History YMMV / TheGrishaTrilogy

* {{Wangst}}: The reason so many readers disliked Mal. He often complains that Alina never pays any heed to him, and wishes they could go back to the way things were before... when Alina was sickly and quiet from not using her powers, and [[LikeBrotherAndSister he regarded her as a sister]] while he had an active love life.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Malyen Oretsev. Hands down. On one hand, Mal does have a fair number of fans who see him as what Bardugo was going for with his character; someone flawed, but still a good person, and that his conflicts with Alina are meant to be a case of BothSidesHaveAPoint. On the other hand, many more readers see Mal’s behavior towards Alina as reprehensible, which is made worse by the fact that it seems like Mal’s faults are never called out on or reconciled. He all but calls Alina a whore for wearing the Darkling’s colors [[{{Hypocrite}} despite sleeping with several girls]] while in the army, constantly thrives whenever Alina suppresses her powers (making herself frail and weak as a result), moans about how Alina doesn’t spend time with him while she’s trying to keep the Second Army afloat and prevent civil war from breaking out, and kisses Zoya to hurt Alina over a perceived rejection. And considering what the Grisha are meant to [[GreedyJew represent]], Mal's disdain towards her abilities and desire to turn her "back to normal" has undertones [[ANaziByAnyOtherName far more disturbing]] than just garden-variety male chauvinism. The matter is made worse by the ending of the trilogy. Some perceive it as Alina needing to [[UnfortunateImplications make herself weak]] to spare her boyfriend of his insecurities at best, or straight-up bigotry its absolute worst.

* CriticalResearchFailure: The series' depiction of Russian language and culture is questionable at best. There are several characters, including Alina herself, that have the wrong last names for their gender. There are several mentions of Kvass as a hard alcohol, when the actual drink is the Russian equivalent of Pepsi. Several Russian language terms are misused, including characters with names that sound like Russian swear words. And most egregiously, the name of the race of elite magical humans, and the name of the entire trilogy itself, is the Russian diminutive of [[{{Narm}} "Gregory."]] Suffice to say, Russian readers were [[AmericansHateTingle not amused.]] [[https://www.lilysharpbooks.com/post/everything-wrong-with-shadow-and-bone-by-leigh-bardugo This]] review by Lilly Sharp Books sums up what the series looked like through the eyes of Russians quite nicely:
-> "...Imagine if a Russian writer wrote a book about a fictional country called 'Straya, based off present day Australia. The head of the country is called the Prime Minister, and all his personal security team are called Colonialists. Everyone in the country drinks an alcoholic drink called [[DrunkOnMilk Coke'a'Cola]] and everyone always get drunk because people in 'Straya are just drunks. In 'Straya People with no magical talents are called Rejects. The main character of the book is a girl called [[GenderBlenderName Barry]] who grows up under the care of a Housekeeper called Fuc Kit. Barry discovers she has special powers, and she goes to magical school run by powerful enchanters called [[{{Narm}} Tim]]. At magic school, the school system is supposed to feel like it in 'Straya but it reads [[CreatorProvincialism exactly like a Russian school]]... there is also a girl called Frank and someone has a grandfather called Jane."

* {{Narm}}: Due to CriticalResearchFailure, several Russian names and words are misused to produce amusing results to those who know the language. The Grisha, and essentially the entire trilogy itself, becomes very difficult to take seriously when you realise that "Grisha" is the Russian diminutive of "Gregory." Essentially, this is an elite race of mages who collectively call themselves ''Greg.''

