A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST!The Grishaverse will be coming to Netflix soon with Shadow and Bone, an original series! Enter the Grishaverse with the instant #1 New York Times-bestseller King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, the first book in the King of Scars Duology. “[Bardugo] touches on religion, class, family, love — all organically, all effortlessly, all cloaked in the weight of a post-war … all effortlessly, all cloaked in the weight of a post-war reckoning with the cost (literal and figurative) of surviving the events that shape both people and nations.” —NPR
“The story exists at an intersection of past and future selves, and in the dawning understanding that what you most fear may be what you most need.” —Washington Post
Face your demons…or feed them. The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.
Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.
An Imprint Book
Read all the books in the Grishaverse!
The Shadow and Bone Trilogy
(previously published as The Grisha Trilogy)
Shadow and Bone
Siege and Storm
Ruin and Rising
The Six of Crows Duology
Six of Crows
Crooked Kingdom
The King of Scars Duology
King of Scars
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
The Severed Moon: A Year-Long Journal of Magic
Praise for the Grishaverse
“A master of fantasy.” —The Huffington Post
“Utterly, extremely bewitching.” —The Guardian
“The best magic universe since Harry Potter.” —Bustle
“This is what fantasy is for.” —The New York Times Book Review
“[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp.” —NPR
“The darker it gets for the good guys, the better.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Sultry, sweeping and picturesque. . . . Impossible to put down.” —USA Today
“There’s a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo’s original epic fantasy that sets it apart.” —Vanity Fair
“Unlike anything I’ve ever read.” —Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent
“Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!” —Rick Riordan, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series
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What have I just devoured!? I’ve got goosebumps and a severe case of… I don’t even know! That ending was unbelievable and brilliant and just one heckuva surprise! I love how the ah-mazing Leigh Bardugo packs a punch that you never see coming. There are hints peppered here and there, but then the actual execution is breathtaking!
I can’t be friends with you if you don’t enjoy Nikolai Lantsov! Because let’s be honest, he’s completely crushable! Meaning that his witty personality and charming good looks beg to be worshiped. I love how he is so down to earth as he brags about all of the gloriousness that he is. The things he says and the thinks he thinks can be such opposing forces. They paint the picture of such a beautifully brilliant mind.
I have come to absolutely adore Zoya Nazyalensky. Which was a huge feat since she caught the eye of Malyen Oretsev in Shadow and Bone. I loved getting her point of view. I totally ship her and our king. I love her salty ways and that she instills such fear. She is a leader that Ravka needs and what role could be better then her to rule beside the man that is without a doubt smitten with her just as much as she is with him?!
I cried, I laughed, I was joyously happy and hugely entertained reading this. I had to close my gaping jaw a few times. Ms. Bardugo is such an unequaled talent that it’s hard not to fangirl when that’s really all I want to do. Don’t hesitate to immerse yourself in the Grishaverse, you won’t ever want to leave it!
Her settings and plots may be fantastical, but Bardugo’s living, breathing characters are what keep readers grounded no matter how wild things get. There wasn’t a person in this story I didn’t feel for. Even if you haven’t read other Grishaverse novels, you can easily situate yourself in this one. Read it!
This story continues from the Grishaverse where Nikolai Lantsov, King of Ravka tries to rebuild his country following the Ravka Civil War while also fending off demons and the Darkling. His friend and powerful Squaller, Zoya Nazyalensky and Nina Zenik aka: Mila Jandersdat help him with his quest. They all form an allegiance to stop the threats to his country and the Grisha Army. This young adult fantasy novel with it’s worldbuilding characters was a fascinating read.
I’ve enjoyed the entire Grishaverse, but am happy to see Bardugo writing more in the adult age range. The characters in King of Scars have such depth, as does the world building. When I got to the end and realized I had to wait more than a year for the sequel it made my heart hurt. I can’t wait to read the next book!
