King of Scars – Spoiler Free Review, Tour Stop Recap, Giveaway!

February 14, 2019 Heidi Book Review, etc, Giveaway 6

If you’ve followed this blog or any of my socials, you probably know that I am a HUGE fan of Leigh Bardugo and her books. (My reviews: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising, Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, The Language of Thorns, Wonder Woman: Warbringer) I thought Valentine’s Day would be the perfect time to share my love for King of Scars! Don’t worry, this will be spoiler free (for King of Scars anyway!)

About the Book:

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.

Goodreads * Amazon * Indiebound

My Thoughts:

Okay. Because I REALLY want to avoid spoilers and giving too much information (about this book and the previous Grishaverse novels!) I’m going to do a bulleted list of some of my favorite aspects of King of Scars:

Nikolai: I am so glad to finally have books featuring him! He stole the show from the moment we met him in Siege and Storm. I so loved going deeper into his story.
Multiple Narrators: This book is told mainly from three perspectives. I loved each one! It was so great to see multiple sides, as well as what was happening in more than one location.
New Characters: There are so fantastic new characters! I love, love, loved meeting them. I have a couple favorites, of course 🙂
Connections : It was so fun to see all the ways the characters and events connect to the previous Grishaverse books. I especially loved it when it was unexpected!
Grisha History: We learn so much more about the history of the Grisha in this one. If I hadn’t just reread the original trilogy I would have been tempted to go back and do so.

King of Scars is an incredible book – both in it’s own right and for what it adds to the existing Grishaverse novels. Basically I continue to be a total fangirl over Leigh’s words.

Tour Stop Recap:

I was lucky enough to time a weekend getaway with Leigh’s tour stop in Decatur, GA. I had so much fun exploring the area. There were so many cute shops! Of course my first stop was Little Shop of Stories. I can now check another independent bookstore off the list of ones I want to visit. And of course I purchased a book by a local author, Running With Lions by Julian Winters.

: Pretty Much Sold Out

: YA Section

: Book Purchase

But the best part of the trip was seeing Leigh and my bookish friends Liz and Vania.

Showing off King of Scars with Liz. (Vania not pictured because she’s always the one taking the photos! Like this one.)

The tour event started with a fan meet-up. Attendees were given Grishaverse passports. There was a backdrop set up and people with instant cameras to take passport photos. So. Cute. There were copies of the quiz to see which Grisha order you belong to. PLUS a pin to match your order. There were also slips to enter a raffle and to ask Leigh questions. Once the doors were open for the event there was fun trivia.

: Nikolai related jewelry for the event.

: Feeling pretty special about my reserved seating.

And then it was time for the main event! I loved the format of this event. It was a Q&A session. Leigh alternated between taking questions live from the audience and drawing from the bowl of questions people submitted ahead of time. There were so many great questions about the books, writing, and, of course, the Netflix series. (I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS SERIES!) After that it was signing time! It’s always a pleasure to see the delightful, smart, kind, and lovely Leigh. She signed so many books! Once our books were signed we got to choose a Sun Summoner or Darkling pin. (I chose Sun Summoner but REALLY want a Darkling one!) To top it all off, we got a delicious cookie with a small map of the Grishaverse and a note from Leigh. My cookie cracked before making it back to Wisconsin but it still worked for photos 🙂

All in all it was a really wonderful event. I highly suggest attending any of Leigh’s events if they come near you.

Giveaway:

Of course I couldn’t wait for the event to get my hands on King of Scars. This means I ended up with an extra copy. I brought it with me and Leigh signed it. To celebrate Valentine’s Day and my love for these books I’m doing a giveaway. You get a signed copy of the book, the Grisha Order quiz and pins from the event, and a King of Scars cardboard crown.