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princessrobotiv's review against another edition
4.0
3.5, on the 4 side
-
Shadow and Bone surprised me.
Even before the enormous twist just over midway through the book (a twist even I didn't see coming, something that hasn't happened in quite some time), I was enjoying the story. The prose was just detailed enough to build up the world and create momentum and tension, but it never bogged itself down by trying too hard to be something it wasn't. As a result, I found myself flying through the chapters. Again - this hasn't happened for a while, so I was pretty pleased.
Sure, the story was formulaic: downtrodden and overlooked girl discovers a hidden power and is whisked into a life of trial and romance. Girl faces snobbish mean girls much prettier than her (oh, except she's lowkey pretty herself, of course, and the text is sure to let the reader know it!). Girl vacillates between two boys: her longtime childhood friend and the darkly mysterious bad boy who awakens some hidden part of her.
Aside from the girl-hate, I'm not opposed to any of the above, so long as they are executed in a way that's somewhat novel and generally entertaining. Bardugo's Russian-inspired setting was a fresh landscape for a tale like this and really held my interest (though I am a little wary of it re: was it simply another way for Bardugo to cop out of creating diverse characters . . ?) In any case, it was fresher than the beat-to-death horse that is England-equivalent fantasy worlds.
I'll also admit that - even when it seemed like the love triangle would remain just as trite and silly as all the others, I was still pretty into the dynamic between the Darkling/Alina. I dig power imbalances in relationships, what can I say?
But HOO, boy - then the whole damn thing flipped.
Bardugo committed to the Darkling's monstrousness. We see him maim, we see him murder, we see him massacre an entire town. He puts our heroine in a literal collar and assaults her. His greed and his selfishness and his misguided sense of morality are utterly exposed. And in the end, Alina rejects him. She rejects his actions, his methods, and his morals, and she escapes.
It's pretty great.
This doesn't mean that a romance is off the table, of course. And to be quite honest, I'm really interested in how something like that would progress after the crimes that have been committed. It has to be handled with delicacy and some degree of skill. I think the fear of community backlash and feminist critique has made authors shy away from presenting this sort of dynamic. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - critique exists for a reason, after all - but what can I say? I miss the mess; I miss the "gray." I'm hoping we get some of that in the next installments.
We'll see how this evolves!
-
Shadow and Bone surprised me.
Even before the enormous twist just over midway through the book (a twist even I didn't see coming, something that hasn't happened in quite some time), I was enjoying the story. The prose was just detailed enough to build up the world and create momentum and tension, but it never bogged itself down by trying too hard to be something it wasn't. As a result, I found myself flying through the chapters. Again - this hasn't happened for a while, so I was pretty pleased.
Sure, the story was formulaic: downtrodden and overlooked girl discovers a hidden power and is whisked into a life of trial and romance. Girl faces snobbish mean girls much prettier than her (oh, except she's lowkey pretty herself, of course, and the text is sure to let the reader know it!). Girl vacillates between two boys: her longtime childhood friend and the darkly mysterious bad boy who awakens some hidden part of her.
Aside from the girl-hate, I'm not opposed to any of the above, so long as they are executed in a way that's somewhat novel and generally entertaining. Bardugo's Russian-inspired setting was a fresh landscape for a tale like this and really held my interest (though I am a little wary of it re: was it simply another way for Bardugo to cop out of creating diverse characters . . ?) In any case, it was fresher than the beat-to-death horse that is England-equivalent fantasy worlds.
I'll also admit that - even when it seemed like the love triangle would remain just as trite and silly as all the others, I was still pretty into the dynamic between the Darkling/Alina. I dig power imbalances in relationships, what can I say?
But HOO, boy - then the whole damn thing flipped.
Spoiler
I'm thrilled about the path Bardugo chose in regards to the Darkling. A recent trend in YA romance is to present a so-called monstrous male character and to slowly humanize him throughout the course of a novel or series. I like this, too. But I hadn't realized how much I longed for the opposite approach.Bardugo committed to the Darkling's monstrousness. We see him maim, we see him murder, we see him massacre an entire town. He puts our heroine in a literal collar and assaults her. His greed and his selfishness and his misguided sense of morality are utterly exposed. And in the end, Alina rejects him. She rejects his actions, his methods, and his morals, and she escapes.
