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meisreading's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
aesthjks's review against another edition
3.0
no es gran cosa pero es entretenido lo que me molesta es que todos los personajes me dan igual (not you genya sweetie) especialmente los hombres literalmente los dos peores intereses amorosos ever
kmcphillips's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aliciarosa's review against another edition
4.0
The land and its citizens torn in two by the darkness of the Shadow Fold.
Alina is a simple cartographer. But this changes rapidly. On a journey through the dangerous Shadow Fold, she miraculously saves the life of her childhood friend and successful tracker, Malyen.
Is she the salvation for the people? The oldest and most powerful Grisha, the Darkling, is convinced that she is the one he has been waiting for.
To learn how to control Alina's powers, they both travel to the Grisha's training camp.
I had read an excerpt of this book and after reading the first chapter I was pretty sure I would like it. Towards the middle I have to say the excitement eases off a bit as you’re watching Alina learn about her powers in the training camp.
I wasn't disappointed though, because I didn't see the plot twist coming! Like the protagonist, I couldn't believe what was happening.
I really liked the story, the world was well structured and so was the Grisha magic system.
I think Alina's character was written quite well. I've read many reviews that her character is rather "shallow", but I think that fits quite well in this book, since she is torn out of her "boring" everyday life and put into a whole new world. It's understandable that she does no longer really know who she is are and where she actually belongs.
On the other hand, I have to agree with other readers because Malyen's character could have been developed so much better. I just didn't really care about him because I didn't feel like I knew him too well.
My favorite supporting character was definitely the beautiful Genya. I hope to read more of her in the next books.
And now to my absolute favorite character of the book: the Darkling. A very very well written character! Unreadable until the end, mystical and tempting. Simply great!
All in all, a successful first entry into the world of Grisha. The book was interesting until the end and I can't wait to read the next one.
Alina is a simple cartographer. But this changes rapidly. On a journey through the dangerous Shadow Fold, she miraculously saves the life of her childhood friend and successful tracker, Malyen.
Is she the salvation for the people? The oldest and most powerful Grisha, the Darkling, is convinced that she is the one he has been waiting for.
To learn how to control Alina's powers, they both travel to the Grisha's training camp.
I had read an excerpt of this book and after reading the first chapter I was pretty sure I would like it. Towards the middle I have to say the excitement eases off a bit as you’re watching Alina learn about her powers in the training camp.
I wasn't disappointed though, because I didn't see the plot twist coming! Like the protagonist, I couldn't believe what was happening.
I really liked the story, the world was well structured and so was the Grisha magic system.
I think Alina's character was written quite well. I've read many reviews that her character is rather "shallow", but I think that fits quite well in this book, since she is torn out of her "boring" everyday life and put into a whole new world. It's understandable that she does no longer really know who she is are and where she actually belongs.
On the other hand, I have to agree with other readers because Malyen's character could have been developed so much better. I just didn't really care about him because I didn't feel like I knew him too well.
My favorite supporting character was definitely the beautiful Genya. I hope to read more of her in the next books.
And now to my absolute favorite character of the book: the Darkling. A very very well written character! Unreadable until the end, mystical and tempting. Simply great!
All in all, a successful first entry into the world of Grisha. The book was interesting until the end and I can't wait to read the next one.
cristinanegraru's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
krboaze's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
kimbapnboba's review against another edition
4.0
Very easy read. Read it in one sitting. The set up is a bit typical...mousy girl discovers she has powers, blossums, gets tough, finds love, uncovers betryal, etc. Even tho it's typical, it was still an enjoyable read and can't wait to find out what happens in the next book.
m3l_ancholy's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I absolutely adore the worldbuilding and the magic system in this series. This is my third time reading through this particular book, so maybe I'm biased, but I absolutely adore Bardugo for her ability to take expected tropes and turn them in ways we aren't expecting. Also, for a world so ingrained in the magical, there is such a distinct sense of humanity to it.
nickyxxx's review against another edition
2.0
This is my first YA fantasy in… I want to say “years”, but the honest truth is, I have never read any YA fantasies. As far as I can remember, at least.
So… Clichés and dull characters, that can’t do a book any good, one could say. Well, no, but I still kinda liked it. A little bit.
1) The recipe for any YA, or so I’ve been told, looks like this. Pick a random untalented girl off the street and give her a world-saving magical power and make her the “chosen one”; but for some odd reason, there’s no possibility she knew that about herself until now. And she can’t be too pretty either, because then her crush (and the rest of the guys) would be into her, and we can’t have that, because she has to be insecure. Add a love triangle to the mix and make the men jealous; and tada, you’re done!
Or so I’ve been told, again, because I haven’t read any YA fantasies before, so how the heck would I know. But I’m not big on clichés, let me tell you that.
2) Then, the cast deserves some special attention too. Mostly in a bad way; yes, it pains me to say it, but they weren’t fleshed out at all. And the people who know me a little, know I highly value fleshed out characters. I don’t care about their looks (unless they’re essential to the story, of course), but about their history, their flaws, their talents and how their past has made them into who they are now.
I can’t tell you a single thing about any of the characters, nothing that made me scratch my head and say “huh, that’s unexpected… but interesting”.
I liked Genya, she seems cute, I’d definitely like to hang out with her, with a cheeky drink here and there. Mal seems the protective childhood friend-who-turns-love-interest, which seems cliché as fuck to me, but hey, at least there’s something I can remember him by; something that distinguished him from the rest of the cast.
