Title: Shadow and
Bone
Series: The
Grisha, #1
Author: Leigh
Bardugo
Publisher: Henry
Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: June
5, 2012
Genres: YA,
Fantasy
Reviewed by: Angie
Edwards
My rating: 4/5
SUMMARY
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of
Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable
darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest
on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
REVIEW
I’ve
had this book on my to-read list for a very long time. I’ve only heard good
things about it through the many book blogs I follow, and I was more than eager
to read it. For some reason I kept putting it off, because I figured I had to
be in the right frame of mind for it seeing as it is a fantasy read. Then
recently, I saw a top ten list featuring the Darkling as a “favorite villain”.
This got me curious. I wanted to know what this Darkling is all about. If there’s
one thing I can’t resist, it’s charismatic villains.
So two
things happened. I didn’t love this book as much as I had hoped I would, or
rather, as much as the hype made me believe I would. I did, however, find the
Darkling all kinds of appealing and revolting. He turned out to be a character
I simultaneously loved and hated. Very confusing, I know. But don’t you just luuuuve
characters that draw you in and pushes you away again; leaving you with that
feeling of wanting to delve deeper and discover more about them, even though
you feel appalled by everything they stand for? Maybe it’s just me, but I have
a weakness for complex villains.
The one
thing that brought my rating down from five stars to four is the dreaded
love-triangle. Hated it. I was fully on-board with Alina and the Darkling, but
not so much with her and Mal. Alina also is a character I had a hard time
warming up to. Sometimes I liked her, but many times I didn’t because often she
was sulky, helpless, angry and/or lashing out at someone. The only two
characters who really made an impression on me were the Darkling and Genya.
If it
wasn’t for the splendid world building and the stunning originality of the
plot, I probably would’ve rated Shadow
and Bone three stars. But it wouldn’t be fair. I absolutely adored the
eeriness and horror of the Shadow Fold. Now there’s a place I’d never want to
find myself alone. Honestly, this book
is worth reading just to experience the terror invoked by the volcra. Also, the Grisha, with all their
different powers, really makes this a terrific read. A lot of imagination went
into this story and apart from my aforementioned irks, I finished this book in
no time since I completely lost myself in its pages once I got started.
Even though
I wouldn’t be recommending Shadow and
Bone as highly as other fantasy novels as say, The Winner’s Curse, by Marie Rutkoski, or The Queen of the Tearling, by Erika Johansen, it still makes my
list of must-read fantasy novels purely for its incredible distinctiveness,
breathtaking setting, and the magical Grisha.
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Leigh Bardugo was
born in Jerusalem, raised in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University.
She indulges her fondness for glamour, ghouls, and costuming in her other life
as a makeup artist in Hollywood, and she can occasionally be heard singing with
her band.
Follow us with:
1 comment:
Just wanted to say your feelings about Shadow and Bone are exactly the same as mine! Yay! I thought I was a lone minority of one in the fact that I didn't love it as much as everyone else. And gosh, I can't stand Mal!
Post a Comment