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A review by sgbrux
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
"The servants called them malenchki, little ghosts, because they were the smallest and the youngest, and because they haunted the Duke's house like giggling phantoms, darting in and out of rooms, hiding in cupboards to eavesdrop, sneaking into the kitchen to steal the last of the summer peaches."
I first read Shadow and Bone two years ago, and it ignited my love for YA fantasy. After listening to the audiobook today for a second readthrough (and skimming through the entire thing after), I still stand by giving this book a 4-star rating. I adored this book.
Is it "cliché?" No. But I do prefer the word trope. I'm not really a fan of 'cliché' being used to describe a book. When you call a book cliché, what you're really saying is that its tropes aren't up to your personal tastes. Chosen One, Dead Parents, Love Triangle—these are all tropes I enjoy, and they accounted for some of the tropes in Shadow and Bone.
Leigh Bardugo recently proved with Ninth House that she's more than capable of writing more mature prose, but she's always shown she has the chops for masterful storytelling, and that started with Shadow and Bone.
Shadow and Bone is not adult fantasy; it is fantastic YA fantasy. But it does come across for what it is—an author's first published work. It feels written to market (shrewdly so—I mean, c'mon. Hello Netflix adaptation), but despite these things, it is still fantastic YA fantasy.
With the Grishaverse, LB flexed major worldbuilding muscle—the system of magic, the different classes of Grisha, the monsters and lore. There was this overarching theme of magic versus the advancement of more traditional weaponry, which hooked me right away because I don't often come across it in fantasy, and then there was the villain. The Darkling is the best kind of villain—morally gray. His endgame is noble, his means aren't. If you haven't read the Darkling short stories LB later published, you should. There's something about tragic origin stories.
Then there was the prologue and epilogue. I enjoyed Leigh's third-person storytelling style and found both chapters really satisfying. When a story comes full circle, I find that pleasing. I could go on and on about what else I liked about Shadow and Bone—the characters, the action, the foreshadowing, my favorite scenes, but I think you get the point. This is a solid read, even for a second time around. I'm so ready for the series adaptation.
"All those years ago...before he gave up his name and became the Darkling, he was just a brilliant, talented boy. I gave him his ambition. I gave him his pride...It is because I love him that I will not let him put himself beyond redemption."
I first read Shadow and Bone two years ago, and it ignited my love for YA fantasy. After listening to the audiobook today for a second readthrough (and skimming through the entire thing after), I still stand by giving this book a 4-star rating. I adored this book.
Is it "cliché?" No. But I do prefer the word trope. I'm not really a fan of 'cliché' being used to describe a book. When you call a book cliché, what you're really saying is that its tropes aren't up to your personal tastes. Chosen One, Dead Parents, Love Triangle—these are all tropes I enjoy, and they accounted for some of the tropes in Shadow and Bone.
Leigh Bardugo recently proved with Ninth House that she's more than capable of writing more mature prose, but she's always shown she has the chops for masterful storytelling, and that started with Shadow and Bone.
Shadow and Bone is not adult fantasy; it is fantastic YA fantasy. But it does come across for what it is—an author's first published work. It feels written to market (shrewdly so—I mean, c'mon. Hello Netflix adaptation), but despite these things, it is still fantastic YA fantasy.
With the Grishaverse, LB flexed major worldbuilding muscle—the system of magic, the different classes of Grisha, the monsters and lore. There was this overarching theme of magic versus the advancement of more traditional weaponry, which hooked me right away because I don't often come across it in fantasy, and then there was the villain. The Darkling is the best kind of villain—morally gray. His endgame is noble, his means aren't. If you haven't read the Darkling short stories LB later published, you should. There's something about tragic origin stories.
Then there was the prologue and epilogue. I enjoyed Leigh's third-person storytelling style and found both chapters really satisfying. When a story comes full circle, I find that pleasing. I could go on and on about what else I liked about Shadow and Bone—the characters, the action, the foreshadowing, my favorite scenes, but I think you get the point. This is a solid read, even for a second time around. I'm so ready for the series adaptation.
"All those years ago...before he gave up his name and became the Darkling, he was just a brilliant, talented boy. I gave him his ambition. I gave him his pride...It is because I love him that I will not let him put himself beyond redemption."