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katvou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts
fenna2002's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence
zoeelora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Torture, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts
nadiana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Many years back, this book made me fall in love with reading as well as the entire genre of fantasy romance. As far as I was concerned, it was a guilty pleasure, and even after this re-read, I must say, it still is.
Not a lot of strong feelings are connected to this first book but I don't know if that's going to change once I re-read Siege and Storm. However, having watched the Shadow and Bone netflix trailer previous to re-reading this made the whole experience way better, especially concerning the book's main ship which I felt more connected to than ever before.
Leigh's writing obviously isn't the best this early in her career, but all-in-all it was an easy and quick read, just a tad bit below average considering the story, plot, execution and pace. The ending felt very rushed as well, and honestly, this book could've been longer for more developed plots and character arcs which would've probably made the story a whole lot better.
However, I'm still searching for that perfect guilty pleasure book, and quite honestly, I'm getting obsessively desperate at this point...
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, and Body shaming
sapphic_reader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent, Genocide, and Sexual assault
earthtonesreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
amberinbookland's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I've been meaning to get to the Grishaverse books for years now, but the Netflix adaptation was both motivating (I can't watch it until I finish the series!) and problematic (everyone and their mother is now trying to check these books out from the library—I had to wait 8 weeks!). Unfortunately, I think the show (and all of the excitement about this book that it stirred up) overhyped it a bit for me, because this fell a bit short of my expectations. I enjoyed the world-building and the concept, but the writing was a bit blah. Several parts felt rushed and therefore didn't give the full emotional impact that I think Bardugo intended. That said, I still really enjoyed the story! The descriptions of the settings and clothes helped me picture everything well, which is one of the things I love most about fantasy novels and also the main reason I like to read a book before watching a movie/show adaptation. I also loved the climax of the novel:
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Torture and Death of parent
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love Leigh Bardugo's writing style. It was really smooth and engaging, the story didn't drag at any point. I love the Grisha world although I think a little bit more world building and magic training would have made it even better. I hope there will be some more of this in the next books.
What surprised me the most was Alina. I usually don't like chosen ones in YA fantasy books. They tend to whine a lot but Alina is just really funny. I loved her humour, her straight forwardness in most situations. I could relate to her a lot.
I was also surprised that I wasn't annoyed by the romance plot/ "love triangle". I guess it's because Alina ist such a cool character to be in the head of. Everything she did and felt was believable to me.
Also, the Darkling? .... let's call him my guilty pleasure character, my problematic fav. I have so many thoughts on him and I really like him as a character.
When it comes to the story, it was solid. I actually quite enjoyed how straight forward it was. The plot twist ... threw me off a little at first but the more I thought about it the more I was on board with it, because it added a layer to the main themes of the book. And I absolutely loved these. It seems like a 0815 fantasy plot with a chosen one and his (or in this case her) mission to save the world. But it also explores deeper themes like the wish to belong somewhere, to feel wanted. It shows how supressing a major part of you can weaken you. These topics still resonated with me although I'm not really the target audience, because they are important for every age range.
So yeah, I was positively surprised by this book and I can't wait to continue the series.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming