Reviews with content warning for Blood - Shadow and Bone

I enjoyed the world-building in the first book of this series. It was a quick read but slow moving at times. I found the Grishaverse vocabulary interesting but at times distracting (having not read any others Leigh Bardugo novels).

Like Alina, throughout the entirety of the book, I constantly wanted to believe the Darkling (I blame it on the redeemable morally gray characters) and felt betrayed by him over and over.

Content Warnings

infjkiki's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

livi74's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

Content Warnings

trintrin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I read the Six of Crows duology before this because everyone said the Grisha trilogy was not that good, that Alina was a boring protagonist, that they all hated Mal, that Malina wasn't a good ship, and that Leigh's writing wasn't as beautiful as it is SoC blah blah blah. So I trusted them all and read SoC first. Now I regret skipping this wonderful story. It has all the amazing elements of a fantasy novel that I had forgotten I love so much. You could say it has the typical YA fantasy tropes but it's done so well, and since this is one of the OGs I'll give it a pass.

I don't understand why people love to hate on Mal, I found him perfectly fine. Maybe a little possessive at times but nothing other than that. Apart from the fact that Alina needed a man to feel like she belonged somewhere, I didn't find anything wrong with her either. And I finally understand the appeal of the Darkling lol although I don't really ship Darklina.

The world-building is so rich and that's why I wish I read this before SoC because so many things that I previously found confusing suddenly finally made sense to me, I felt like I opened a third-eye or something. I really loved seeing the fantastical side of the Grishaverse rather than just the heist-y side. I'd love to read more about the Grisha folklore, the Saints and all that good stuff.

As for Leigh's writing style, it's certainly not as breathtaking as I know it would be in her future books but it's still pretty solid. The first person POV felt weird for the first chapter but I got used to it after that. Her story-telling is still very good. This was certainly a page-turner, I binged it in one day and the only other book I'd binged in one day is Crooked Kingdom so it's all very fitting :D

Content Warnings

purplebitch's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

rose_88's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Knew some things about it from social media, wanted to read before watching the show, but only really heard about ‘Six of Crows’, but I really enjoyed this book. I felt there could have been more about Alina’s dynamics with people other than the Darkling, like more about her time with the other Grisha and her time in the army, but i did like how the author portrayed the Darkling and Alina’s relationship/dynamic.

I liked how the relationship was first portrayed as one where he had been searching for her for ages and so fell in love with her due to his longing for someone to help fix the Fold, but then when you find out more about him and realised ‘oh shit he played her, he SEDUCED her’ which was really really shit on his part, just to get her to trust him.

I also really loved Bahgara, just everything abiut her. How she was this mean and scary teacher who was the one person not pulled towards or enamoured by the Darkling, then you find out SHES HIS MOTHER!?!?! And everything just gets more sad cause she still loves him but knows he may be too far gone. But also wtf? Like we know barely anything about her? How’s she get her powers? How did she birth the most powerful Grisha minus the literal Sun Summoner? Was she just as powerful as him, but just chose not to show it? ANSWERS I NEED ANSWERS!!

I thought there could have been more about Mal, it was him who found the stag and he was so concerned about Alina, even thought he never got her letters. He’s so much better than the Darkling

Content Warnings

shaylashaylala's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

taylorswiftobsessed's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

More...