Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, 3)

See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone. Daring rogue Nikolai finally joins the fold in Season 2 -- covering explosive events of both Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising -- streaming now!

Enter the Grishaverse with Book Three of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.


Soldier. Summoner. Saint. The nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

The Darkling rules from his shadow throne while a weakened Alina Starkov recovers from their battle under the dubious protection of the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Now her hopes lie with the magic of a long-vanished ancient creature and the chance that an outlaw prince still survives.

As her allies and enemies race toward war, only Alina stands between her country and a rising tide of darkness that could destroy the world. To win this fight, she must seize a legend’s power—but claiming the firebird may be her ruin.

A New York Times Bestselling Series
A USA Today Bestseller
This title has Common Core connections.

Read all the books in the Grishaverse!

The Shadow and Bone Trilogy
(previously published as The Grisha Trilogy)
Shadow and Bone
Siege and Storm
Ruin and Rising

The Six of Crows Duology
Six of Crows
Crooked Kingdom

The King of Scars Duology
King of Scars
Rule of Wolves


The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
The Severed Moon: A Year-Long Journal of Magic
The Lives of Saints
Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel


Praise for the Grishaverse

“A master of fantasy.” —The Huffington Post
“Utterly, extremely bewitching.” —The Guardian
“This is what fantasy is for.” —The New York Times Book Review
“[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp.” —NPR
“The darker it gets for the good guys, the better.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Sultry, sweeping and picturesque. . . . Impossible to put down.” —USA Today
“There’s a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo’s original epic fantasy that sets it apart.” —Vanity Fair
“Unlike anything I’ve ever read.” —Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent
“Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!” —Rick Riordan, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series

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Published Aug 18, 2015

480 pages

Average rating: 7.73

252 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Ruin and Rising* offers a strong, emotional conclusion with engaging characters, intriguing world-building, and surprising moments that k...

fromlizaslibrary
Oct 22, 2024
8/10 stars
This was an amazing end to this trilogy! One of my things with each of these books is that you get such a big climax moment right in the beginning which hooks you in but then there always seems to be a little lull before getting to the point of the book. This one had the most action since it was the ending. It also had the most intel. Throughout the first two books we get all these breadcrumbs of the magic, the kingdom, the Darkling and Alina but to see it all come together in some of the biggest a-ha moments was my favorite. I had the most emotions while reading this one but it is mainly in part to gaining the backstories and the attachments to everyone throughout the whole series. The romantic in me wish I had a bit more love pieces but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the series. I am definitely going to need to check out the Netflix series to see how that holds up plus I am dying to get into Six of Crows soon!
Chloë
Feb 19, 2026
6/10 stars
What a depressing series - thank goodness it’s over. I need some time to digest how it ended and whether I actually liked it or not.

Book 1: Shadow and Bone - ⭐⭐
Book 2: Siege and Storm - ⭐⭐⭐
Book 3: Ruin and Rising - ⭐⭐⭐
Jonathan Willis
Jan 13, 2026
6/10 stars
This is a great convergence to the trilogy. It starts off strong and keeps that momentum throughout the book. It’s very YA which is not really a negative but it does pull me out sometimes. I like the world and I like the characters and this book definitely had some great WTF moments that I wasn’t expecting. Overall I enjoyed this series a good amount, didn’t blow me away but was still a good read.
abookwanderer
Oct 09, 2025
8/10 stars
4.5 stars! Ruin and Rising was my favorite of the series. I can't believe after all these years I've finally read the Shadow and Bone series. I now understand the Grishaverse! I was pretty frustrated with Alina throughout Siege and Storm, and the beginning of Ruin and Rising was no different, but I think she redeemed herself in the end. And I'm still shaking my head at those twists I didn't see coming. (Although, I did see Mal's Harry Potter-esque sacrifice coming!) But I was very satisfied with the ending. I thought it was how it had to and should be. Now I'm even more nervous about Six of Crows since it seems to be the favorite of the Grishverse world.

My Random Thoughts While Binge-Reading The Shadow and Bone Trilogy

#popsugarreadingchallenge2020 (prompt #29)
BookBabe09
Aug 19, 2025
10/10 stars
Literal read this in a day. Couldn't put it down. 😭😭😭😭

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