** Many felt that Mal being [[spoiler:the third of Ilya Morozova's amplifiers, rather than it being the Firebird, was a massive copout. There had been almost no hint towards this revelation other than his excellent tracking skills, and it raises numerous questions, such as: How is it that the amplifier's power hadn't been diluted by the ''multiple'' generations between Mal and his ancestor, Ilya Morozova's second daughter? If the Darkling is far more closely related to Morozova and is himself a living amplifier, why wasn't ''he'' able to track the other amplifiers on his own? Why didn't Mal boost Alina's powers during '''the numerous times he touched her''' throughout the years, both before and after she was discovered to be the Sun Summoner, or the powers of any of the other Grisha that he surely ''must'' have touched at some point throughout the trilogy (particularly Zoya, whom he kissed and slept with at least once)? Plus there's the issue of what the Firebird actually is, if it ''isn't'' an amplifier]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: The series' depiction of Russian language and culture is questionable at best. There are several characters, including Alina herself, that have the wrong last names for their gender. There are several mentions of Kvass as a hard alcohol, when the actual drink is the Russian equivalent of Pepsi. Several Russian language terms are [[YouKeepUsingThatWord misused]], including characters with names that sound like Russian swear words. And most egregiously, the name of the race of elite magical humans, and the name of the entire trilogy itself, is the Russian diminutive of [[{{Narm}} "Gregory."]] Suffice to say, Russian readers were [[AmericansHateTingle not amused.]] [[https://www.lilysharpbooks.com/post/everything-wrong-with-shadow-and-bone-by-leigh-bardugo This]] review by Lilly Sharp Books sums up what the series looked like through the eyes of Russians quite nicely:
-> "...Imagine if a Russian writer wrote a book about a fictional country called 'Straya, based off present day Australia. The head of the country is called the Prime Minister, and all his personal security team are called Colonialists. Everyone in the country drinks an alcoholic drink called [[DrunkOnMilk Coke'a'Cola]] and everyone always get drunk because people in 'Straya are just drunks. In 'Straya People with no magical talents are called [[YouKeepUsingThatWord Rejects]]. The main character of the book is a girl called [[GenderBlenderName Barry]] who grows up under the care of a Housekeeper called Fuc Kit. Barry discovers she has special powers, and she goes to magical school run by powerful enchanters called [[{{Narm}} Tim]]. At magic school, the school system is supposed to feel like it in 'Straya but it reads [[CreatorProvincialism exactly like a Russian school]]... there is also a girl called Frank and someone has a grandfather called Jane."

* AccidentalInnuendo: A favorite pastime is trying to work out whether any dialogue between Alina and the Darkling is about war or sex. Considering the fair amount of [[FanPreferredCouple Alarkling shippers]], there's lots of subtext to snicker about:

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Malyen Oretsev. Hands down. On one hand, Mal does have a fair number of fans who see him as what Bardugo was going for with his character; someone flawed, but still a good person, and that his conflicts with Alina are meant to be a case of BothSidesHaveAPoint. On the other hand, many more readers see Mal’s behavior towards Alina as reprehensible, which is made worse by the fact that it seems like Mal’s faults are never called out on or reconciled. He all but calls Alina a whore for wearing the Darkling’s colors [[{{Hypocrite}} despite sleeping with several girls]] while in the army, constantly thrives whenever Alina suppresses her powers (making herself frail and weak as a result), moans about how Alina doesn’t spend time with him while she’s trying to keep the Second Army afloat and prevent civil war from breaking out, and kisses Zoya to hurt Alina over a perceived rejection. And considering what the Grisha are meant to [[GreedyJew represent]], Mal's disdain towards her abilities and desire to turn her "back to normal" has undertones [[ANaziByAnyOtherName far more disturbing]] than just garden-variety male chauvinism. The matter is made worse by the ending of the trilogy. Some perceive it as Alina needing to [[UnfortunateImplications make herself weak]] to spare her boyfriend of his insecurities at best, or straight-up bigotry its absolute worst. The backlash has reached a point where some were hoping the Netflix series would [[AuthorsSavingThrow ease back]] on Mal's worst tributes, if not remove them altogether. When ''Shadow and Bone'' [[AdaptationalNiceGuy did just that]] some book reader's went expressed a preference for the show's take on Mal for being a NiceGuy over the guy from the source material, while others found the removal of any of his flaws or less agreeable moments just made him boring.

