King of Scars Book Review. Summary

Summary

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo is the sixth book in the Grishaverse. Young King Nikolai Lantsov is trying to hold his country together as it recovers from the civil war, but he’s having a hard time holding himself together. The evil Darkling cursed him during the war, and now he transforms into a winged demon at night and preys upon the nearby livestock. Can he conquer the beast and secure his country’s future?

Meanwhile, Nina Zenik is working as a Ravkan spy in their not-so-friendly neighboring country of Fjerda. She’s still coming to terms with her new powers over the dead, which lead her to a secret laboratory where the Fjerdans are experimenting on Grisha (those born with magic powers). Will she be able to save them, and will doing so help her find a new life purpose?

My Thoughts

I have a back and forth relationship with the Grishaverse. I didn’t finish the Shadow and Bone trilogy (where Nikolai originated), but I loved the Six of Crows duology (where Nina came from). King of Scars falls somewhere between them.

I’m not a big fan of political intrigue, so Nikolai’s side of the story tended to drag on for a bit. I enjoyed Nina’s side more, but she had significantly less pages dedicated to her than Nikolai and his companions. Also, it felt like a lot of the characters had the same personalities, which made it more difficult to read.

King of Scars isn’t a bad book, but it’s not a great one either. Diehard fans of the Grishaverse won’t want to miss it, but I don’t think I’m going to dedicate the time to read its sequel, which probably says more about the book than anything else I’ve written.

My Rating: 3/5