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emohell'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
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol
thebookaddict's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
jinx_mars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
toshi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, and War
n0elle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting
infjkiki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
david_slack110507'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? It's complicated
3.25
However, my negative thoughts outweigh the positive ones I have such as the formatting or more specifically the chapters. The chapters in this are mostly 15-20 pages long each which makes it difficult if I want to go and read for a few minutes as I prefer to complete the whole chapter to avoid any confusion as to where I am the next time, I pick up the book. The first half of the book is excruciatingly slow and difficult to read on through because it focuses heavily on setting up the enormous world of the Grishaverse and that was why this took me nearly 2 months to complete, alongside it not being as interesting compared to the other books I was reading at the same time (which may have been an issue on my part tbh)
Another issue I had was that despite the extremely in-depth and fascinating lore and mythology of the Grishaverse, it can be very daunting, confusing, and sometimes hard to understand/remember what was what which made me struggle to continue the book at parts. I also didn't feel too strongly about many of the characters in the book with probably Baghra, The Darkling (Disregarding the kind of boring romance between him and Alina), Alina herself and possibly the real MVP: Genya being the standouts but nearly everyone else just didn't capture my interest and/or enthusiasm.
Overall, a mixed start to the Shadow and Bone trilogy. A start that I can only hope improves as it continues as I do feel invested enough to want to continue reading the trilogy.
âď¸âď¸âď¸ ~ Good but not great
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Minor: Cursing and Death of parent
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Itâs been 10 years since Shadow and Bone was first published, and well, the content certainly speaks of its age. Littered with generic themes and tropes, two-dimensional characters and a drama-filled love triangle, Shadow and Bone is your typical YA book circa 2010. Seriously, if you needed a book that embodies practically all mainstream YA books of that era, this is the one. I flashbacked to practically every book within the same genre I had read around that period.
Letâs start with the themes and tropes: your bland Good VS Evil with no greyness, your rigid Light VS Dark (looks like youâve been forgotten again, Dawn and Twilight), your cookie-cutter âChosen Oneâ trying to find their own identity while struggling as the Special Snowflake whoâs been cleansed from supposed muddy, humble roots. I know itâs difficult to write something new and I donât expect that at all, but what makes a book different despite the similar themes, is the execution. Itâs the emotions, the way the characters are alive and how, despite reading this story so many times already, this version still has an impact because these characters are the ones who leave that impact. Sadly, this isnât the case here.
Alina is your not-conventionally-pretty-but-actually-is âChosen Oneâ whoâs also the owner of one single brain cell that doesnât even multiply. Mal is the childhood friend and first crush whoâs also a possessive, toxic bundle of insecurities. Darkling acts as your typical manipulative, power-grabbing villain whose main flavours are abusive and sexually aggressive (and, heâs also toxic!!). These are the stars of Shadow and Bone 's complete mess of a love triangle. Iâm never convinced by Alinaâs âloveâ for Mal because of how sheâs made breathless by Darkling at the next moment, but Iâm definitely convinced by Alinaâs lust for Darkling because she goes back to moping over Malâs lack of attention for her right after.
Outside of the love triangle, the characters donât stand well on their own. They donât really change or contradict themselves, their complexities are practically zero which makes them flat. Theyâre simply there as devices to move the story forward to the next plot point, and thatâs it! Though, I do like Alinaâs moment at the end of the book. She was so ornamental for the majority of Shadow and Bone that that scene was her only flash of three-dimensional character potential for me.
While the authorâs writing makes Shadow and Bone an easy read, I couldnât appreciate the very apparent lack of care for the culture that heavily inspired the book. Iâm not an expert in cultures, but I think it is only polite to treat every culture with respect and if youâre going to use a lot of elements from it instead of properly making up most of it, then it should be done with care and respect. Itâs fine if some words are wrong (itâd be unrealistic to be an expert in the language when youâve not learnt it or spoken it), but the most basic thing like names should never be mistaken.
Honestly, had I read Shadow and Bone earlier, back when it was first published, maybe I wouldâve liked it more. But, right now, as my present self who has grown and read amazing YA fantasies where they dive deeper into themes, respect the culture theyâve been inspired from and have incredibly human-like characters, reading Shadow and Bone has shown me that I shouldnât wait for time to ungracefully age hyped books. Nevertheless, I know that Bardugo has grown as a writer with her newer books and Iâm excited to dive into those.
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
onefineelephant's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Self harm and suicidal ideation are mentioned but not acted on. Also, there is an attempted sexual assault but it does not progress further.katievallin'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Child death and Death of parent