BRB, crying forever. I don't know why I put off reading R&R for so long. I actually started it like a month ago, maybe two, but I didn't even finish the first chapter for some reason. This time, I started reading at midnight, read 50 pages, went to sleep, woke up, started reading, and finished the entire book in one sitting. Thanks a lot, Bardugo. I was planning to actually DO something yesterday, you evil temptress! 
 In all honesty, Ruin and Rising is completely amazing. The stakes are always high because Leigh knows how to kill her darlings in ways that are both meaningful and plot-enhancing. Absolutely no one is safe, and that just ramps up my emotions, which always adds to my reading experience. I loved the balance among the Mal-Nikolai-Darkling triangle (with Alina in the middle), and I like that secondary characters also receive plenty of page time. 
 What stands out most to me, though, is even in a book with dire consequences for even the smallest action, Leigh manages to balance a heavy plot with plenty of humor. Sure, everybody may die and the bad guy may take over the world and rule forever, but by golly, those characters are going to go off with a laugh. Nikolai is always a wisecracker; Harshaw is a new character who provides a new level of comedic relief since he is part of a two-man act with...a cat (yes, really); Zoya is a sass master; and the playfulness between Alina and Mal is absolute perfection, as always. And don't get me started when the characters mix together. Alina and Nikolai, Zoya and Nikolai... okay, wait. Pretty much Nikolai and Zoya with anybody is a hilarious grouping.