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A review by lostlenore_
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
3.0
Leigh Bardugo's debut dark YA fantasy is equivalent to those relevant books published almost ten years ago: not overly violent but with a dark edgy romantic interest and the good friend that becomes the lover.
In essence, it's a predictable book because of the tropes it exploits: the orphan/chosen one, the bildungsroman (coming-of-age) novel, the alluring villain, and the friend/companion guy. I feel like the book laid the foundations for something bigger and more significant and that's the reason why I'm sticking to the Grisha Verse books and reading the next books in the series just so that I can read Six of Crows.
The book does feel like a prequel and I'm not so sure it lives up to the hype of the series. Bardugo's writing reads natural and it's very smooth, however, I wanted to see more into the world she crafted and to get a better understanding of the characters. The Darkling didn't have the kind of establishment he could have and Mal was pretty much bypassed for almost half of the book. Alina's reasons for being who she is were pretty much the same throughout the novel.
It's an intriguing retelling of the orphan story that turned into someone very important but had the book been written today, I feel like we'd have the chance to really dig into the characters' traumas, fears, and darkness simply because YA nowadays is far more "serious" and "thoughtful" as a genre than it used to be.
In essence, it's a predictable book because of the tropes it exploits: the orphan/chosen one, the bildungsroman (coming-of-age) novel, the alluring villain, and the friend/companion guy. I feel like the book laid the foundations for something bigger and more significant and that's the reason why I'm sticking to the Grisha Verse books and reading the next books in the series just so that I can read Six of Crows.
The book does feel like a prequel and I'm not so sure it lives up to the hype of the series. Bardugo's writing reads natural and it's very smooth, however, I wanted to see more into the world she crafted and to get a better understanding of the characters. The Darkling didn't have the kind of establishment he could have and Mal was pretty much bypassed for almost half of the book. Alina's reasons for being who she is were pretty much the same throughout the novel.
It's an intriguing retelling of the orphan story that turned into someone very important but had the book been written today, I feel like we'd have the chance to really dig into the characters' traumas, fears, and darkness simply because YA nowadays is far more "serious" and "thoughtful" as a genre than it used to be.