting accident. There was just no depth there. He was the same person throughout the whole book, selfish with his head stuck up his butt.

Oh, Darkling, what would I have done without you? This was a character I could love. In the immortal words of Shrek, “Darklings are like onions. Onions have layers, Darklings have layers!” Okay, maybe he didn’t say it exactly like that but close enough that it still fits in this situation. The Darkling was such a great character. He was vicious, calculating, mysterious, insane, and oozed sex appeal. Girls, you’ll love him. He’s that character that you absolutely love to hate and can’t get enough of. The best scenes in the book were the ones with him.