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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
It’s 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.
Let’s start with the themes and tropes: your bland Good VS Evil with no greyness, your rigid Light VS Dark (looks like you’ve been forgotten again, Dawn and Twilight), your cookie-cutter “Chosen One” trying to find their own identity while struggling as the Special Snowflake who’s been cleansed from supposed muddy, humble roots. I know it’s difficult to write something new and I don’t expect that at all, but what makes a book different despite the similar themes, is the execution. It’s 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 isn’t the case here.
Alina is your not-conventionally-pretty-but-actually-is “Chosen One” who’s also the owner of one single brain cell that doesn’t even multiply. Mal is the childhood friend and first crush who’s 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, he’s also toxic!!). These are the stars of Shadow and Bone 's complete mess of a love triangle. I’m never convinced by Alina’s “love” for Mal because of how she’s made breathless by Darkling at the next moment, but I’m definitely convinced by Alina’s lust for Darkling because she goes back to moping over Mal’s lack of attention for her right after.
Outside of the love triangle, the characters don’t stand well on their own. They don’t really change or contradict themselves, their complexities are practically zero which makes them flat. They’re simply there as devices to move the story forward to the next plot point, and that’s it! Though, I do like Alina’s 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 author’s writing makes Shadow and Bone an easy read, I couldn’t appreciate the very apparent lack of care for the culture that heavily inspired the book. I’m not an expert in cultures, but I think it is only polite to treat every culture with respect and if you’re 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. It’s fine if some words are wrong (it’d be unrealistic to be an expert in the language when you’ve 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 would’ve 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 they’ve been inspired from and have incredibly human-like characters, reading Shadow and Bone has shown me that I shouldn’t wait for time to ungracefully age hyped books. Nevertheless, I know that Bardugo has grown as a writer with her newer books and I’m excited to dive into those.
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Gaslighting, Classism, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming, Kidnapping, Death, Murder, and Bullying
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: Grief, Medical content, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Torture, Alcohol, Body shaming, Gun violence, Slavery, War, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
thesecretsapphic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, War, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Rape
junenoble's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, War, and Violence
theirgracegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and War
veganecurrywurst'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Confinement
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
jennifer_bush_73's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Child death, and Death of parent
writtenbydnicole'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Grief and Slavery
illgiveyouahint's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.75
Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture