Såååå spennende!!!! Elsker å lese om undercover/spy POV!!! ( )

So mad at myself for following up the Crows duology with King of Scars, knowing now how much I liked Zoya and Nikolai in the last two books of the S&B trilogy. They read as if I was meant to love them already, but I hadn't yet! I did love the development between Nikolai and Zoya (I didn't expect to even like Zoya after Crooked but catch me with pompoms and her kefta colors on my cheeks now). Nina's storyline was pretty good, but mostly I was cooing over every time she thought about the Crows--especially when she talked about missing Inej, cuz Big Same.

I was hoping for fun, but King of Scars landed more on fine. I still enjoyed the world-building and many of the characters, but the pacing was both slow and uneven, with none of the propulsive fun of the Crows books. The Nina POV chapters were the strongest for me. I found myself really wishing that Bardugo had an editor who'd push back against her tendency to use limp Whedon-y one-liners to undercut emotion or drama. I'll read the second book in the duology, but I will go in with adjusted expectations. ( )

that ending...wow

I... really liked this one, and I feel like Bardugo's getting better with each volume! There's some elements of a Beauty and the Beast sort of tale within here (but not explicitly drawn), along with spycraft and deception with other points of view. I really do like seeing how the world has changed after the events of both the original trilogy as well as the Crows duology, and how people who were side characters there have grown (though I'd never consider Nina a side- she's a dish unto herself!)

Much like [b:Six of Crows|23437156|Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651710803l/23437156._SY75_.jpg|42077459], the ending leaves me hungering after the second part of the duology for resolution (though each plot did resolve elements on their journeys).

Based on the title of the next one ([b:Rule of Wolves|36307674|Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1598133584l/36307674._SY75_.jpg|57978381]), I do wonder if Nina's Fjerdan adventure will take a larger share of the narrative (versus Zoya & Nikolai in this one), but who knows! I guess I will, when I get a copy from the library/make a bigger dent in my too large TBR. ( )