You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
trintrin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Eating disorder, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
eleek0609's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and War
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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ~ 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
shaylashaylala's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Minor: Genocide, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War
taylorswiftobsessed'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
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault and Death of parent
onefineelephant's review
- 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.kirstenf'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death and War
Minor: Rape, Torture, and Death of parent
juliaaaaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, and War
makenna_reads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
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