Shadow and Bone(The Grisha Trilogy)Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2012Genre: YA Fantasy
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.
Ravka is a country torn in two by The Unsea, a slice of land covered by shadows where the monsters known as volcra live. The land is constantly at war with neighboring nations, and their only hope is to dissipate the Shadow Fold and reclaim their coastal borders. Orphans Alina and Mal have become soldiers of the First Army, and are on a mission to cross the Fold. Their regiment is attacked, and in the face of death for her and her best friend, the restrained powers within Alina are unleashed. It turns out she is a special type of Grisha, one that could push the shadows away and save Ravka. But other nations will want to kill her and so The Darkling, the most powerful of the Grisha, takes Alina behind the safe walls of the palace. But it’s hard to live up to The Darkling’s and everyone’s expectations, and no matter all the luxury and power surrounding her, Alina knows things can be deceiving.
Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone has blown me away! The care and detail that went into the world building—characters, magic, Russian names!—place her debut novel as my top YA Fantasy favorite this year!
Alina is such strong character. She's witty, fun, smart, but what made her great for me is that she also shows her fear and doubt. The things that she has to go through at the palace, her training, and her very real responses to it all made her a very relatable character. I loved her growth throughout the story and how she came to an understanding of her powers, her real potential. My only complaint is that her story is a serious case of "the chosen one." I felt that things were just happening to her instead of the character making things happen. Still, that didn't keep me from turning page after page wanting to see what happened next.
Another great character was The Darkling. He's is this complicated, mysterious, and sexy young man (though he’s actually really old in years) who is scarily powerful. Everyone knows he's dangerous, but when he's around Alina he shows a softer, almost boyish side of him. I'm a sucker for bad boys turned good, so of course I immediately fell for him even when I got the feeling he was bad, bad, bad. In reality my heart belonged first to Malyen. Mal is Alina's childhood friend, and from the first scene between these two I just loved him. There's such an easy banter between these two, and great humor all around that I wished there was more scenes between them. Alina has a little crush on him, but he's oblivious…until he's not. Hah! His confession was one of the most swoon inducing moments ever.
Shadow and Bone is an all around an epic fantasy read you won't want to miss! The Grisha and their powers were amazing. I couldn't stop fangirling over the whole magic system, but I do wish we'd had gotten a closer look at it. The last few chapters flew by! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough; I was that into the story. The After (Epilogue) chapter left me all giddy and excited for where this series is going. I'll be waiting IMPATIENTLY for the sequel.
Favorite Quotes:
~Marching~
I looked up to see Mal’s familiar face, a smile in his bright blue eyes as he fell into step beside me. “C’mon,” he said. “One foot in front of the other. You know how it’s done.”
“You’re interfering with my plan.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes. Faint, get trampled, grievous injuries all around.”
“That sounds like a brilliant plan.”
“Ah, but if I’m horribly maimed, I won’t be able to cross the Fold.”
Mal nodded slowly. “I see. I can shove you under a cart if that would help.”
“I’ll think about it.”
~Friends~
But it was Genya, her tall frame swathed in cream silk heavily embroidered in gold, her red hair piled high on her head to better display the massive diamonds dangling from her ears and the graceful turn of her neck.
“Well?” she said, turning this way and that.
“I loathe you,” I said with a smile.
“I do look remarkable,” she said, admiring herself in the mirror over the basin.
“You’d look even better with a little humility.”
“I doubt that.”
