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Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp's Reviews > King of Scars
King of Scars (King of Scars, #1)
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Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp's review
bookshelves: 3rd-person-pov, fantasy, hardcover, high-fantasy, magic, multiple-pov
Aug 30, 2024
bookshelves: 3rd-person-pov, fantasy, hardcover, high-fantasy, magic, multiple-pov
|| 2.5 stars ||
Honestly, I felt like this dragged. Even worse, the many shifting perspective took me out of the story too many times, making it impossible for me to truly get invested in any of it. I especially felt like Nina’s chapters were jarring since they genuinely did not belong and held no connection to the rest of the story. Without her chapters, I think I would have been capable of feeling more attachment to Zoya and Nikolai.
Or, at least, I hope I could have, but in all honesty, I found them both to be a little cold and unfeeling. And no, I don’t mean personality-wise; I mean in the way they were written. They didn’t seem like real people with actual feelings to me. Not in general, and especially not towards each other (which was actually the case for every character, not just them; every relationship felt forced, superficial or empty). Overall, I felt that their characters lacked depth and authenticity.
Which is a real shame, since I truly do think they had potential if only their feelings and personalities had been properly developed. Especially Zoya, who was still cool and badass now but could have been someone I truly loved if more care had been put into her hidden depths and grey morality.
Anyway, I really think the plot and characters were interesting in theory, but I just wish it wasn’t executed with an overdose of insanely detailed information and a lack of heartfelt emotion.
GRISHAVERSE:
'Shadow and Bone' trilogy:
1. Shadow and Bone - 3.5 stars
2. Siege and Storm - 3.5 stars
3. Ruin and Rising - 3.0 stars
'Six of Crows' duology:
1. Six of Crows - 2.5 stars
2. Crooked Kingdom - 3.5 stars
'King of Scars' duology:
1. King of Scars - 2.5 stars
2. Rule of Wolves - 4.5 stars
Companion Novellas:
The Demon in the Woods - 3.5 stars
The Witch of Duva - 3.5 stars
The Tailor - 2.5 stars
The Too-Clever Fox - 3.5 stars
Little Knife - 3.0 stars
Honestly, I felt like this dragged. Even worse, the many shifting perspective took me out of the story too many times, making it impossible for me to truly get invested in any of it. I especially felt like Nina’s chapters were jarring since they genuinely did not belong and held no connection to the rest of the story. Without her chapters, I think I would have been capable of feeling more attachment to Zoya and Nikolai.
Or, at least, I hope I could have, but in all honesty, I found them both to be a little cold and unfeeling. And no, I don’t mean personality-wise; I mean in the way they were written. They didn’t seem like real people with actual feelings to me. Not in general, and especially not towards each other (which was actually the case for every character, not just them; every relationship felt forced, superficial or empty). Overall, I felt that their characters lacked depth and authenticity.
Which is a real shame, since I truly do think they had potential if only their feelings and personalities had been properly developed. Especially Zoya, who was still cool and badass now but could have been someone I truly loved if more care had been put into her hidden depths and grey morality.
Anyway, I really think the plot and characters were interesting in theory, but I just wish it wasn’t executed with an overdose of insanely detailed information and a lack of heartfelt emotion.
GRISHAVERSE:
'Shadow and Bone' trilogy:
1. Shadow and Bone - 3.5 stars
2. Siege and Storm - 3.5 stars
3. Ruin and Rising - 3.0 stars
'Six of Crows' duology:
1. Six of Crows - 2.5 stars
2. Crooked Kingdom - 3.5 stars
'King of Scars' duology:
1. King of Scars - 2.5 stars
2. Rule of Wolves - 4.5 stars
Companion Novellas:
The Demon in the Woods - 3.5 stars
The Witch of Duva - 3.5 stars
The Tailor - 2.5 stars
The Too-Clever Fox - 3.5 stars
Little Knife - 3.0 stars
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Reading Progress
June 3, 2024
– Shelved
August 25, 2024
–
Started Reading
August 30, 2024
–
Finished Reading
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Krystal
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Aug 30, 2024 05:24PM
I’m sorry this didn’t work better for you. I know exactly what you mean, sometimes too many perspectives or one that just doesn’t fit can throw off the flow of a novel. Fair and fantastic review, Imme.💗💕
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When books have characters that don’t feel genuine to me, I struggle as well.
