Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3) by Leigh Bardugo

Alina and the gang have survived. Barely. They are being held deep within the secret and ancient tunnels of the Apparat's sanctuary where he dictates her every move (as a means of worship to her Sainthood). One thing remains certain, the only hope Ravka has of overthrowing the Darkling lies with the Firebird. Mal and Alina will stop at nothing to find it. But in her hunt for the elusive creature that may or may not even exist, Alina uncovers secrets from the Darkling's past that alter everything she thought she understood about the connection between them.

I finally finished the Shadow and Bone series! To be honest, it took me a while to pick up book 3 because of how hard book 2 was to read. The Divergent series really has me jaded against series like this because when book 2 starts to slip, book 3 is likely going to bring heartache and disappointment. So, I went into Ruin and Rising fully anticipating disappointment. But it wasn't! It ended exactly the way I hoped it would and exactly the way I never would have expected it to. Leigh Bardugo is such a masterful, captivating writer. I can now officially declare my love for the series and am excited to dive into Six of Crows.

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