This book was a lot less about Nikolai and a lot more about Zoya and Nina than I expected. I still haven't made up my mind on whether that's a bad thing, a good thing, or just a thing.

I found that, as much as I loved Nina in Six of Crows, I didn't really care about her story line other than for the references to Matthias, Jesper, Kaz and the rest of the SoC gang.

Then there's Nikolai's and Zoya's story, where Nikolai is basically a side character. I didn't dislike Zoya in Shadow and Bone, especially not by the end of the trilogy, and I really enjoyed her story and arc in King of Scars. Shout-out to her relationship with Juris, by the way. Chef's kiss.

And let me point out our beloved king Nikolai. I feel like his character was basically used to make Zoya more likeable and give the rest of the crew at the palace something to do (which I didn't really care much about either). He was a side character in his own book. I was expecting the awesomeness of the Nikolai we met in Siege and Storm, the Nikolai who charmed us all into loving him, but here he was kind of... dull? As dull as Nikolai can get, that is.

Although I did find this book was kind of slow at the beginning, I was happy to see all the crew back together again. I loved the dynamics between them, seeing how they have become a family, especially the friendship between Genya and Zoya, and I really really really hope Nikolai and Zoya will realize they are perfect for each other and actually dare to act on it. That's basically all I care about, I honestly don't care about

the war looming in the horizon or the return of you-know-who.