I know that I have talked a lot about these books for the past couple of months in the 7 reviews of the 7 amazing books that Leigh Bardugo wrote that are set in the amazing world of the Grishaverse. I am sure you are all sick of me talking about the magical world-building and plot, but I honestly feel like I didn’t describe it in enough and that my love for these books didn’t fully come across.
I started reading Shadow and Bone near the beginning of July and I didn’t realise that I was going to be discovering a universe and characters I would never want to leave. Now 7 books later I know that these books will always hold a very special part of my heart and my love for them will never be fully expressed in the words I can use in this blog. These books are now probably my absolute favourite ones and I know I will be returning soon because they are my new comfort books and characters and I know I will never be able to live without them.
Leigh Bardugo created a whole world with 4 different, but equally incredible, countries: Ravka, Fjerda, Kerch and Novyi Zem. She created a different culture, language, tradition, religion and more for each of these locations and I felt like they were so real that I would look out of my window and see the dirty, cramped streets of Ketterdam in Kerch or the vast, cold land that made up Fjerda. I am honestly amazed by the talent this woman possesses because how is it that she is able to imagine up an entire world and I can’t even write one decent literary sentence. Her writing was beautiful and she brought the places and people to life for me. I feel like I actually travelled to these places and lived with these characters and I can’t believe it was actually all just in my mind.
The plot was also so incredible and it was nothing like the predictable young adult fantasy novels because nothing ever went the way you expected. I just cannot believe that Leigh Bardugo came up with these plots because she had to make up all of Kaz Brekker’s crazy plans and then she had to come up with a way to have them go wrong (which was probably the easy part as they were so insane that there was no way they would work) and finally she had to do it all over again and get her characters out of another mess. I was constantly on the edge of my seat and devoured these books as I kept wanting to read on to the next chapter because of how she always left them on shocking cliff-hangers in order to leave her readers craving more.
Another thing she did incredibly well was the way she told the story from multiple points of view and knew exactly how each character would think and talk like in order to make them all come alive. I was never confused about who was speaking because I could always tell with the way they thought and the things they spotted. There was also never a single character’s perspective that I hated and I always enjoyed each viewpoint because Leigh Bardugo always kept each side of the plot alive and didn't abandon a single one.
One other thing that I know I need to say is how Leigh Bardugo was able to make me feel that certain characters were in love without ever saying that they loved each other. Her writing was so talented that the feelings just radiated off the pages and she never once had to say it, it was just clear from the very beginning. She pursued so many different romantic couples in such different ways, and I shipped nearly every single one of them and always will. She never let a single one go dry and each one was different, some left me screaming, others squealing and others in tears, but none was boring and I was always surprised by how she able to show the characters loved each other without ever saying it. I swear I have never read anything quite like her books and she is one of the most talented authors I have ever known.
I also want to sent out a quick shout-out to the amazing characters who will never just be characters to me - they are friends, family and I will always love them like that. They may not be real, but they didn’t feel like a part of my imagination. I cried with them, laughed with them, suffered with them and went on adventures with them that I will never forget. Readers go places that other people will never even know of and I am so grateful to be one of the lucky readers to have travelled to the world of the Grisha. Leigh Bardugo made these books come alive and that is something that I will never be able to thank her enough for. She managed to make me feel things that I had never felt before when reading and I know that I will probably never feel that way again. I have cried, laughed out loud, had second-hand embarrassment and more when reading many books, but one thing I have never done before is found myself crying days after the book, still mourning the death of a fictional character or the ending of a book. I have never found myself zoning out in the middle of a lesson weeks after the book, thinking about the adventure I went on and the characters that I feel in love. Leigh Bardugo manipulated my thoughts and emotions and I know for a fact that this will continue on for years because these books have left a mark on me that I will never forget, especially after the perfect ending of Rule of Wolves.
I can’t thank Leigh Bardugo enough for these books and the experience she gave me, however I also can never forgive her for killing off certain characters - specifically 2 certain young men who deserved more. I mourned the loss of these characters more than I have ever done before and not just because they were great characters and I really liked them, but also because of how she left my 2 favourite characters without their soulmates. I know she gave one of them another love interest and gave the other a kind of happy ending, however it isn’t the same and I can never ship these girls with any other person than their first lovers.
The Grishaverse is now my comfort place and in my mind I will always belong there because if I’m honest I think I was born in the wrong universe as I would much rather be saving the world than studying towards my A-Levels. These books are amazing and I strongly recommend, though I do hesitate when recommending them because I feel like they are mine and these characters belong to me because they are honestly a part of me know and I don’t want to share them.
Also in case anyone is worried about what order to read these books here is my suggested reading order, which is the way I read them:
The Shadow and Bone trilogy:
The Six of Crows duology:
The King of Scars duology:
Please note this is only a suggestion and you can read the trilogy and duologies in any order, however the King of Scars duology should definitely be read after the other 2 series. Also you can read books in between the different series, which is what one of my friends, if you are intimidated by the length of the series.
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