King of Scars

By: Leigh Bardugo
Location: FIC BAR
Genre:Fantasy
Series: Nikolai  Duology #1

THE COVER!!!!!!

“Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself.”

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.


Five fantastic stars!!!! I loved seeing all those familiar characters start out on new journeys and adventures. This book moved at a fantastic pace with some more amazing world building by Leigh Bardugo. The story gives some of the characters from the Grishaverse more development and honestly even more interests that readers of the rest of Bardugo’s books can build upon further. I know I was not the only one who got way too excited reading that last paragraph of the book! I cannot express how much I loved this first book of the duology! Now the dreaded wait for book two.

My quick and simple overall: LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!- Suzanne- Goodreads