Another foray into the Grishaverse! This duology is set after Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows and focuses on Nikolai, the young king of Ravka who is trying to hold his fragile country together as he himself is falling apart due to the residual effects of the Darkling’s curse. He’s accompanied by many familiar faces from the previous books, including Zoya (who is as terrifying and epic as ever). There is also copious amounts of Nina Zenik continuing to wreak absolute havoc in Fjerda, which is always welcome. What I loved most about this book is how incredibly clear Leigh Bardugo made it that the Darkling is a giant asshole who does not deserve the slightest shred of a redemption arc or a sympathetic reading
Bardugo is excellent and I have enjoyed all of her books (though I haven’t read 9th House yet). This book is no exception. Though it is primarily set up to the major conflict, there were some slow spots and a bit too much info dump for me in places, but I don’t think it distracts from the overall greatness of the story.
I spent a few months reading this book because I had to put it down because of school. I don’t think that me picking it up and putting it down for a while effected my feelings towards the book overall though. The beginning was a little boring. It started off as a “meh” book, but (at the very least) the last 100 pages were very enjoyable! AND THAT ENDING! I love how the story ended and cannot wait for the next book. I just hope the next one doesn’t start off boring too.
I think this story really adds to the Grishaverse world. The author did a great job developing the magic system, the entire world, and the characters. The magic system gets built on, and I’m wondering how this will impact the future of Ravka and its neighboring countries. I hope that we get to see the implications it creates in the next book. I saw a good amount of growth in Zoya, Nina, and Nikolai, and it made for an interesting story. We learn more about Zoya and Nikolai as characters, and we get to see Nina’s grieving process over the death in Crooked Kingdom. I think that if you were to read this book, you would need to read Shadow and Bone trilogy AND Six of Crows duology before starting it, otherwise you will be spoiled.
Some of the discoveries from Nina’s pov (there are four pov total: Nina, Zoya, Nikolai, Isaak) pulled at my heart strings, and I found myself more invested in her story than in the Zoya and Nikolai’s part. I also found myself more invested in Isaak’s, given his role in the story. After a little bit, I became equally invested in all stories and I was very excited to see how it would all come together for the ending. I wasn’t disappointed!
WOW THAT ENDING!!!!!!!
In my opinion, this is by far the best of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse book she’s ever written and the most risky one, which it totally payed off!!!!! This book gets a 4.85 stars from me only because I felt some part of the book was slow but other than that, it blew my expectations.
It has the perfect mixture of the magical world that the Shadow & Bone trilogy gave me and the deep characters that the Six of Crows duology gave me, so that says a lot!!!
There are mainly 3 POVs in the book plus one other POV that appears in part 2 of the book (There are two parts of the book). The POVs are Nikolai, Zoya, Nina, and Isaak and I honestly enjoyed all of them. I did not actually get bored in any of the perspectives to be honest.
I’ve read reviews that Nikolai did not get enough shine in this book and that Nina and Zoya were the strong voices in this book and while I do agree that their voices were strong, I’ve also got to say that Nikolai had a strong voice too and he shines a lot in this book (his intelligence and humor)!!!!!!!
I actually felt at first that Zoya’s chapters were an addition to the story but I’m not complaining because I like her character and poison tongue!!!!! But as the story progresses, she started to shine a lot and she her storyline was both heartbreaking and fascinating!!!!!!!
Nina’s chapters was both heart wrenching (if you’ve read Crooked Kingdom you’ll know) and full of female empowerment. Her storyline is different than what Nikolai and Zoya are facing and I’m interested to see how her story will link to their’s in the upcoming book.
And finally, my poor baby Isaak!!!! He was dragged into the court life (in order to disguise as Nikolai while he was away), and honestly, it was kind of funny to me but my heart ached for him to be in that kind of situation. What surprised me in his chapters is that it did not felt like a filler to the story. He had great characterization in his own right and I LOVE HOW LOYAL HE IS!!!!!!
We also get introduced to many new characters. One of my favorites are Leoni, Adrik, and Hanne!!!!!! We also get Yuri, a monk who worships The Darkling (and of y’all read my previous Grisha book reviews, you know I HATE The Darkling and I’m not sorry for it). I didn’t hate him as much as I expected to but that’s that. There are many others but I recommend you discover them yourselves while reading it.
