A review by yueyea
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

As desperately as I tried to compel myself to love this book, I could not. Being chock-full of generic tropes, it was honestly difficult for me to enjoy it without sighing into my palm half the time. A love triangle with a friend and an enemy? Really? Not to mention this story had a Mary Sue-ish "chosen one" protagonist. I understand that perhaps genres like that in the early 2010s were in vogue, but I couldn't help picturing what I was reading as an excruciatingly predictable fanfiction. Also, I could never wrap my head around the Darkling or his "killer move" the Cut. I mean, those names are awful! I'd say the only saving grace this novel had to offer was some of its comedic value.