But Alina is possibly the blandest character out there. I know one thing about her (she’s an orphan), but that’s all… and that trait doesn’t define someone as a person. At all. AT ALL. For god's sakes, come up with something! You're a writer, you're supposed to be creative and inventive!
So that’s basically all there is to say about the cast. Which is… impressive, in its own way, but not the good kind of impressive.
But. Yes, there’s a but. I liked this book a little. I didn’t like it for its quality, because there was obviously none; but for its entertainment value, and for its easy language and uncomplicated world. I spent all of 4 hours on this, spread out over 2 days, and I can honestly say I had a good time with it. Maybe this is how guilty pleasures feel. I don’t know. I’ve never had any guilty pleasures in books.
Maybe the Darkling was what kept me reading all along. Who knows. Super toxic, and I hope this isn't the message the youth will remember from this book, but... y'know.
Aaaannnywayyyy. Besides S&B being pretty silly and straightforward and predictable as fuck; I had a good ride. I wasn’t in the mood for some complicated book with pretentious language (looking at you, Les Misérables) so this is nice and refreshing in some weird, cliché-filled way.
So… Clichés and dull characters, that can’t do a book any good, one could say. Well, no, but I still kinda liked it. A little bit.
1) The recipe for any YA, or so I’ve been told, looks like this. Pick a random untalented girl off the street and give her a world-saving magical power and make her the “chosen one”; but for some odd reason, there’s no possibility she knew that about herself until now. And she can’t be too pretty either, because then her crush (and the rest of the guys) would be into her, and we can’t have that, because she has to be insecure. Add a love triangle to the mix and make the men jealous; and tada, you’re done!
Or so I’ve been told, again, because I haven’t read any YA fantasies before, so how the heck would I know. But I’m not big on clichés, let me tell you that.
2) Then, the cast deserves some special attention too. Mostly in a bad way; yes, it pains me to say it, but they weren’t fleshed out at all. And the people who know me a little, know I highly value fleshed out characters. I don’t care about their looks (unless they’re essential to the story, of course), but about their history, their flaws, their talents and how their past has made them into who they are now.
I can’t tell you a single thing about any of the characters, nothing that made me scratch my head and say “huh, that’s unexpected… but interesting”.
I liked Genya, she seems cute, I’d definitely like to hang out with her, with a cheeky drink here and there. Mal seems the protective childhood friend-who-turns-love-interest, which seems cliché as fuck to me, but hey, at least there’s something I can remember him by; something that distinguished him from the rest of the cast.
But Alina is possibly the blandest character out there. I know one thing about her (she’s an orphan), but that’s all… and that trait doesn’t define someone as a person. At all. AT ALL. For god's sakes, come up with something! You're a writer, you're supposed to be creative and inventive!
So that’s basically all there is to say about the cast. Which is… impressive, in its own way, but not the good kind of impressive.
But. Yes, there’s a but. I liked this book a little. I didn’t like it for its quality, because there was obviously none; but for its entertainment value, and for its easy language and uncomplicated world. I spent all of 4 hours on this, spread out over 2 days, and I can honestly say I had a good time with it. Maybe this is how guilty pleasures feel. I don’t know. I’ve never had any guilty pleasures in books.
Maybe the Darkling was what kept me reading all along. Who knows. Super toxic, and I hope this isn't the message the youth will remember from this book, but... y'know.
Aaaannnywayyyy. Besides S&B being pretty silly and straightforward and predictable as fuck; I had a good ride. I wasn’t in the mood for some complicated book with pretentious language (looking at you, Les Misérables) so this is nice and refreshing in some weird, cliché-filled way.
manglitter's review against another edition
5.0
I could not stop reading and I like it when a book does this to me.
It was intense from start to the last page. I only regret that I've not read it until now. I don't know how this kind of author do it! Really, how do you do it?!
I love Russian culture and history and this book was a beautiful gift. While reading this book you feel the inspiration from Russian folklore, history, traditions...I loved it.
Plenty of people are now a Leigh Bardugo's fans and usually, I don't like when there is so much noise about a book and I don't go there but this time, it was the cover, the synopsis of the book with all the Russian names and the mystery and the map at the beguinning of the book and,and,and...I was in .
I loved the heroine's personality that reminded me a lot of myself, you're naif, you trust easily, you're a fragile thing then life happens and it teaches you to struggle hard and to fight harder through time. Alina learnt those lessons in 5 months, she faced horrible things but at the end she learnt to believe in her abilities. I was as naif as her at the beguinning of the story then everything got chaotic and I liked it, every turn of events.
Now, I'm gonna read all the books by Leigh Bardugo, starting with Book II of the Grisha Trilogy.
It was intense from start to the last page. I only regret that I've not read it until now. I don't know how this kind of author do it! Really, how do you do it?!
I love Russian culture and history and this book was a beautiful gift. While reading this book you feel the inspiration from Russian folklore, history, traditions...I loved it.
Plenty of people are now a Leigh Bardugo's fans and usually, I don't like when there is so much noise about a book and I don't go there but this time, it was the cover, the synopsis of the book with all the Russian names and the mystery and the map at the beguinning of the book and,and,and...I was in .
I loved the heroine's personality that reminded me a lot of myself, you're naif, you trust easily, you're a fragile thing then life happens and it teaches you to struggle hard and to fight harder through time. Alina learnt those lessons in 5 months, she faced horrible things but at the end she learnt to believe in her abilities. I was as naif as her at the beguinning of the story then everything got chaotic and I liked it, every turn of events.
Now, I'm gonna read all the books by Leigh Bardugo, starting with Book II of the Grisha Trilogy.