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@Krystal — Yea, unfortunately that’s what happened here…😔 Thanks, love <3
@Rain — It’s such a shame too cus the general outline of the characters showed some serious promise!😕
Sorry this one didn’t work out so well for you love. Hope your next one is much better. 😘🩷
@Heather — I was especially disappointed by it cus I expected better tbh😔 thanks, babe💕
i am sorry this didn't work love. i tried this series a while ago and sadly agree. great review and hope your next read is better 🩷🩷🩷
i totally get you, i couldn't finish this book the first time i tried, and i really hated how they kept that dark lord worshiper alive for some reason lol but i really liked the second one a lot better!!
@manas — thanks, lovely🩵 I’m sad to head this duology did not work out for you at all! It was definitely not as good as it could have been😔
@Noah — No but seriously, Yuri got away with way too much and they should have just killed him💀 The end was kind of a mess and it was all because of him. They could have prevented all of that if they hadn’t kept him alive all that time and even LISTENED to him!🙄 I’m glad to hear the second book was better for you, though; I hope the same will be the case for me😉
damn seems like the whole grishaverse series has been meh so far for you. 😂 sorry this was another bust! hopefully the next one is better.
i hate when a book sounds like it’ll have a good plot but then is executed poorly ugh!!! the worst😔amazing review love! i hope your next read is much better!
@len — unfortunately it has been. I genuinely did like all of these books, but none of them truly worked perfectly for me. There was always something wrong with them; often it was the writing style that either dragged, lacked emotion or was too boggled down with information/details. It’s like this; I love this author’s imagination and she clearly has a talent for coming up with some amazing stories, but her writing-style is simply not my favourite😔
@kendyl — I mean, the plot really was good, I guess, I just didn’t enjoy it as much because the writing dragged and gave me little emotional connection😢
I remember picking this book up with excitement and joy, because, well, it was supposed to be a Nikolai story. He is my favorite Grisha character and one of my favorite book characters of all time. But this book was a disappointment, not only because Nikolai wasn't the face of his own story (this duology feels like Zoya's story more than Nikolai's story). It's overall bizarre, especially because of the ending, and honestly, I kind of struggled to find a point in it. But book two is much better. Not without any flaws, but definitely better, I really enjoyed reading it ☺️
Oh no 🥹 I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this as much as you hoped 🩷 this and the next are my fav out of the Grishaverse, but I'm a huge Leigh Bardugo fan, and it shows 🤣 maybe you'll manage to enjoy the next a bit better 🩷🩷
That's too bad. Sorry you didn't enjoy it more, Imme! 💕 I thought it would be pretty good because of Nikolai. Oh well, guess I'm not missing much. 😕
sorry this a miss, love! :'( hope your next read is much better <3
me staring at the wall cause i love Nikolai 😭 i get it though cause this authors writing is kinda inconsistent & definitely not for everyone. are you gonna read the next one still? 👀
the lack of heartfelt emotion would do it for me. hopefully the next one is better if you decide to continue 💜
Sorry this wasn't the best cold characters that are written poorly are the worst manifesting a 5 star read for you next my love💕💕💕
I had many of the same feelings about this book as you did. I wanted to like it, but I got distracted and set it down and haven’t picked it back up…loved your review!❣️
What a bummer that this one felt so lackluster, especially with how good the main series are. Fair review, Imme!
I hate when a book has too many povs, especially when one of the pov‘s you don’t even need. Sorry, this one wasn't good.
I agree. This is my least favorite book from the Grishaverse. It took me ages to be able to finish it, because it dragged for so long. Like you, I just couldn't connect with the characters. Because of this book, it took me almost two years to gather enough courage to finally read Rule of Wolves. Surprisingly I found that one to be much better than this one. Nice review and I hope your next read is better!
