Series: GrishaVerse #1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Teen // Harper Collins
Source: Owned, AudioBook via Audible
Enter the Grishaverse with Book One of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.
Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent book store at IndieBound!
Goodreads 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.
My Review: 4 out of 5 stars!
Check out my full review after the jump! Click "Read More" below to continue!
"And there's nothing wrong with being a lizard either. Unless you were born to be a hawk."
Okay, so this is actually a reread of Shadow and Bone because I read it once two years ago, but never actually made it to finish the series (catching on to what my New Years Resolution is?), so i figured I would remedy that by starting over. Leigh Bardugo is also coming to Denver for her King of Scars tour in February so I wanted to catch up and read more of her stuff before she came!
Oddly, when I started rereading this I didn't remember a lot of the details of Ravka so I'm glad I decided to go ahead and reread. Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov and her journey through Ravka where she learns that she is one of the Elite Grisha, esteemed magic wielders who are considered royalty. Her powers are extraordinary compared to other Grisha, however, because no Grisha in a very long time has had the power of the Sun like Alina does.
I feel like the world building could have been a bit more lush, and that was made even more apparent during my second read through. The "fold" was built beautifully and I could imagine every scene that took place there, but Ravka is so big I feel like it was a huge missed opportunity not to be more descriptive. As for characterization, I definitely feel like Alina was a major bad ass and pretty independent, but the one I was a bit disappointed with was the Darkling. With a name like The Darkling", I really wanted him to be even MORE bad ass than he was in the book. Or even MORE deceptive, because truthfully with a name like the Darkling it sounds cute, so something truly malevolent would have been wonderful.
Overall, the plot is extremely enticing and will definitely make a better effort this time around to start the sequels! I'm excited to see how Alina will use her newfound powers, especially after the cliff-hanger.
Oddly, when I started rereading this I didn't remember a lot of the details of Ravka so I'm glad I decided to go ahead and reread. Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov and her journey through Ravka where she learns that she is one of the Elite Grisha, esteemed magic wielders who are considered royalty. Her powers are extraordinary compared to other Grisha, however, because no Grisha in a very long time has had the power of the Sun like Alina does.
I feel like the world building could have been a bit more lush, and that was made even more apparent during my second read through. The "fold" was built beautifully and I could imagine every scene that took place there, but Ravka is so big I feel like it was a huge missed opportunity not to be more descriptive. As for characterization, I definitely feel like Alina was a major bad ass and pretty independent, but the one I was a bit disappointed with was the Darkling. With a name like The Darkling", I really wanted him to be even MORE bad ass than he was in the book. Or even MORE deceptive, because truthfully with a name like the Darkling it sounds cute, so something truly malevolent would have been wonderful.
Overall, the plot is extremely enticing and will definitely make a better effort this time around to start the sequels! I'm excited to see how Alina will use her newfound powers, especially after the cliff-hanger.
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