Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
SYNOPSIS:
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
REVIEW:
Guys, I am so late to this party and for that I am so sorry. I was hesitant to begin this book and series because the hype beast was real. And in my experience, a lot of series don’t live up to the hype. Yet, allow me a moment to admit I was wrong, because this book lives up to they hype and so much more!
I am obsessed with the Grishaverse. There is something magical about Leigh Bardugo’s writing in that it truly transports you into the book and before you know it, half the novel is read and you haven’t moved in several hours. The story flows effortlessly off the page, with a fast-paced, action-packed plot, building up to an epic story line filled with plot twists, betrayal, deception, and self-discovery. I was truly left speechless at the end of the story, and filled with giddiness knowing that there were still 2 more book to go!
The real stars of the story though are not the plot and endless magic, but the captivating characters, both good and evil. Alina undergoes a transformation in this book, from weak and frail to strong and empowered. Her narrative perfectly captures the change she is undergoing but the hesitancy she also experiences as she begins this new life. Mal was just swoony goodness, and the second I saw him and Alina interact, I knew I was going to go down with that ship.
BUT…my real love is for The Darkling! I have never been so fixated on an evil character before in my readings but d*mn he had me hypnotized. I went through 3 stages with him in the book. First, I was in denial, he isn’t really as evil and awful as people say. Second, maybe he is going to undergo a character arch and get redemption. Third, f*ck it, he is pure evil…AND I AM HERE FOR IT! He is just so good at being evil, I couldn’t help but fall for him, shamelessly I might add. When I think of him, the Taylor Swift lyrics, “He’s so bad, but he does it so well,” come to mind. I can’t wait to see what dark, mysterious h*ll he unleashes next.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