The plot was the best!!!!!! There are always high stakes and I am excited and nervous on how things is gonna turn out in the next book!!!!! All I know is that IT IS GOING TO BE BLOODY!!!!!!!!
Now this review will not end without mentioning my favorite couples!!!!!!
I ship Zoya and Nikolai SO MUCH. Their banter was the best that I’ve read and I love the little moments where they both tell each other’s vulnerable side. It was just so sweet and SWOONY!!!!! Their relationship was the most interesting one because they do not try to comfort each other, but they help each other march forward and that was so powerful!!!!!!
I also shipped Adrik and Leoni. Adrik is Nadia’s younger brother and he appeared in the Shadow & Bone trilogy, while Leoni appears for the first time in the universe and I was shocked to discover who she is. It’s both heart warming and heart wrenching at the same time, and I adore her optimism!!!!! She and Adrik are complete opposites and that’s why I ship them because (I know it’s cheesy but it’s true) OPPOSITES ATTRACT!!!!!! I am excited to see how their relationship will develop in in the next book.
As for Nina and Hanne, I honestly don’t ship them AT ALL. I see them as badass best friends who are very empowering for young ladies!!!!! I will always ship Nina with Matthias and NEVER with anyone else and no one can change my mind about that!!!!!! I was honestly shocked to discover who Hanne is but that is what Leigh Bardugo do, SHOCK THE HELL OUT OF ME!!!!!!!
And THAT ENDING though!!!!!!! I did not expect that to happen AND I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! But it might not come out until 2021 so that will be a very long wait for me unfortunately, but at least I got The Language of Thorns to keep me occupied!!!!!!!
Overall, I LOVED this book more than I expected to and you can bet I will be reading the sequel once it comes out!!!!!!
Such a joy to enter back in to Leigh Bardugo’s world of Grisha. With each book, she turns the kaleidoscope and we, as readers, realize that we didn’t quite know what we thought we did. Especially for those characters who we had left on the sidelines. Love the new perspective. Can’t wait for the next book.
I am so disappointed, I didn’t have the experience I expected after reading the previous books. I rushed through them to get to this one. I struggled to stay involved in the stories from the beginning. I read it during the world wide lock down from the Coronavirus, so I had plenty of time. I admit to being stressed who isn’t ? But I’ve read other books and not felt so disconnected. There were too many POV’s going on that didn’t connect. it was crazy frustraiting for me. I couldn’t get into one storyline before it switched to another. The worst for me was that each storyline was so different, I was thrown out into a new world at each change. I loved Nicolai, in the past books but here he felt like a shadow.
Romance ? There were hints at a romance brewing, but I never felt it, or hoped for them. I didn’t get the wanting, can’t even see them together.
Okay I will stop whining. bottom line, it didn’t work for me.
Loved this book!
With another installment from the Grishaverse, this book is amazing! It started off with a bang and had captured me within the first two chapters and it just kept building and building. I cannot wait to see what happens in the follow on book of this duology!!
A new book in the Grishaverse serie. I recommended reading The Grisha trilogy and Six of Crows duology before starting this new duology.
I have really loved this book.Can’t wait for the sequel with how this book end.
I will just be over here quietly screaming about that ending.
Mythical lore. Great characters. Interesting plot.
The strongest part of King of Scars were the characters. They had interesting backstories and Bardugo does a great job of weaving their stories into the action. There were a few sections that were rather slow, but did not detract from the overall action and plot of the book.
Oh Ms. Bardugo, you lovely, evil genius.
*skips around cackling and singing, hey la, hey la, my boyfriend’s back!*
Love the Grishaverse and all the characters who live in it, but Nikolai is definitely one that I was hoping would get his own story-line. So glad to see him come back in Crooked Kingdom.
I devoured this book in about a day. It takes you right into the thick of the story and doesn’t let you go until the last chapter. Without wrecking the entire thing by ranting and raving about it, I’ll just say this.
Read it. You wont regret it.
Nikolai, Nina, and Zoya were excellent POV characters, and even though there were two very different story lines happening, I am so excited to see everything get tied up in the next book.
That. ENDING!!!