Meagen Rule of Wolves is the newest YA fantasy novel by Leigh Bardugo. Rule of Wolves is set to be the grand conclusion to the Grishaverse that started with Shadow and Bone and continued in books like Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom and King of Scars which begins the story that Rule of Wolves continues.
Updated on April 3, 2021 with full review after finishing the full book! Read on for more info! Beyond the first three chapters that were available as an ARC this is a spoiler free review!
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I received the first three chapters of Rules of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo through NetGalley to facilitate this early review. I’ll be back to update the review once the full book is released (yes, I’m drooling over it just as much as you are…I can’t wait) all thoughts and opinions are my own.
When I say I’m excited for Rule of Wolves I hope you can accurately understand what I mean…I’ve preordered three copies so far. One personalized copy, one special edition, and one regular copy that should be delivered on release day…priorities!
What is the Grishaverse?
If you’ve never read any of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books you’ll likely be confused by a lot of what is happening in this latest installment. That is not to say that you couldn’t pick up this book and enjoy it, Leigh Bardugo’s world building is phenomenal and her characters are compelling.
The gripping storyline will drag you in from the start and keep you hooked. I will say that I reread (yes, I’m a rereader) King of Scars in anticipation of this read. You could reread the entire Grishaverse but that would be time consuming and I have so so so many books on my TBR list that I just don’t have time at the moment.
The Grishaverse refers to the world that Leigh Bardugo began building with Shadow and Bone. The Grisha are essentially masters of certain elements throughout the books.
Which books are part of the Grishaverse?
The books that are part of the Grishaverse are listed below in order of timeline. These are technically a trilogy, and two different duologies.
Shadow and Bone Trilogy
Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising
Six of Crows Duology
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom
King of Scars Duology
King of Scars and Rule of Wolves
What is Rule of Wolves about?
Rule of Wolves continues to follow Nikolai Lantsov, the somewhat new king of Ravka. In King of Scars we watched as Nikolai and his trusty team worked to control not just the dark magic threatening the country but also the dark magic threatening to takeover Nikolai himself.
As Nikolai struggled to control the demon inside of him he also had to balance the role of king and leader of a country that had been ravaged not just by war but also by the Darkling’s rule before him.
Nikolai risked it all, including himself in order to protect his country and his people. Rule of Wolves seems like it is going to give us a view of our three main characters from King of Scars, Nikolai, Nina, and Zoya.
Rule of Wolves seems to pickup right where King of Scars left off…which had picked up a few years after the end of Ruin and Rising so the books do all work together in terms of the timeline for those of you who like books to keep in chronological order.
The order I listed above is how I read them and how they work in the timeline. Six of Crows has some character overlap but is definitely it’s own story and has a mostly unique cast of characters.
In these first few chapters of Rule of Wolves we get three different points of view. The first is from Queen Makhi who we met briefly at the end of the previous book. Her sister, Ehri was sent to Nikolai under the guise of peace but was truly part of a trap. The book opens with Makhi receiving a royal invitation to her sister and King Nikolai’s WEDDING.
We are reminded that Ehri is supposed to be dead…it’s never a bad day when you start off with characters who are supposed to be dead…but they’re alive. That seems to be a speciality of King Nikolai! But a wedding?! A wedding to someone other than Zoya?! How can this be. We ship Nikolai and Zoya here at MBS.
Anywho! Queen Makhi’s chapter is ruthless just like she is, we see an incident of blight occurring which reminds us that the Darkling’s return has also had some consequences for all of the countries in the Grishaverse.
Another element in her chapter that we learn is that she was never meant to be queen, Ehri was. With the help of an advisor Queen Makhi seems to be ruling against her dead mother’s wishes…which makes Princess Ehri’s being alive all the more intriguing.
Her plan to start a war with Ravka and eventually Fjerda has been slowed but not entirely derailed it seems.
Moving swiftly along so as not to spoil too much for you we come to the second chapter which is Nina’s!
I love Nina. At the moment she is in the Ice Court with her nemesis and his family the Brum’s! She’s been tailored so she looks like Mila Jandersdat but she’s working as a spy for Nikolai and Zoya while also working to sow unrest.
We see Nina and Hanne helping stage an incident whereby the people of Fjerda see Jarl Brum challenged by the saints and some Grisha in hiding. The people of Fjerda are slowly seeing more and more signs of the Grisha potentially being Djel blessed.
This naturally is making Jarl Brum furious, he’s wiped out by a wave of water and sends his minions on a hunt for any Grisha but before he can follow through on his threats he receives a note which seems to indicate that Fjerda is ready to march on Ravka.
The theme of these first two chapters shows us that pretty much everyone is ready to start a war with King Nikolai. Shu Han and Fjerda are both preparing for war which sandwiches Ravka right in the middle of opposing forces.
Chapter 3 is from Nikolai (I know, I wanted a peek at Zoya as well) and we get to see some of our favorite General through his eyes…which might be better because he so clearly loveeeessss her. Okay it’s possible I read into that a bit.
