Shadow and Bone (Book #1 of The Grisha Trilogy)
by Leigh Bardugo
Genre: YA, Dystopia, Paranormal
Themes: Power & friendship…
Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Shadow and Bone was one of those books I’ve seen everyone raving about lately. So, like any hyped book, you just gotta check it out…
The description of the book offers what looks like a legendary work of fiction. That was partially right. I was actually expecting something like Daughter of Smoke and Bone, for some reason, that book didn’t go well with me. That was why I was worried this book might not be for me.. but luckily, it’s so far from DoSaB.
The book starts with a little history about Alina’s life in an orphanage with strangers coming for something is not revealed right away. Then the actual story begins 10 years or so after the prologue, where Alina along with her best friend Mal are with the First Army, Alina as mapmaker and Mal as a tracker. During their mission, everyone gets a glimpse of what hides inside Alina, that she is actually a sun summoner. It’s a power the kingdom of Ravka longed for to end the war they’ve been living in. Suddenly, Alina finds herself in a totally different world where she moves from being the plain outsider, to the favorite of the elite. Separated from her best-friend and the life she favored, to the new life of luxury, how will Alina be the one to end that war? and would her power be really used to restore order and peace?.
Shadow and Bone does make a really great impression. Especially how Leigh Burdogu excels in building this huge world. I was fascinated by it even more than the story to be honest. Then there’s the characters who are written very uniquely. Aline, who the narrator of the book, is naive and gullible, nothing that you never seen in YA books & frankly, I couldn’t care about her much at that point, but I started to like her later in the book where she showed more determination and strength. Mal, Alina’s best-friend, was someone who was playful and loyal. He was a real best-friend material. However, The Darkling was my sour aspect of this whole book. I just didn’t like him the first time he was introduced. And no matter how sweet he was written, I just couldn’t like him. Other characters made great impression like Baghra, Darkling’s ma & Genya, Alina’s Tailor from Little Palace. I found I really like Genya, she was that sweet best-friend type and she’s also funny & sincere toward Alina.
The writing style is different and flows easily. Normally, with these kind of new-world books, I’d struggle with understanding the words and terms but this one was nice and well-explained. The books provides the story for the next book & I can’t wait to see how that will come out.
At first, I gave this a 5 stars but then I thought it wasn’t really a 5 stars book (I know some people might disagree). There’s still bit I could do without in the book (especially the middle part, where Alina is living in the Little Palace). So, it’s a 4 star from me 🙂
Silent Seasons 