** Many felt that Mal being [[spoiler:the third of Ilya Morozova's amplifiers, rather than it being the Firebird, was a massive copout. There had been almost no hint towards this revelation other than his excellent tracking skills, and it raises numerous questions, such as: How is it that the amplifier's power hadn't been diluted by the ''multiple'' generations between Mal and his ancestor, Ilya Morozova's second daughter? If the Darkling is far more closely related to Morozova and is himself a living amplifier, why wasn't ''he'' able to track the other amplifiers on his own? Why didn't Mal boost Alina's powers during '''the numerous times he touched her''' throughout the years, both before and after she was discovered to be the Sun Summoner, or the powers of any of the other Grisha that he ''must'' have touched at some point throughout the trilogy (particularly Zoya, whom he kissed and slept with at least once)? Plus there's the issue of what the Firebird actually is, if it ''isn't'' an amplifier]].

** Many felt that Mal being [[spoiler:the third of Ilya Morozova's amplifiers, rather than it being the Firebird, was a massive copout. There had been almost no hint towards this revelation other than his excellent tracking skills, and it raises numerous questions, such as: How is it that the amplifier's power hadn't been diluted by the ''multiple'' generations between Mal and his ancestor, Ilya Morozova's second daughter? If the Darkling is far more closely related to Morozova and is himself a living amplifier, why wasn't ''he'' able to track the other amplifiers on his own? Why didn't Mal boost Alina's powers during '''the numerous times he touched her''' throughout the years, both before and after she was discovered to be the Sun Summoner, or the powers of any of the other Grisha that he must have touched at some point throughout the trilogy (particularly Zoya, whom he kissed and slept with at least once)? Plus there's the issue of what the Firebird actually is, if it ''isn't'' an amplifier]].

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad The Darkling]], also known as the Black Heretic and [[spoiler:Aleksander Morozova]], is a narcissist who deceives [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Alina]], who desperately wants to see the good in him, into believing he is a good man despite his cruelty. A narcissist, stalker, and abuser, the Darkling exploits the emotional, psychological, and sexual vulnerabilities of Alina and the other Grisha, while blaming others for his own failings and for the violence he inflicts upon them. He sexually harasses and stalks Alina; blinds his mother for warning Alina about him; mutilates Genya for helping Alina escape; threatens to torture Mal and Alina in front of one another to ensure their cooperation; hunts down and kills Alina's only maternal figure; and erases an entire town from the map in a demonstration of his power. Aiming to destroy all nations besides Ravka, Darkling reveals that his goal is [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist not to empower the Grisha]], as he had claimed, but to [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans rule the world in his own name]] with Alina as his enslaved, mentally-broken bride.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Darkling already got this in the text proper due to the ambiguous nature of how he was written. But when you come to know that the Grisha were essentially the Ravkan equivalent of the Jewish community, he goes from a CompleteMonster to a liberator of his race who is unfairly persecuted and pushed into villainy by an oppressive monarchy. Plus both in this trilogy and in later books in the series, we learn just how horribly other countries in this world treat Grisha, from vivisecting them or killing them for their blood to enslaving them or burning them as witches, [[spoiler: and later developing a drug to further control and enslave them]] which makes the Darkling's desire to build a truly safe refuge for his people much more understandable.

* {{Wangst}}: The reason so many readers disliked Mal. He often complains that Alina never pays any heed to him, and wishes they could go back to the way things were before... when Alina was sickly and quiet from not using her powers, and [[LikeBrotherAndSister he regarded her as a sister]] while he had an active love life.
* WhatAnIdiot: Once the Darkling has captured Alina and Mal and put the antler collar on the former, he then decides to execute the latter as punishment for his deserting the First Army and for Alina defying him (and also possibly because he's jealous of the affection the two have for each other)...despite the fact that keeping Mal ''alive'' would guarantee Alina's cooperation and good behaviour. His throwing Mal to the volcra just gives Alina the impetus she needs to break free from his control and ruin his plans.

