#''do you really hate me then?'' ''you'll need another command spell to find out!'' *looks at her hand* ''wait no!''

[melonisopod]

When I tell you there were LAYERS to the Command Spell Torture Scene.

[kru-sader]

Finished Rule of Wolves a few ago - essentially completing the Grishaverse series more than an year after I had completed the first five books. I was avoiding starting King Of Scars for the sole reason that I found out Zoya- whom I admit I disliked greatly- was going to be more of a main character and Nikolai's love interest in this duology.

Although the duology did do a good job in redeeming her for me, I still have several complaints about her character arc.

Firstly, the sad backstory was definitely- sad; however it in no way logically explains Zoya's vile behaviour towards Alina in SAB. The only way Leigh Bardugo could have clarified all of that, her superiority complex and her mean gurl persona in general was to let her be the arrogant and self-centered girl she was painted out to be initially. She could have owned that and I personally would have loved her still. Does she go around treating Otkazat'sya with hostility? Yes. Would she still put her life on the line to save theirs? Also yes. Does she look down on pretty much anyone and everyone she meets? Yes. Does that affect how she does her duties as the General? No. Does she grumble and complain about something all the time? Yes. But does she also work incomparably hard to somehow put life into a dying nation? Yes.

I have no qualms about her backstory. It was fine. It gave us a peek into where Zoya came from, what she's suffered and all that she risks losing if she fails. But I cannot for the life of me find the link between all that and her actions in SAB. The author could have just let her be a snarky little shit while showcasing all that she does for her country and people rather than force her into the super annoying mold of the soft and sensitive saintly girl who's so traumatised she's adopted this tough girl persona who cares about no one. It feels ingenuine, like even in her own monologues Zoya is acting to get the readers to sympathise with her.

Another thing that infuriated me to no end about her character was how inconsistent it was :|

In chapter 5 Zoya clearly says to Count Kirigan ,

"You will invite me to a fine dinner. We'll both drink too much wine. You'll get me to talk about myself, the pressures of my position, the sadness of my past. Perhaps I'll shed a tear or two. You'll listen sensitively and astutely and somehow discover my secret self.....

...There is no secret self. I'm not going to reveal another me to you. I'm not going to be tamed by you. I am the king's general. I am the commander of the Second Army...."

It was so nice reading that and thenn thennnnnnn?!!?? You know what happened in chapter 23??!!!

Behold my angry notes I added at 2 AM because this scene made me want to scream.( please ignore the ton of spelling mistakes- it's really difficult to type on a Kindle and I was also shaking because I was a sleep deprived ball of rage)-

[Without all the spelling mistakes- the note basically says-

I hate what they are doing with Zoya's character here.Once she'd established with Kirigan that she was not some rough outside soft inside cliche fantasy, that he was not going to peek inside of her and see a hurt, broken and just a sensitive girl- it should've stayed like that. Just because it's Nikolai does not mean it's not an injustice to her arc to just come out as a soft hurt girl. I don't mean to insult every female character that does fit that stereotype. There's nothing wrong with it. But with the way Zoya's storyline progressed even her background I know Zoya was meant to be a tough outside tough inside girlie. She had made it clear herself and that monologue to Kirigan about how true love wasn't going to soften her edges should have been her truth. It was her truth.

Zoya didn't even need to be a sociopath or a psychopathic character for this. The author could've portrayed her weak and vulnerable moments in solitude. Hell- there was Juris the dragon inside of her. He could have been used as a plot device to show Zoya grappling with her past her mistakes, loss, grief, self-doubt, (bad) mental health, psychological pain etc.

I feel like wve the Nikolai and Zoya ship would've been better this way. There was no need to make him the knight in shining armour that breaks down the walls of the outwardly harsh but actually soft and small and weak girl. She's the General of Ravka for God's sake.]

Overall though I liked the books and fairly enjoyed them. I think on the whole the author did a stellar job - especially in terms of plot development and the charcter development of most other characters.

TL;DR- Ways I think Zoya's character was ruined for me personally.