"He tapped the sun over his heart. "I came here for you. You're my flag. You're my nation."" 
 I read this for the characters. Because of the fictional people with their ranks and orders, their abilities and deaths, and their Russian expressions and complex relationships, that Bardugo has populated the barren grounds of the dark and merciless Ravka with. 
 I read for those rare glimpses of romance, of tortured souls, longing looks exchanged by Alina, Mal, Prince Nikolai and the Darkling. I read because Alina's heart was divided by three men, each suiting and fitting in their own way. Each promising a lifetime of belonging, wrongness and hopelessness. Alina always belonged with Mal; their bonds were forged by years of loneliness, friendship and ease, a slow romance cut from the root of friendship. But then there's the Darkling, vibrating with power and understanding; a constant pull at Alina's heartstrings. And of course, Prince Nikolai comes flying into the picture with promises of power, influence and riches, twinkling in the light of a costly emerald ring. 
 I knew who I wanted Alina to choose, but my allegiances shifted along the way. I was as confused as Alina, as hurt as Mal and as furious as the Darkling himself, when the plot unfolded and the inevitable ending became clear. 
 "I got used to seeing him waiting for me at the end of corridors, or sitting at the edge of my bed when I fell asleep at night. When he didn't appear, I sometimes found myself looking for him or wondering why he hadn't come, and that frightened me most of all." 
 Bardugo's characters stole my heart, as did her universe of Grishas, creatures of shadow and the summoning of light. The hidden legends, strongly knitted together with the Russian mythology and the almost forgotten pasts of the characters. 
 But the plot? The plot was nothing special, the action grew weary and the endless battling felt pointless, dragged out, left behind. Much could have been cut from the middle of this book and nothing would have been missed. I read this for the characters, for the subtle descriptions of hurt and longing between them and the beautiful descriptive scenery. 
 3.5 stars - I think.