The first half takes place in Ravka and Fjerda with Nikolai and Zoya’s chapters describing their quests to overcome their monsters (both literally and figuratively), and Nina’s chapters following her quest in Fjerda to find answers about missing girls and poisonous rivers. Bardugo gives Nina a story of loss, vengeance, and oppression, leading to a commentary on religion, class, family, and love.

Brokenhearted mourning Nina, who can hear the spirits of the dead, converses first with her dead husband, Matthias, then the female Grisha calling her to investigate their deaths. Meanwhile, Zoya struggles to move past her hatred-of herself and those who harmed her-and Bardugo illustrates the importance of self-acceptance and forgiveness through Zoya’s storyline. Isaak learns about royal expectations, the heavy weight of politics, and the price of ruling. Isaak piggybacks off of Nikolai’s story by acting as his stand-in while Nikolai is on his quest for the cure.

For Ravkan King Nikolai Lantsov’s storyline, Bardugo touches on politics and economics and what it takes to wisely rule all, while Nikolai searches for a cure for the monster inside him. King of Scars follows four characters: Nikolai, Zoya, Nina, and Isaak. Written with a third-person omniscient narrator, the perspective changes with each chapter to follow the thoughts and actions of a single character. King of Scars concerns inner demons-the regrets, the resentments, the dark secrets that hide inside everyone-and what happens when they surface. This study guide references the 2021 paperback reprint edition by Square Fish, an imprint of MacMillan Publishing.

King of scars book 2