* AnythingButThat: It is not uncommon to find fans wishing Alina had any other ending and/or endgame than the one she got.

* DracoInLeatherPants: The Darkling is ''made'' of this trope.

* TakeAThirdOption: It is popular to suggest Alina should not end up with either Mal or the Darkling. A not insignificant number of people believe Nikolai was the obvious choice, whilst others think she should have just opted out entirely.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: A large reason why [[BaseBreakingCharacter Mal]] is so hated. To begin with, when they meet again at the Little Palace after being separated in the first book, he flips out at Alina for wearing the Darkling's colours and calls her a whore, [[{{Hypocrite}} even though he's slept with several people during their time in the army and was clearly attracted to Zoya the first time he saw her.]] As the story goes on Mal regularly complains about how Alina supposedly ignores him... while she’s trying to lead an army and keep a civil war from breaking out, making Mal come across as [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]] and petty. He sulks when Nikolai flirts with Alina, even though she's made it clear that it's not reciprocated on her part, and when he hugs her and she flinches, Mal assumes it’s a form of rejection, never letting Alina explain that she’s been seeing visions of the Darkling. He thus decides to cope by getting into fights with other Grisha while drunk, and kisses Zoya just to hurt Alina...right in front of her. By comparison, ''Alina'' has been in love with Mal since they were children but kept silent about it for several years before the story starts, watching Mal [[ReallyGetsAround have trysts with several other girls]], and never once resorting to sulking or unhealthy coping. Which is to say nothing of how often Mal complains and moans about the existence of Alina’s powers and makes it very clear he wishes she never discovered them; while admittedly becoming the Sun Summoner and everything it entails put both Alina and Mal through the wringer, ''not'' using said powers made her weak and frail, making Mal come off as someone who can’t stand that his girlfriend is stronger than he is. Worst of all, none of these issues are reconciled and the series ends with Alina BroughtDownToNormal and Mal essentially getting everything he wanted. The knowledge that the Grisha are a stand-in for the Jewish community means that Mal's behaviour can also be interpreted as [[ANaziByAnyOtherName anti-Semitic.]]

** Though to be fair Mal ''does'' act for most of the books like a basic emotional abuser with a very strong double-standard belief (calling Alina a whore for ''maybe'' sleeping with one person when he's slept with dozens, using Zoya as a way to make her emotionally distraught but losing his mind whenever she interacts with Nikolai) until the very last minute despite doing or saying little to actually show any growth or change in his character and no one properly calling out his toxic and damaging attitude, and then is easily and instantly forgiven. It should be noted that while the Darkling is acknowledged narratively as wrong and wicked in his behavior towards Alina (which makes sense as he is meant to be the villain and so naturally would behave villainously) Mal's actions are treated as ''normal'' for someone in love and just him feeling "neglected" or "hurt" by Alina and he is portrayed as purely one of the good guys. Knowing that the Grisha are a Jewish stand-in makes his disdain towards her abilities and heritage even more [[ANaziByAnyOtherName disturbing.]]

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Darkling already got this in the text proper due to the ambiguous nature of how he was written. But when you come to know that the Grisha were essentially the Ravkan equivalent of the Jewish community, he goes from a CompleteMonster to a liberator of his race who is unfairly persecuted and pushed into villainy by an oppressive monarchy. Plus in ''Ruin and Rising'' and later books in the series, we learn just how horribly other countries in this world treat Grisha, from vivisecting them or killing them for their blood to enslaving them or burning them as witches, [[spoiler: and later developing a drug to further control and enslave them]] which makes the Darkling's desire to build a truly safe refuge for his people much more understandable.

