Grishaverse - Shadow and Bone through Ruin and Rising

[olivermoss]

I finished up the trilogy while I was away. My main take-away is that the plot:pages ratio is wild.

I liked a lot of what went on in the series. A lot of things that are often handwaved in a lot of genre fiction I real, they really dealt with the complexity of it. I really like that the book didn't just end and they really went into what life was like after. But, outside of the ending being given a good amount of time to breath, a lot of the series went ahead at a break neck pace with lots of turning on a dime.

Also, some of the steam-punky combining magic with science feels like it would do better in a visual medium. Netflix famously made mincemeat of it, but sections almost felt designed more for a show than a book.

Honestly, I wish I liked it more. There is a lot I like about it.

I am going to read the rest of the Grishaverse books, but I am taking a break between this and starting the Crows books. I also want to re-watch the show, but not until after I read the Crows books

Ending spoilers under the other type of cut

I had trouble vibing with the way the story resolved because Alina spent way more time homesick for the Little Palace or even the army tents than where they grew up. Them not feeling like they ever had a home was a recurring theme and even a plot point. Them going back and making it a home is a lovely idea, but it's kinda sad to me that they are mostly isolated from the other survivors and just have staff that think they are loony tunes.

Also, happy or tragic I wanted more resolution for poor Nicolai, who could only really be understood by Alina or maybe Mal. Even just as friends, I wish they where still in each other's lives and not just rare visits.

In certain ways the ending was beautiful and bittersweet, but I never got the impression that that's what Alina would want from anything in the previous pages of the series. Protect the kids and get away from positions of power? Sure, but actually run the orphanage herself? Have all the other adults, besides Mal, profoundly mis-understand her? I'm glad they are together and the place is under their control, but...idk maybe I'll feel differently if I read more of the books in the series or re-read them later.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

I really should read the first trilogy... And I somehow didn't realize that there's a duology *after* the Crows duology. (And I don't know how I didn't know that, since I feel like at least the first of those was out when I first read the Six of Crows books.)

[olivermoss]

The whole series is bigger than I realized. The Crows books are a lot long, like many more pages per book. I though they'd been short since I knew a lot of that plot got randomly shoved into the show. It'll be interesting to eventually see it again and see how everything got chopped up.

Also, I posted at least two rants about something in the show not making sense, now that I've read the books I realize what was missing and I was right about it needing a map-based intro like an HBO show.