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.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.
My Review:
Shadow and Bone.... a book which I have never been able to get my hands on..... until now *evil laugh*. Okay no, I will not do the evil laugh but this is a expecionaly good book.
You could get straight into the book right away. The way how the book started with the before chapter where you got to see Alina and Mal at the orphanage was a great way to introduce the characters and to get a bases of the story line and history of the book. Straight after that chapter and the 'real' story began it spread up at full spread. From going into the Fold and people dying in the first 50 pages? Lets just say that it was pretty epic. I loved to see how Alina's character developed just by the people she was surrounded with and where she lived and when she finally got the sense where she belonged. However I do agree with her on one thing, what good is she for apart from midnight picnics. After she has completed her 'destiny' she would be practically useless (in my opinion).
I have allready talked about Alina's charater development so I will talk about other things. I liked how Alina was so stuborn and always managed to keep it together, even when she was falling appart inside. Sometimes though I wanted her to stop feeling so sorry for herself and get on with her life.
Mal was a interesting character which I would love to see more of. I went from loving him to hating him and back to loving his character all over again. I would like to have even more information about him and I don't often say this (well, actually I have never said this) I would like to see the book in his point of view as well, because I really want to know what is happening in that head of his. His character can be a little confusing to understand.
I saved the best for last. The Darkling. Can I take a moment to express my hate towards him? I know that most people like him even though he is a complete ******* but I am not one of those people and would be more than happy to get rid of him myself. I had a bad feeling about him from the start. When I started to think that he might be the love interest Leigh Bardugo showed me something that made me want to forget that I had even thought that. Okay enough said otherwise I am going to spoil the book.
The world building in this book was well done, and that sometimes proves difficult for a lot of authors. Espectialy when you create your own Kingdoms, myths and languages. I applaud Leigh Bardugo for doing such a good job.
I give this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
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