** Many felt that Mal being [[spoiler:the third of Ilya Morozova's amplifiers, rather than it being the Firebird, was a massive copout. There had been almost no hint towards this revelation other than his excellent tracking skills, and it raises numerous questions, such as: How is it that the amplifier's power hadn't been diluted by the ''multiple'' generations between Mal and his ancestor, Ilya Morozova's second daughter? If the Darkling is far more closely related to Morozova and is himself a living amplifier, why wasn't ''he'' able to track the other amplifiers on his own? Why didn't Mal boost Alina's powers during '''the numerous times he touched her''' throughout the years, or the powers of any of the other Grisha that he must have touched at some point throughout the trilogy, such as Zoya, whom he kissed and slept with at least once? Plus there's the issue of what the Firebird actually is, if it ''isn't'' an amplifier]].

** Many felt that Mal being [[spoiler:the third amplifier, rather than it being the Firebird, was a copout. There had been very little hint towards this revelation other than his excellent tracking skills and it raises numerous questions, such as: how the amplifier's power hadn't been diluted by the ''multiple'' generations between Mal and his ancestor, Ilya Morozova's second daughter; why, if the Darkling is far more closely related to Morozova and is himself a living amplifier, ''he'' wasn't able to track the other amplifiers on his own; why didn't Mal boost Alina's powers during '''the numerous times he touched her''' throughout the years, or the powers of any of the other Grisha that he must have touched at some point throughout the trilogy. Plus there's the issue of what the Firebird actually is, if it ''isn't'' an amplifier]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Oncat, a stray cat taken in by Harshaw in Ruin and Rising, has a mass following for so minor a character.

* EsotericHappyEnding: There is disagreement in the fandom over whether Alina's ending is a happy one or not. On one side, you will see that [[spoiler:she got to live a peaceful life with Mal]], who wouldn't want that? To which the other side responds, [[spoiler:it's the life ''Mal'' wanted, not Alina, at least not at 18 and not isolated from her friends or anyone her age. She mourns the loss of her powers and would have never willingly given them up as they made her not just happy but healthy]]. Thus it's a bittersweet ending at best.

* LesYay: Some people head canon Alina as lesbian or bisexual due to the fact that she spends multiple paragraphs ogling over how beautiful Zoya and Genya are (and partially in response to the quality of men in her life), which has brought about Zoyalina, Genyalina, and even Alinej shippers.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Darkling already got this in the text proper due to the ambiguous nature of how he was written. But when you come to know that the Grisha were essentially the Ragva equivalent of the Jewish community, he goes from a CompleteMonster to a liberator of his race who is unfairly persecuted and pushed into villainy by an oppressive monarchy.

* ThirdOptionLoveInterest: A not insignificant number of people believe Nikolai was the obvious choice for Alina.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A sizable portion of the fanbase refuses to acknowledge the end of ''Ruin and Rising'' due to [[spoiler:Alina losing her powers and leaving all her friends at the Little Palace to live in isolation with Mal, and the Darkling dying.]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Malyen Oretsev. Hands down. On one hand, Mal does have a fair number of fans who see him as what Bardugo was going for with his character; someone flawed, but still a good person, and that his conflicts with Alina are meant to be a case of BothSidesHaveAPoint. On the other hand, many more readers see Mal’s behavior towards Alina as reprehensible, which is made worse by the fact that it seems like Mal’s faults are never called out on or reconciled. He all but calls Alina a whore for wearing the Darkling’s colors [[{{Hypocrite}} despite sleeping with several girls]] while in the army, constantly thrives whenever Alina suppresses her powers (making herself frail and weak as a result), moans about how Alina doesn’t spend time with him while she’s trying to keep the Second Army afloat and prevent civil war from breaking out, and kisses Zoya to hurt Alina over a perceived rejection. And considering what the Grisha are meant to [[GreedyJew represent]], Mal's disdain towards her abilities and desire to turn her "back to normal" has undertones [[ANaziByAnyOtherName far more disturbing]] than just garden-variety male chauvinism. The matter is made worse by the ending of the trilogy. Some perceive it as Alina needing to [[UnfortunateImplications make herself weak]] to spare her boyfriend of his insecurities at best, or straight-up bigotry its absolute worst. The backlash has reached a point where some were hoping the Netflix series would [[AuthorsSavingThrow ease back]] on Mal's worst tributes, if not remove them altogether. When ''Shadow and Bone'' [[AdaptationalNiceGuy did just that]] many book reader's went on to express how they preferred ''the show's'' take on Mal for being a legit NiceGuy over the guy from the source material.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A sizable portion of the fanbase refuses to acknowledge the end of ''Ruin and Rising'' due to [[spoiler:Alina losing her powers and the Darkling dying.]]

