Shadow and Bone
Ratings961
Average rating3.7
A very lacklustre YA Fantasy book.
I'm not sure why I've seen so many people reading it lately as it has nothing special going for it, other than a to-be-released netflix show.
The main character is very typical. She thinks she is ugly, is very dismal, etc. Alina is meant to be relatable to young girls aged 12-17. The type of main character you'd see in a self-insert fanfiction. She obsesses over the darkling for about half the book, and it gets annoying fast. After she is kissed by the darkling, she spends about the rest of the chapter thinking about telling people about it.
She has two love interests, the aforementioned “Darkling” and her childhood friend “Mal”. At first, when Alina sees some other girl look at Mal, she starts obsessing over how she used to have a crush on him and that it was no big deal. Which we can infer ‘used to' is not accurate. But then her powers get discovered, and she meets the Darkling. Keep in mind he is 100+ years older than her. Eventually, the Darkling kisses her for the first time, and as I said before, she totally freaks out. It even gets to the point where he's supposed to go up her her room after this insignificant winter ball that only ever truly existed to further develop her and the darkling's relationship. At the end of the book, however she is with Mal. Enough flip-flopping to be a mock love triangle.
The other characters are flimsy as well. The side characters only seem to exist mostly as filler to make the book longer, which is fine by me, as they are all unlikeable anyways.
There's no point disecting the Russian influences of this point, as other reviews have done so in a better way than I can.
This concludes my review. If you like the book, I mean no disrespect.
The world, the magic, the characters- even the antagonists were amazing! The settings were beautiful, and the plot (as expected) was filled with twists and turns that led you farther into the world.
Alina's character appealed to me, for some reason she just did, and I couldn't really think of anything that made me dislike her. I liked where the plot took us near the end, and I eagerly await book 2.
The only bad thing, is that I really liked the villain and discovered I'm a sucker for hot antagonists in fiction. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!?! (But then there's Loki....)
Other than that little incident, I loved it. 4 stars.
2.5*
I've noticed a lot of the reviews of this one tend to be divided into those who HATE it and those who LOVE it. I personally fell in the middle. The world-building was commendable, and Bardugo usually writes great fantasy. At the same time, cliches are RIDDLED throughout the book. That's where I come in undecided - in some senses, cliches and tropes work. But when the mainstream publishing industry consistently and constantly reuses them, it makes me loose my respect for trade publishing and how everything goes toward a “product.” Plain girl - she's actually the chosen one! Then she goes to magic school and deals with drama and a love triangle. Sound familiar? Probably, since literally 90% of YA, fantasy, magic books follow this plot more or less.
I did like Alina, don't get me wrong. I even related to her at points. And Bardugo will always be an author I cherish because she has a talent for writing fantasy. But at this point I wonder what she - or an author like her - could do if not for the confines of the trope-ridden, cliche littered publishing industry. Just something I notice as a reader. I'm nowhere near a writer, so I'm not saying what I would've changed - but as a reader, I'm saying what made me loose engagement from time to time.
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. As a romantasy reader, I really wish for an alternate universe with the adult version of this series, but otherwise no complaints about this propulsive read with a compelling protagonist and carefully visioned world.
Está bien como lectura liviana. No es algo necesario de sobre pensar, de hecho es mejor si no se sobre analiza la trama.
El mapa y creación de mundo es algo floja, solo es un mapa y terminaciones lingüísticas de un mapa de la Rusia zarista.
La lógica de porqué hay que detestar al Oscuro en un comienzo se pierde para mí. Se siente forzado honestamente. La idea es que Aleksander es malo porque manipula emocionalmente a Alina y quiere ser el nuevo zar (que no es algo ideal ni bueno, pero no te convierte en supervillano). La idea de que un monarca utilice el ejército para ejercer influencia y poder sobre su pueblo es literalmente como funciona la monarquía. Si no tienen algún tipo de contrapeso no son figuras de influencia.
Todo lo que sucede más tarde se sintió sacado de la nada.
I was excited and delighted to read it; when it happened, I loved it. I was excited when I bought the saga. I liked it, I may, to be honest, but if you want to read this book, just save it and don't. I liked it, like I said, but I can't deny that where's the development of the characters, not as entertaining as the series adaptation on Netflix as the adaptation is not as similar to the book, but if I have to choose one of them, I will choose the adaptation series.
I actually really liked this. While there wasn't as much action as I expected, the action scenes were well executed and fast paced.
I didn't like Alina too much and I quite liked Mal. He was such a nice character, so loyal to Alina.
The Darkling didn't feel as fleshed out as I thought he'd be, I think that's the part I'm most disappointed with.
“Shadow and Bone” introduces readers to a richly imaginative world with a captivating magic system, marking a promising debut for Leigh Bardugo. However, the novel struggles with pacing; about 40% of the book feels bogged down by slow-moving plots and extraneous details that may detract from the overall experience. The narrative is steeped in a distinctly young adult flavor, particularly in how quickly characters develop romantic relationships, which might not appeal to all readers. For those intrigued by the premise but wary of these issues, the television adaptation offers a more engaging alternative, trimming the fluff and enhancing the pacing to better suit the story's strengths.
4/5 ⭐
It started really slow. There were a lot of made-up words which made the beginning super hard to follow. I love me a good friends-to-lovers and slow burn. The Darkling was super well written. I was pretty convinced that it would be a morally gray bf type romance. It got really good after The Darkling betrayed her. I loved the parts with Alina trekking through the mountains and villages and stuff especially after Mal joined her. Although I must say, I feel like she got her powers too easily. After all of the struggles they just appeared easily for no reason at all. Side note: why was almost half the book acknowledgments and previews? It was really weird. Anyway, the book would have been better if it had been a little less confusing at the beginning. But it was overall a pretty good fantasy book. I can't wait to continue the series and see how the romance and plot will develop.
First of all, as hot as the darkling was, he was a bit much at times, and i waa glad to find out that and the kiss (etc) were weird and off putting on purpose. The writing is mediocre, the characters kind of unoriginal and uninteresting (although i do like them either way, especially the darkling), i didn't love the “not like other girls” attitude that appeared from time to time, the ending was alright but im not excited to continue the series, it wasn't amazing. I did really enjoy the worldbuilding though. The pacing was a little weird, with the first part of the book dragging a bit, and then a small part around the 70% mark seemingly way too short, but it wasn't too distracting. First person past tense took me out of the story a bit, some of the action sequences felt a lot less sudden and... exciting? action-packed? and i found it a bit more difficult to connect to the mc for a major part of the book. I enjoyed this anyway though, and will continue the series :)
“Do you ask your heart to beat or your lungs to breathe? Your power serves you because that is its purpose, because it cannot help but serve you.””
4.5 stars
I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did, since I was only reading it for the worldbuilding as set up for reading Six of Crows which I was more interested in reading. However, I was surprised by how invested I became in the story as I kept reading it. The characters are okay, I generally liked side characters more than the main character or the main antagonist. I got lots of the worldbuilding that I wanted, including a magic school which was unexpected but not unwelcome. And while I'm not super invested in the future adventures of Alina and Mal, I care enough about the world that I will continue to read this series to see what happens and how the world changes in response.
The setting is this incredible fantasy world called Ravka, shrouded in darkness and danger thanks to the Shadow Fold. Enter Alina Starkov, our main character, who discovers she has a power that could be the key to saving her country. Watching her transform from an overlooked nobody to a powerful Grisha was pretty awesome. The romance in this book? It's got just the right amount of heat and tension. The Darkling, a major character, adds a layer of mystery and complexity to the plot. He's charming yet enigmatic, and you're never quite sure what his true intentions are... until you do? One of the best parts of this book is the magic system – it's unique and well-explained, setting the stage for some really cool scenes. I loved learning about the Grisha and immersing myself into that magical world. Overall, if you're into fantasy with a good mix of action, a bit of romance, and some really cool magical elements, “Shadow and Bone” is definitely worth a read. It's an engaging story that's perfect for anyone looking to dive into a new world for a bit, but still easy enough to follow without an overwhelming amount of world building in the beginning. I can't wait to dive into book two!
It was fine. The worldbuilding is superb but there's no character arc and the stakes feel lacking.
Interesting world building, but the characters and plot are meh. Not going to continue.
Overall: 3/5 stars
Romance: 2/5 hearts
Spice: N/A
Genre(s): YA fantasy
Best quote:
“There's nothing wrong with being a lizard either. Unless you were born to be a hawk.”
Feelings
Characters
Worldbuilding
Surprising, because I have read 4 other books by Leigh Bardugo and enjoyed all of them quite a bit. But I found this pretty boring and cliché. At least it was a quick read.
Me ha gustado más de lo que esperaba la verdad. He estado bastante enganchada y tengo de continuar la trilogía.
Guys!!! I didn't expect to like this book this much :0 :0
Like whatt
At first it was very confusing yes, but as the book went on it became much easier to understand and digest. Even though some parts did go over my head I really enjoyed reading this!!:))
Now I regret not getting the 2nd and 3rd books from d library:(( coz i want to start them ASAP!!