Yes idk to me I hate friendships that turns into relationships Also mal he didn’t seem to accept Alina and kind of was even worse than the darkling Tbh it’s not like I ship the darkling (black heretic) & Alina however I do kind of wish the darkling wasn’t the villain in this case It might just be because I watched too much of the vampire diaries and I’m use to like bad guy type (Kai Parker, Damon Salvatore, etc)
@@christinak2761 Mal is def not worse than the darkling Mal risked his life 2 go find Alina 2 make sure she's ok and with the darkling Alina was afraid of him 4 most of the series he was a gd character as a villain tho
@@christinak2761 I understand if you don't like Mal but WORSE THAN THE DARKLING? No girl, that old ass dude is literally a mass murderer, an abuser and manipulator. Mal's just a teenager who's traumatized and struggling because he lost two of his best friends who were murdered in front of him and now he thinks he's losing Alina too, the only family he has left.
I love the Darkling, i was rooting for him in the first book. However after a while he was simply too abusive and toxic to be saved. I love him but I find the only healthy desicion would be to not choose the Darkling. Mal and Alina made sense afterall. Tbh if I was her I'd chosen Nikolai 😁😭❤
I love the Darkling too and I cried when he died. Alina said that the Darkling was just a lonely man with to much power and I can’t agree more with it.
I still love the Darkling lol because he's such a complex character. I can understand his beliefs and ideologies and what brought those on, but he obviously had to be stopped in the end because although his intentions for saving Ravka were justified, his actions were not. This is one of the reasons why Alina cries when she kills him because on top of being relieved that her suffering is over and grieving for Mal, she also pities the person Aleksander had become. He just wanted a world where Grisha could belong and be safe, but in the process he lost who he was by allowing greed to consume him. Also, he just wanted to be loved and accepted by someone who understands him and doesn't fear what he truly is. This is why I think Aleksander is more of a tragic hero than someone who is purely cruel and evil.
I love mal and Alina my fav quote from ruin and rising was from toyla when he described how mal saw Alina “He watches her the way harshaw watches fire. Like he’ll never have enough of her. Like he’s trying to capture what he can before she’s gone” My god that beautiful
the way i'm scared to click shadow and bone videos because i expect everyone to hate malina and you immediately opened with that about them.... subscribed
Ugh, thank you! I've seen so many fans of the GrishaVerse kind of overlook the Shadow and Bone series, saying that it isn't that great it comparison to Six of Crows (which is also amazing). I'm so glad to finally find a huge fan and lover of this series, as well as a lover of Mal and Alina as characters and as a relationship. I always loved Mal, and was saddened to see him so misunderstood by a lot of people. Emotionally, it took him some time to adapt to the new, powerful Alina (which I think is reasonable and valid - his childhood best friend suddenly has this great destiny that means they can never be together), but despite any of those feelings, his loyalty to her never wavered. I loved how they came full circle in the end with the orphanage. They were always meant to be together. I loved Nikolai but never regarded him as a legitimate love interest. I can't even comprehend how people wished the Darkling ended up with Alina. In all the best ways, he was ruthless, charming, cunning and cruel and such a carefully crafted antagonist. His complexity has made him one of my favourite literary villains. But certainly not fit for a love interest. Genya was my favourite character in this series, despite her being absent for a good chunk of it. Her strength and bravery, and how she was Alina's first real friend after Mal, just made me love her so much. Amazing review
I think the problem with the Grisha trilogy is that the story was only being told from Alina's perspective so it made liking Mal difficult for most of the fans since we don't really know his full view on the whole situation. It would've been better if we got Alina and Mal's pov because I always saw this trilogy as their story and I believe it would make people sympathize with Mal more.
I really enjoy the Grisha trilogy! It’s honestly just such a well orchestrated story, and the characters are so great too. Loved hearing all your thoughts on it!
Honestly all The Darkling needed was a chance 😭 like he’s my fav character Bc I know if Alina chose him the story would’ve been completely different. She could’ve helped him. He still had some humanity in him and he could’ve been redeemed. I felt so bad for him. He was like that because he felt and was so alone 😭💔
I agree so much with that part about readers expecting the characters (Mal especially) to be perfect and always supportive but so many people don’t even try to sympathize with him… He’s put into a difficult situation, he’s out of his comfort zone, everyone wants to use his best friend and girlfriend in one, and he feels powerless, useless and is always used as a tool to manipulate Alina, but he loves her too much to really get away from him and she loves him too much to let him go. Their relationship is beautiful but hard, but what I like about them is that they do address these feelings, albeit sometimes late. Also, people forget how young they are. They are still teenagers and need time to mature emotionally, not to mention that they have to grow up during a war. That doesn’t really make communication and working through your feelings too easy lmao Also readers forget about that while Malina are acting very human!
thanks for the review - I just picked up King of Scars, years later, and needed a reminder. I liked the way you found it worthwhile to read the books again....