* TheScrappy: Very few readers can stomach Mal. Him being the one to [[spoiler: end up with Alina]] only makes [[FanPreferredCouple worse.]]

* EsotericHappyEnding: There is disagreement in the fandom over whether Alina's ending is a happy one or not. On one side, you will see that [[spoiler:she got to live a peaceful life with Mal]], who wouldn't want that? To which the other side responds, [[spoiler:it's the life ''Mal'' wanted, not her, at least not at 18 and not isolated from her friends or anyone her age. She mourns the loss of her powers and would have never willingly given them up as they made her not just happy but healthy]]. Thus it's a bittersweet ending at best.

** Many felt that Mal being [[spoiler:the third amplifier, rather than it being the Firebird, was a copout. There had been very little hint of this other than his excellent tracking skills and it raises numerous questions, such as: how the amplifier's power hadn't been diluted by the ''multiple'' generations between Mal and his ancestor, Ilya Morozova's second daughter; why, if the Darkling is far more closely related to Morozova and is himself a living amplifier, ''he'' wasn't able to track the other amplifiers on his own; why didn't Mal boost Alina's powers during '''the numerous times he touched her''' throughout the years, or the powers of any of the other Grisha that he must have touched at some point throughout the trilogy. Plus there's the issue of what the Firebird actually is, if it ''isn't'' an amplifier]].

* EsotericHappyEnding: There is disagreement in the fandom over whether Alina's ending is a happy one or not. On one side, you will see that [[spoiler:she got to live a peaceful life with Mal]], who wouldn't want that? To which the other side responds, [[spoiler:it's the life ''Mal'' wanted, not her, at least not at 18 and not isolated from her friends or anyone her age. She mourns the loss of her powers and would have never willingly given them up as they made her not just happy but healthy]]. That it's a bittersweet ending at best.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Malyen Oretsev. Hands down. On one hand, Mal does have a fair number of fans who see him as what Bardugo was going for with his character; someone flawed, but still a good person, and that his conflicts with Alina are meant to be a case of BothSidesHaveAPoint. On the other hand, many more readers see Mal’s behavior towards Alina as reprehensible, which is made worse by the fact that it seems like Mal’s faults are never called out on or reconciled. He all but calls Alina a whore for wearing the Darkling’s colors [[{{Hypocrite}} despite sleeping with several girls]] while in the army, constantly thrives whenever Alina suppresses her powers (making herself frail and weak as a result), moans about how Alina doesn’t spend time with him while she’s trying to keep the Second Army afloat and prevent civil war from breaking out, and kisses Zoya to hurt Alina over a perceived rejection. And considering what the Grisha are meant to [[GreedyJew represent]], Mal's disdain towards her abilities and desire to turn her "back to normal" has undertones [[ANaziByAnyOtherName far more disturbing]] than just garden-variety male chauvinism. The matter is made worse by the ending of the trilogy. Some perceive it as Alina needing to [[UnfortunateImplications make herself weak]] to spare her boyfriend of his insecurities at best, or straight-up bigotry its absolute worst. The backlash has reached a point where some are hoping the Netflix series will [[AuthorsSavingThrow ease back]] on Mal's worst tributes, if not remove them altogether.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Oncat, a stray cat taken in by [[CrazyAwesome Harshaw]] in Ruin and Rising, has a mass following for so minor a character.