Nikolai is doing what he is always doing…trying to prevent his country from fighting with him and themselves. We see him working to settle a dispute with some Ravkan’s who are attacking some Suli migrants that they blame for the blight that seems to be striking randomly throughout the countries.
Being his charming self he manages to tentatively convince the angry mob that his status as king is sound and that they are feeding into Fjerda’s tricks by believing he might be a bastard and unfit to rule.
We also see Zoya checking on Nikolai and his progress with wooing Ehri which is apparently not going very well…taking someone prisoner and informing her that she was part of an elaborate trap that would have likely ended in both of their deaths doesn’t seem to be enough of a reason to kindle a romance.
In Nikolai’s chapter we also find out that the Darkling is locked up in his own special cell as is the would be assassin sent by Queen Makhi. On the ride back the party (Nikolai, Zoya, Tamar, and Tolya) finds out that there is a message from the Termite, which is Nina’s code name. She managed to inform them that Fjerda’s army is on the move.
Full Review Info & Updates:
Now that I’ve had a chance to finish the book I have to say, this was an epic journey. There is SO MUCH HAPPENING. I’m going to try and be as spoiler free as I can because I don’t want to ruin anything for those who are looking for a review before reading!
Something that I love about Rule of Wolves that wasn’t apparent in the first few chapters is that this is fully a journey for the ladies. There’s plenty of Nikolai, don’t worry, but we see Zoya, Genya, Nina, and even Alina go on a real deep dive in terms of feelings, emotions, heartbreak, etc.
Zoya is a fighter and she’s tough as nails. I loved seeing her overcome some of the things in her past that were keeping her from fully loving the people in her life right now. As for Nina and Hanne, be still my cold dead heart. These two take quite the journey in Rule of Wolves and if you are a Nina fan you are going to eat this book UP.
We lose a few of our sweet baby angels in this installment so be prepared for some heartbreak. The thing about these fierce women is that they keep getting beaten down but they get right back up. I loved seeing them all come into their power in their own ways throughout the book.
I also love how lovesick and dopey Nikolai is…wedding?! Who’s wedding?! Leigh Bardugo is a tricky tricky witch in this one so hold onto your heart and your ass because it’s one crazy ride.
Another thing that was really beautiful was the insight we get into the Darkling. Alexsander, much like the Fjerdan’s didn’t just drop out of the sky one day being a demon…okay maybe this time around he really does kind of just pop his little demon head right back up…but you know what I mean. We get a little character development in Rule Of Wolves that I think helps the Darkling stans not seem so off base!
There’s a lot of complicated emotions, themes, and plot lines at work here. This had to be a heartbreaking mess to put together and take apart and put back together again, props to Leigh Bardugo and her team on this one because WOW.
We have some amazing transgender character development in Rule of Wolves which was awesome to see so beautifully written. Leigh’s amazing so I’m not surprised she was able to give us this level of plot twist along with a gorgeous revelation for her characters.
I just really can’t wait for people to pick this one up and dig in. There’s so many feelings, so many moments in this book where I stopped, smiled or cried, and then carried on with the story. If you love the Grishaverse you will cherish this installment. Maybe it’s knowing it could be the “end” maybe it’s just anticipation for the show and the next chapter for these characters, who knows, I’m not questioning why: I’m happy to accept that I love it.
Overall impressions:
Easy 5/5 star rating from me. I’ll always be thrilled to devour any content in the Grishaverse, with any luck one day I’ll die and wake up in Ketterdam.
First I have to say that I’m thrilled to be back in this world. I love it so so much. I have reread Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom recently and I was so devastated when they were over. This is a world I just hate leaving. It’s so vibrant and unique.
I also really love that we’re seeing Nikolai in a pickle…always. He’s just so fun to watch in these situations. You literally never know where he is going to go. With Zoya at his side or with him at her side, there’s literally nothing I wouldn’t watch them do. Such an entertaining duo. We deserved their story and I for one am so freaking glad to have it now. They’re not the only sharp characters in the book, all of these characters are rife with drama and surprises.
I come back to this world time and time again for the sharp wit and charm and humor that we’d expect from our mains…and also for a twisty turn that just might take us back to visit some old friends.
I’m thrilled with how Bardugo wrapped things up for us. We get enough of a conclusion that we can be satisfied with where the characters and the story land, but there’s enough open here that we might get to see that third story in the Six Of Crows Duology that she’s hinted at!
It’s always sad to leave these character and this world. I was devastated after Crooked Kingdom and was so thrilled to have this next Duology to hold me over…that being said, we all get to look forward to the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone which is set to launch in April 2021.
I’m hope you are ready for some fun, a little heartbreak because of course there’s going to be some…you can just feel the foreboding, right? But all in all this one is a real crowd pleaser, Mama Leigh knew what we needed, even if we didn’t want to admit it 😉
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