Rule of wolves

The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm - and even the monster within - to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall

-Rule of wolves blurb 

Rule of wolves is the second book in the king of scars duology (mostly following Nikolai) and is the seventh book in the entire Grishaverse  franchise . As usual,I was slightly scared that like many other series this length that are composed of duologies /trilogies that this book would be a money grab leaving world building and character arcs in disarray- how many books can you 

truly write in a singular universe before it gets tired. 

I really enjoyed the expansion of zoya and Nikolai’s relationship through this book and the progression of it felt so smooth from one book to the other and it’s slow burn nature had me crying with anticipation. I also felt that in terms of personality,Nikolai re-gains some of his pre - king of scars personality ,which made me realise how much the darkling had effected him , as well as how hollowed out his personality had become due to this.

However ,although this book was technically focused on Nikolai I found in actuality it followed and represented Zoya more than anyone else.I’m not sure if this is due to the shift in perspectives or the set up of king of scars if just the general quickening of the pace but I found the character arc of Zoya to feel quite forced.Her vulnerability arc felt cliche at the best of times and felt like someone assaulting you with a self help book at the worst ,however I have seen worse character arcs.

Also overall the whole plot felt to complicated and had to many strands that didn’t quite weave together (especially due to the multiple POVS making things confusing).The crows cameo (while wonderfully iconic and definitely a highlight)was an unnecessary detour and felt like it was just there to fill out the book a bit. Futhermore, I also feel that the return of the Darkling  was pointless as his motivations felt out of character and he didn’t really do an awful lot.

Overall, it was an enjoyable if slightly flawed book.

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