Grisha Trilogy 01 Shadow & Bone

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Average customer rating 4.6 (8 comments)

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This would probably be more accurately described as a retro review. With Siege and Storm releasing tomorrow (FINALLY!!!!!!!!) I thought now would be a good time to ignore the pile of new releases I’ve got waiting for me and re-read Shadow and Bone. This in itself should tell you how much I love this series, because I never have time to re-read books anymore, especially when it has been less than a year since I read them the first time. That being said, I loved this book even more the second time around, if possible. When I first read it last September, I couldn’t read it fast enough. This time around I savored it and honestly, I could probably wax poetic about it endlessly. I LOVE THIS SERIES/AUTHOR SO MUCH YOU GUYS. Even more exciting is that if everything goes according to plan, I will be meeting her tonight after work at a signing at my local Powell’s! I love the way Leigh Bardugo writes. The world she has created is so intricate, and beautifully built that I had no problems visualizing it and imagining myself there. I WANT TO BE A GRISHA SO BAD. I loved the Russian influence, and I cannot wait to revisit it, and explore it further with Alina in the sequels. Alina is a fantastic protagonist. I found it so easy to relate to her. While she’s definitely cynical, naive, lonely, and lacks self-confidence at times, she is also smart, incredibly powerful, has a big heart, and has a backbone (I mean really, would you talk back to the Darkling?) and I just love her voice. She went through a lot of growth in this book, and I felt my heart breaking right along with hers at certain moments, but I also squeed with elation at her triumphs. This is a girl that you absolutely believe could change the world. Mal. The first time around I wasn’t enamored with him, which I know partly had to do with the fact that he is absent for a good part of this book. I may have also prepped myself to dislike him because I was absolutely (and maybe still a little bit) rooting for Alina/Darkling. At the end of my first read, I didn’t dislike him per se, but I was disinterested. However, this time around I made myself keep an open mind, and I found myself charmed by him. While I probably won’t ever find myself swooning over their romance, the strength of their love is pretty amazing, and there are a few moments that made me go awwwwww and even cry. I look forward to seeing where it all goes. I’m just so conflicted when it comes to Alina and these men. THE DARKLING. Yes, I saved the best for last. This character you guys. Never have I felt this conflicted, this emotional about a villain. He just makes me want to keyboard smash everywhere. Intellectually, I know that I should not be this invested in him. As the (surprise but not really) villain, things are probably not going to end as happily for him as I would like, but he stole my heart and I don’t want it back. On my first read, I was just as seduced by him as Alina was. How could you not be? He’s mysterious, seductive, tortured, and 120% swoon worthy and they have so many gorgeously written moments together, you just want them to be happy forever after. My heart literally (but not really because I’d be dead) shattered when his plan was revealed. I was devastated. My twitter/Goodreads status updates are pretty clear evidence of that because my whole feed from the time I was reading it was about how much love I have for him/devastation that he’s a villain. I was curious to see how I would view his early actions in the book, knowing what I know now, and whether my feelings would change but that was not the case at all. He had me sighing and yearning and swooning just as much this time around. Of course there were certain parts that had me cringing and angry and yelling NO! WHY! DON’T DO THIS BABY YOU CAN BE BETTER…and this is before the big revelation! Maybe I’m crazy, or in denial but I still refuse to believe that he is fully evil. He’s definitely a fanatic, and morally ambiguous with a sinister agenda that probably won’t end well, but if loving him (and him/Alina as a pairing) is wrong, I never want to be right. It would probably be easier to take if I didn’t absolutely believe that his feelings for Alina are real. He wouldn’t be so angered by them if they weren’t. And if you were wondering, yes, Baghra’s revelation of the truth is just as devastating the second time, as is his actions following that. He says and does some pretty terrible things that literally had tears streaming down my face, but I still can’t not love him. Even when he disappoints me. I am eager, excited and terrified to see where he, and this series, go next.

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Chosen as one of Amazon's top YA books for 2012, Shadow and Bone is the sort of adventure story that I love. The heroine, Alina Starkov, was raised as an orphan with her best friend Malyen Oretsev in the house of their benefactor Duke Keramsov. As the children grew up, they were trained to serve in the army: Alina as a cartographer and Mal as a tracker. For as long as they could remember, their country had been battling a growing "Shadow Fold" of darkness with flesh eating monsters called volka. While on reconnaissance, Mal was attacked by one of the mythic volka and when Anika tried to save him, they discovered her unusual magical powers. Anika is whisked to the capital to be protected, trained, and to fight to dispel the Shadow Fold. But she discovers that her enemies are not limited to the flesh eating volka, that enemies and allies at court can be far more dangerous than monsters. Anika learns to navigate dangers and intrigues of court and seems to come into her own. But betrayal comes when she least expects it. Help comes from an unexpected source and Anika must find a way to save herself, her oldest friend, and the nation that she loves from an overpowering force. Shadow and Bone is a story about loyalty and friendship and an unimaginable challenge. It's beautifully written and deeply engrossing. I am eagerly awaiting the next two books in the series. Ages 12 and up. ISBN-10: 0805094598 - Hardcover $17.99 Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (June 5, 2012), 368 pages. Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher.

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This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It's a must-read!

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I got this book on a whim without hearing anything about it and found that this was a great story and a super engaging read. The plot and characters are wonderful for all ages.

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This is what you want from a YA novel. It doesn't pander. It has less than perfect characters. (Not the typical "less than perfect but everyone else thinks they are perfect anyways" type- I am looking at you Bella Swan.) And a plot that keeps you turning pages. A unique spin on an age old tale of light versus dark. Full of rich details that can put you in the different grand palaces and on the barren plains of the Unsea. It didn't leave you with an extreme cliffhanger but instead just a desire to see what happens next for the characters and the world in which they live. Pick it up! It will take you a day to read it. Sure you are going to ignore your house work, skip meetings, or forget to take the dog for a walk. So plan ahead. You deserve a dark, fun, and whimsical break.

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Even with a 1yo wanting my attention pretty much 24/7 and all the other obligations of being a mom & wife, I plowed through this book in less than 24 hours. I found it refreshing that characters who I thought were going to be stock characters from any number of other teen fantasy books, made some unexpected and quick decisions, and the characters themselves are flawed make some pretty big reflective realizations. Also loved the ending. If Bardugo writes a sequel, I'll read it, but though the ending is pretty open, I feel it could stand alone (I'm relieved to say).

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A great, absorbing, fun read, with many surprising twists and solid, intriguing characters. It's the first in a trilogy but stands satisfyingly alone with a complete plot arc (except that you want to find out what happens next). I loved that she riffed off Slavic folklore and landscape for her fantasy world, rather than the more typical faux-British Isles approach. One of the best fantasy novels I've read in a long while. A likely contender for the Morris Award. 4.5 stars. My only quibble, really, is the title, which (although apt) sounds like every other YA fantasy title and is therefore hard to remember. And I want to remember it!

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4.5 stars This was a completely magical book and I was under it's spell! The world that Leigh Bardugo has created was amazing. Everything was so vivid, the story line flowed good. It was well written. It had everything that I love in books; action, magic, adventure, an exotic location, some romance (no insta-love)! The characters were amazing! I loved them all. This book surprised me, I didn't know what to expect before I started it, but I'm sure glad I had the opportunity to read it. Buy the book when it comes to stores I know I will, why because it's pure awesomeness! My only question is: When is the second book coming out? Thanks so much to Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley!