Shadow and Bone

There are very few books that I can finish in less than 24 hours. And while this book is not a hard to read, small texted, long book, I found it just fascinating and really interesting. Now this book did remind me a little bit of the Shatter Me series, but where this stands apart of Taheri Mafi's trilogy is the world building. Gosh...was the world building great! I really was able to immerse myself into the land of Ravka and wanted more after I read the final pages of this installment. In this novel, we follow Alina, a 16 (I believe this is her age, the author never really goes into how old she is) year old map maker in the land of Ravka, an alternative, fictional Russia. In Ravka, the land is divided mainly into two parts...East and West. Separated by a dark and mysterious untouchable area of the land called the Shadow Fold. Our main characters live on the East side of Ravka, and because the East side is land locked and also surrounded by enemies (the Shu Han and the Fjerda), it is the army's task to go into the Shadow Fold to reach the West side for supplies and food. Not too far into the novel, our main characters Alina and her childhood friend Mal, along with other army members, go into the Shadow Fold and something happens where Alina realizes she possess a power she didn't even know she had. And this is where our story begins. I won't go too much into it because I'll start spoiling but I did want to talk about the characters. Alina is a great female MC. To me, she wasn't whiney and was very likeable. She was perplexed about her power at first but I believe she soon began to embrace it. She truly believed the Darkling's cause and really felt like she could be the one to save her country. I also enjoyed her friendship with Genya. It's always nice to have a female MC have an endearing female friendship rather than focusing all their time on boys. Mal is the boy Alina's been in love with since who knows when. Mal, at first, saw Alina only as a little sister but you know a deeper relationship is going to develop. I wanted to like Mal more than I did in this book, but to me, he felt too ordinary. I hope to find out more about him as the series continues so I can give a bigger opinion of him. OK so is it weird that I actually like the Darkling and as much as I think it's not a good thing, I do ship him and Alina. Eeek! That's right, I said it! He's evil but I'd really like to find out what's behind his evilness. I don't think Leigh Bardugo set out to make a character like him without giving us a back story so I'm just waiting for that. Alina feels this pull towards him and I love how he amplifies Alina's powers. And in this book, the more Alina uses her powers, the more beautiful she becomes. And seeing how he amplifies it, it has to say a lot more than what this book is telling me right? Right??? I am so excited to pick up the second installment and I've already ordered the final installment on Amazon. So looking forward to June! These books don't really come by often in the YA genre. A book that's well written, a world deeply built out, a female MC that's bada**, a villain that's multi-layered, and a plot that's riveting. Awesome!

A few years ago, YA Fantasy was suddenly swamped with brand new series from brand new authors. REALLY good brand new series from brand new authors. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo was the second of that batch that I read, and I hadn’t really wanted to. The cover was weirdly creepy and looked to be inspired by Mother Russia. The only Russian anything I had ever read was Anna Karenina, and let me tell you—NOT a fan: “My life sucks, so I think I’ll throw myself under a train.” NOPE. Not my thing. So even though it was listed as YA Fantasy (one of my favorite genres), I blew it off. I didn’t need it. I still had one more book from Cinda Williams Chima’s Seven Realms series coming, and Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson was off to an excellent start. I bite my thumb at you, Shadow and Bone . . . *rolls eyes at self* Then I saw it included in one of those Big Deal lists of Top Summer Reads. And I am a HUGE sucker for those lists, so I decided to read it after all. And surprisingly, even though it was a reluctant edition to my summer reading list, I read it almost immediately. And I LOVED it. Love, LOVE, L-O-V-E-D it. Yeah, I tripped over some of the Russian-esque words in the beginning, but it didn’t take long to acclimate. And it was obvious from the start that this was my type of story. I know (though I don’t understand it) that there are tons-o-readers out there who don’t like romance in their YA Fantasy (or Science Fiction) books. If you are one of those, then this is not the book for you, but you should already know that based on the blurb: Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance. Not much room for misinterpretation, is there? And it was fairly clear that this was going to be a friends-to-more-than-friends story and those are the BEST. Until the Darkling showed up . . . Yes, ladies and ladies, here there be love triangles. Doesn’t bother me. I actually like a good love triangle. Keeps things interesting IMO. But for those of you who hate love triangles, read it anyway b/c the last book comes out in June, so you don’t have to wait very long to get your resolution. *bats eyelashes* Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev are orphans. They were raised together under the condescension of an ex-military, war-hero Duke who set up one of his residences as an orphanage. They were taught to read and write, and upon coming of age, they both joined the military—Alina as a mapmaker, and Mal as a tracker. They were all each other had growing up, and while they were still dear friends, Mal grew into a robust and handsome young man, who enjoyed flirting with, and chasing after pretty girls, while Alina stayed thin and sickly, and thought only of him<——it HURTS. They were both part of a group selected to cross the Shadow Fold, a desert-like area of the land covered in impenetrable darkness, and filled with loathsome creatures, to . . . come to think of it, I’m not really sure why they were crossing the Fold. Seems kind of silly to confront that kind of danger for some animal furs and new maps. Though there was a permanent military base in front of the Fold, so probably these trips occurred semi-regularly. Anyway, they were meant to cross in sand skiffs, powered and defended by Grisha (human wielders of the elements), but not long after they entered the darkness, they were attacked by an unusually large pack of volcra (hideous, flying, man-eating beasts). Death was eminent when a blast of light forced the volcra into retreat, and saved their lives. Can you guess where the blast of light came from? Hmm?? Can you, can you? Well, I’m not telling. *winks* Suffice it to say, that was only the beginning of the deftly created layers-within-layers story of Alina, Mal, and the Darkling (not to mention countless, wonderful secondary characters). The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me was that the thwarting of the bad guy was a bit too deus ex machina for my tastes. Yes, there was foreshadowing that all was not as it seemed, but there were too many conflicts. If the solution was really the solution, then it seems to me that someone should have never been able to do what they did in the first place. Make sense? But ultimately Shadow and Bone was a fantastic read. I loved watching Alina blossom into what she had always been meant to be. I loved the agony of going back and forth between Mal and the Darkling, trying to decide who Alina should choose. I loved Mal and the Darkling b/c they were Mal and the Darkling. And I loved all of these things, and so many more, within Bardugo’s expertly crafted world of Ravka (not to be confused with Russia). If you’re a fan of YA Fantasy, and dark and creepy things, then Shadow and Bone should be at the top of your reading list. With the final chapter of this trilogy being released in June, there is absolutely no reason to delay.

