Reviews with content warning for Genocide - Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone is a classic fantasy series. I have previously read the Six of Crows duology so I was already a bit familiar with the world. (Although I think reading this series for the knowledge of the Grisha would have been more helpful in reading Six of Crows, but alas, that did not happen.) Six of Crows is far superior in its writing, plot, and character development, but I don't want to spend this entire review comparing the two.

I thought it was interesting enough. The characters and plot were pretty good, but nothing really made it a stand out. It's a pretty typical girl discovering her powers, training, becoming a part of a new world, etc. I would have liked more consistent action - it doesn't really pick up till 3/4 of the way through, and by that point, I found it kind of anticlimactic

that we spend so much time with Mal and Alina tracking the Stag, and then they don't kill him and Alina becomes the Darkling's slave anyways. That kinda made me mad because what was the point?

I'm not team Mal or Darkling I guess. I am not here for the "mysterious-old-man-who-lives-a-long-life-is-suddenly-chatty-and-charming-when-he-meets-an-average-girl-whose-not-like-other-girls." I love friends to lovers so I should probably be on team Mal, but idk, I just didn't think he was developed enough, didn't fall for the chemistry, I'm not sure what, but it was missing something for me.

Also just want to point out that I still really hate it when authors don't do their research about horses. It's such a minor thing near the beginning, but as a horse person, it always bugs me when stuff isn't accurate. I've been riding for 9 years and I have never thought I could fall asleep on a moving horse, especially at a trot or canter, even more so if Alina isn’t a very good rider. If they travelled 200 miles on horseback, they would definitely need to switch out their horses several times. And if you’re double riding, the second rider is definitely not the one in control. Just small details, but they do matter when it comes to making an authentic believable story.

Content Warnings

magicshop's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

“Why can a Grisha possess but one amplifier? I will answer this question instead: What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.”

half a star for effort and

paralleling the main character's moral path with the bad guy's. that's the shit i do like

. let's do this.

you should read this series if...

you're looking for some easily digestible YA with equally standard fare characters
you're planning on watching the upcoming tv series and want more context
and, of course, you're simply interested in the grishaverse after reading bardugo's later work

the good:

genya
every genya/alina moment
baghra
the writing style is simple, easy and flows off the page naturally — bardugo clearly knows how to take the reader for a ride and i read this in 2 goddamned days........ i didn't even like it that much????
i don't know whether to put the darkling in this section or not. i need a "it's complicated" section like i do for my game reviews lol
basically this book's greatest quality is its lack of glaring flaws. it's a YA fantasy story. it's the quintessential YA fantasy story... and that's about it
genya!!
baghra!!!!!!!!!

the bad:

see above
but also extremely tropey shit everywhere. you will laugh, and you will cry (laughing). i haven't read any other bardugo yet, but my god this woman must have undergone a godlike transformation to be as lauded as she is or i'm about to be very disappointed
i heard the russian references aren't very good but i would personally know absolutely zero about that unfortunately

Content Warnings

wasabi_poptart's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

brynn_books's review against another edition

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3.0

Apparently, I didn’t write a review when I first read this book so I don’t know exactly how I feel. Honestly, it wasn’t the most groundbreaking book I’ve ever read. It was okay. Do I remember what happened? Not really… This might be an unpopular opinion but I liked the show better.

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