Reviews with content warning for Gore - Sombra y hueso

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Sombra y hueso by Leigh Bardugo

58 reviews

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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? No

5.0

This was a re-read and I absolutely loved it! I’m so excited to get back into the grishaverse!!

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trintrin's review against another edition

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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

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cucubmer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Quick and easy read. I would definitely recommend this book of you're in a reading slump, and/or wanting to get back into the fantasy genre.

While the characters aren't particularly special or complicated, I enjoyed the way they interacted with the world. The word building is easily digestible, while still presenting a unique magic system.

I have yet to read the other books in this trilogy (or the other series in this universe), but I still really enjoyed this story!

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onefineelephant's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

7/10. I think the magic system and even the political system are interesting. However, I usually hate love triangles and this is no exception. I typically love the friends-to-lovers trope but Mal kind of sucks at the beginning. Like, who would sleep with a ton of girls when you're actually in love with your best friend the whole time?? I like Mal more by the end. Also, them confessing their feelings wasn't satisfying at all and fell kind of flat. I think that the character of the Darkling is super fascinating and complex, which I love. I am not a fan of Alina which is really unfortunate because she's the main character - but this is because she is TOO MUCH of a main character. She just wants to fit in when she clearly is unique, she is a peasant in high society, she only has one friend and doesn't get along with other girls (aka she's not like other girls), and she won't kill when it is absolutely necessary. The dialogue is kind of so bad that it's good. Like it's very bad but most of the time it made me laugh because of how bad it is instead of making me say "this is stupid." The ending was awful, in my opinion. I know there are more books in the series but the events of the last 50 pages made me say "what the f is this?" about 8 times.

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