I love the Grisha trilogy!! But I don’t remember anything that happened because I read all 3 books in one continuous period 2 years ago so it felt like I was reading one long book instead of three individual ones, but I’d still recommend it. I just prefer Six Of Crows and Crooked Kingdom
I think after people finish reading Rule of Wolves, then they'll appreciate the S&B trilogy even more because it adds more depth and meaning to the characters and overall story Bardugo wanted to tell.
Third time watching this and I loved more this time , I hated when everyone just shittie talk about this trilogy but you did an amazing job explaining how amazing this series is and how different it is Great job ❤
I needed some Grisha Trilogy love bc I’m reading Rule of Wolves now and you absolutely delivered I love how you described how Alina has the bigger destiny and follows it but Mal comes for her it’s so beautiful and I love the two of them very much
If I hadn't been subscribed to you already that intro would have gotten you an automatic subscribe. I feel like people really discount Mal and how far he comes and the fact that even though he might have his issues with what Alina's doing or how she's doing it, in the end HE STILL HAS HER BACK!!!! Like, people don't have to 100% agree on everything in a relationship and SO's should be allowed to say something when they think you're doing something sketchy. If roles were reversed and Alina was saying "I'm not sure I like how this power is changing you" people would be behind her A HUNDRED PERCENT. Anyways, I have a lot of feelings about this and now I need to do a reread.
Thank you for such a positive review of the books! It's been hard getting into the series and growing to love them (flaws and all) and have so many other reviewers and readers bag on them and not give them a chance. I haven't read SoC yet and I'm excited to see where Bardugo goes as a writer but I feel like the hate for this trilogy got to me a little so this was wonderful. Thank you!
Dooo it, Henry the Writer. Bardugo's skill is far beyond most YA writers out there. I've grown out of most YA now, but this world is still deeply rooted in my heart.
I never understood entirely why people did not love mal but I think people did not like him because of his change towards Alina in book 2... but I feel that is human nature when you have grown up with someone and they suddenly change it does take time to accept it and he did in end. Nikolai and darling are great but they only wanted Alina for her power( Nikolai had my respect in the end where he still wanted her to marry him in the end) but mal loved her for who she is for. I believe there are many like us who love mal. the only thing I am scared of is that they change the storyline in their Netflix series because of that unlogical hype because if they do that the show will lose its essence.
I didn't mind Alina and Mal's friendship and I loved how the ending of Ruin and Rising paralleled with how Shadow and Bone started because it has everything come full circle and it shows that the trilogy is Alina and Mal's story. Although I do enjoy their story, I never saw them as a couple because Alina and Mal's dynamic felt more like a family to me because like you said they were each other's homes. Also, I didn't like how Alina sacrificed her needs and wants and sometimes her happiness to please Mal. She should've stayed single at the end and train the future generations of Grisha.
*watches the beginning* "I will fight anyone who say they don't like Alina and Mal" Me: Oh thank god I loved this review, I just finished the trilogy for the first time and I really needed to hear someone (who likes mal and dislikes the darkling) talk about it. I agreed with you on so many points, and it was so interesting to hear!
That's exactly what I was thinking! Also, if you read Leigh Bardugo's new installment to the Grishaverse "Rule of Wolves", then you'll see why Bardugo had Mal resurrected in Ruin and Rising rather than killing him off.
I see everyone complain about how generic and cliche this trilogy is, and while I agree to some extent, to me it’s just a really fun series that I can enjoy without looking really deeply into.
Hey! I'm 14 and I read this series and loved it. It can be a little bit graphic at times as it takes place in a country ravaged by war, but I wouldn't say that it would be too much for a 13 yr old. The age rating on a couple different book websites say 13+, so you should be fine, but it really depends on how much you've been exposed to through other books/movies e.c.t. I definitely recommend it though, it's an amazing series.
heyyyy im 13 and im reading it.. im almost finishing the first book, and there hasn’t been anything bad.. i think you can read it. obviously I don’t know if ur mature like me 😌 but yea