A edição de colecionador vem em capa dura com ilustrações lindíssimas na capa e mesmo no interior. O livro é tudo o que esperava! Mal posso esperar pelas próximas edições de colecionador dos restantes livros da trilogia.

Een boek met een erg goede verhaallijn. Het heeft allerlei elementen van een fantasy boek maar ondertussen ook een roman. Verder zaten er ook plottwist in het verhaal, wat het erg fijn maakte om dit boek te lezen. Ben daarom zeker van plan om de andere delen van deze boekenserie ook te kopen!

Leigh Bardugo has fast become one of my favourite authors. Shadow and Bone drew me in from page one with incredible worldbuilding, deep characterisation, and exciting action. I couldn't stop reading and devoured this story in two days (which says something since I'm usually an incredibly slow reader). This is one of those books that makes you feel like you're living the story, experiencing all the feels! And there are plenty of those when it comes to the protagonist, Alina, and the handsome, ruthless Darkling. Alina goes through such a journey, falling in love, facing heartbreak, finding the fierce courage and power within herself to survive. And the best part is the twist that comes midway. I was shook. This plot is just so compelling and awesome. I'd recommend Shadow and Bone to anyone who enjoys rich fantasy worlds, very dark magic, court intrigue, complicated romance, and strong female protagonists. Sensitive readers or parents shopping for their kids might like to know there is a passionate kissing scene and one very violent death which is meant to shock for plot/characterisation purposes. But all in all, this book is AMAZING, and since stepping into the Grishaverse I'm hooked!

I really like the covers for this series. So much effort was put into them. I especially like the antlers on either side of the palace. The book also included a nicely drawn map. I also really like the chapter title illustrations. A lot of effort was put into the book's design. I can definitely see why though. YA lately are the same thing over and over, at least this one had something slightly different with the Russian and fantasy setting. The writing was clear and very easy to get into. I definitely found the writing better than most YA books. I really liked the prologue and the epilogue's writing, probably because it was written in third person. The setting was fun and I did enjoy it to a certain extent and there were one or two original things. Ordinary girl finds out she has power. Taken away by organization and trained. You wouldn't believe how overused this plot line is in fantasy. Despite this, Shadow and Bone threw in a couple of surprises and it was really fun to read. I really enjoyed it and it was such a fun read. It was plot and fantasy with a dabble of romance. The interesting thing about Alina was probably her power. I liked the villain. I think everyone likes him. He's probably my favourite character. I'll be picking up the sequel.

Livro lindo que veio em perfeito estado e antes da data prevista! Se você é um grande fã do Grishaverse, vale muito a pena. Em relação ao conteúdo extra, se trata de uma carta do Maly para a Alina, quando essa ainda está no pequeno palácio com o Darkling. Livro lindo que não deixa a desejar em aspectos físicos. Queria que tivesse um conteúdo extra do Darkling, mas parece que não foi dessa vez! Leitura em inglês em nível um pouco mais complexo, como todos os livros da Leigh, na minha opinião.