It's pretty great.
This doesn't mean that a romance is off the table, of course. And to be quite honest, I'm really interested in how something like that would progress after the crimes that have been committed. It has to be handled with delicacy and some degree of skill. I think the fear of community backlash and feminist critique has made authors shy away from presenting this sort of dynamic. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - critique exists for a reason, after all - but what can I say? I miss the mess; I miss the "gray." I'm hoping we get some of that in the next installments.
We'll see how this evolves!
lucyreadsss's review against another edition
5.0
I decided to read this series as it’s just so popular and I also want to watch the new Netflix adaption of it. I read Six of Crows first because I hadn’t brought Shadow and Bone yet. But I enjoyed this book very much, it kept me very hooked.
When Alina Starkov’s regiment is attacked while crossing the Shadow Fold, a place of darkness swarmed by deadly monsters, she unleashes magic she didn’t even know she had. Now Alina enters a luxurious and fascinating world of royalty as she trains with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite, and falls under the spell of their mysterious leader the Darkling. He thinks that Alina can summon a power strong enough to destroy the Shadow Fold, but only if she can master her power first. But as Alina trains and experiences an adventure she finds out something dangerous enough that it could threaten everyone she cares about and even the whole world.
So I really enjoyed this book. I thought the characters backgrounds were deeply described, but not too detailed so just the right amount. I also really liked the magic/superpowers type thing? and slight emotional side to the story. I kinda wished the book went a bit more into depth about Genya and Zoya but that might be in the next book/s maybe? But overall I found it very interesting and there wasn’t a time where I found it boring. (Also I found the Darkling’s character great so I understand the hype so far.) But I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series and watching the Netflix show soon.
When Alina Starkov’s regiment is attacked while crossing the Shadow Fold, a place of darkness swarmed by deadly monsters, she unleashes magic she didn’t even know she had. Now Alina enters a luxurious and fascinating world of royalty as she trains with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite, and falls under the spell of their mysterious leader the Darkling. He thinks that Alina can summon a power strong enough to destroy the Shadow Fold, but only if she can master her power first. But as Alina trains and experiences an adventure she finds out something dangerous enough that it could threaten everyone she cares about and even the whole world.
So I really enjoyed this book. I thought the characters backgrounds were deeply described, but not too detailed so just the right amount. I also really liked the magic/superpowers type thing? and slight emotional side to the story. I kinda wished the book went a bit more into depth about Genya and Zoya but that might be in the next book/s maybe? But overall I found it very interesting and there wasn’t a time where I found it boring. (Also I found the Darkling’s character great so I understand the hype so far.) But I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series and watching the Netflix show soon.
selreading's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
analiesedodd's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
liberty_grady's review against another edition
3.0
Worst way to describe the Shadow and Bone Trilogy:
A bright girl meets a dark man and she works against him because the people all now regret putting him in power #hestoogoodforthem #toohottohandle
-A dear friend of mine
Ok but in all honestly this series was pretty enjoyable and I had a lot of fun following the story
A bright girl meets a dark man and she works against him because the people all now regret putting him in power #hestoogoodforthem #toohottohandle
-A dear friend of mine
Ok but in all honestly this series was pretty enjoyable and I had a lot of fun following the story
evaroyter's review against another edition
3.0
Poor Alina is the victim of main character syndrome but I have to blame her. She is so undeniably cringy that I had to stop and take a breath multiple times while reading. But besides her obvious flaws, I absolutely loved this book. It does such a good job of explaining the Grisha and all the political aspects of the world in a way that doesn’t feel overcrowded.
cd777's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH IT HAD EVERYTHING I WANTED: ACTION, ADVENTURE, ROMANCE, AWESOME CHARACTERS, POLITICAL INTRIGUE, AND AN AMAZING WORLD!!! LEIGH BARDUGO IS MY SECOND FAVORITE AUTHOR FOR A REASON AND I CANT WAIT TO PICK UP THE NEXT ONE!!!
siennagracewrites's review against another edition
3.0
I could not put this book down, no matter how hard I tried. Legit only stopped for ice cream and sleep. Read this now :)
hen3at's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25