Title:
Shadow and bone
(The Grisha #1)
Shadow and bone
(The Grisha #1)
Author:
Leigh Bardugo
★★★☆☆
3.5 out of 5 stars
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.
This is the first YA I’ve ever read taking place in Russia so it made me consider its world refreshing, even though the world building felt pretty limited since there was no history of the world, just enough information for the reader to understand the story without submerging in it.
I must admit I enjoyed this book, and I enjoyed it a lot, but there are many things I personally disliked about Shadow and Bone: when it comes to the main character, at the beginning I thought Alina’s voice wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, she was gray to me, not white nor black, just gray, and even though she gets better towards the end I had a hard time sympathizing with her and her obsession of constantly comparing her looks to others (how shallow of you, Alina). As for the romance, I disliked Mal, to me he was the typical hot guy that only wants what he cannot have (because no matter what he says, he was a flirt while she was there, once she left, bam! Eternal love, not cool).
Also, I didn’t understand why there were so many pieces of pointless information given, I don’t get what significance does it add to the story Alina playing dress up with her friend (?), instead of keep overly describing what luxuries the grisha have at the little palace, give me more Darkling. Oh Darkling, I appreciated him as the villain, he really knew how to play Alina, taking advantage of her being so naive and that I liked a lot, though he is lacking some serious character development.
Overall, the story was predictable but it is a page turner, and that made me really like this book, flaws and all.
I must admit I enjoyed this book, and I enjoyed it a lot, but there are many things I personally disliked about Shadow and Bone: when it comes to the main character, at the beginning I thought Alina’s voice wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, she was gray to me, not white nor black, just gray, and even though she gets better towards the end I had a hard time sympathizing with her and her obsession of constantly comparing her looks to others (how shallow of you, Alina). As for the romance, I disliked Mal, to me he was the typical hot guy that only wants what he cannot have (because no matter what he says, he was a flirt while she was there, once she left, bam! Eternal love, not cool).
Also, I didn’t understand why there were so many pieces of pointless information given, I don’t get what significance does it add to the story Alina playing dress up with her friend (?), instead of keep overly describing what luxuries the grisha have at the little palace, give me more Darkling. Oh Darkling, I appreciated him as the villain, he really knew how to play Alina, taking advantage of her being so naive and that I liked a lot, though he is lacking some serious character development.
Overall, the story was predictable but it is a page turner, and that made me really like this book, flaws and all.
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