“The problem with wanting," he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, "is that it makes us weak.”
Book: Shadow and
Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1, The Grisha Trilogy #1)
Author: Leigh
Bardugo
Genre: Fantasy,
Young Adult, Magic, Adventure
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.
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.
What I think about it…
The Story
Alina and Mal were inseparable, they grew up together in an orphanage
and years later they were both working in the First Army. Alina was a
cartographer and Mal was a tracker. As they were crossing the Shadow Fold,
which was the home of volcra, Mal was injured and Alina, wanting to help Mal burst
out of bright and blinding light that killed (or kept away) the volcras. Alina
woke up confused with what happened and suddenly she was standing before the
Darkling pleading before him that she was not what they thought she was – a Sun
Summoner. The Darkling, being always right and one of the most (if not the only
one) powerful men in all of Ravka, sent Alina to Os Alta to tame her power,
leaving Mal all alone in the Kribirsk.
Oh I love this story. This was new to me and although it was a little
bit confusing in the beginning because of many unfamiliar and weird words, I
still loved it. Actually the unfamiliar words are help build the magic that’s
what’s keeping me from reading it because I literally think that I’m inside
their world.
The Characters
I was actually kind of not feeling Alina or Mal’s characters at first
but as I went on and get to know them better, I am with them in their
adventures. Alina who looked so thin and sickly actually has powers as strong (or
as destructive) as the Darkling’s. Keeping her powers make her weak and weary
but she does it anyway because of Mal. On the other hand, Mal is an attractive
and talented tracker.
The Darkling is the second most powerful man in Ravka (only next to the
King, not that the King has any powers. Maybe just out of respect?) has plans about the Shadow Fold and about the
Sun Summoner. A lot of reviews I’ve read gushed about him but I don’t find him
that interesting. Shadow and Bone
focuses more on building up their magical world so I think there’s not much
exposure of the Darkling. As what is described in the book, he is a handsome
one hundred something year-old guy. But beneath that handsome face lies decades
and decades of secrets and darkness that Alina is yet to discover.
One of the most notable and consistent background characters in this
book is Genya the Tailor. She’s like the make-up artist slash fashion designer
in this day and age. She can make people beautiful or more presentable. She’s
working under the Queen but the short story The
Tailor, which I read before the second book, Siege and Storm, talks more about her life, her motives and whose
side she is on.
My Verdict
Though there was endless of story and less dialogues, it didn’t bore me.
I would not say that it was a slow book but I do understand that for Leigh
Bardugo to create a magical world like this one – Grishaverse – she needs to
build up the characters and the magic or powers that they possess and the world
they’re living in itself. That’s what worries me before, actually, about
fantasy series – that it will bore me to death because a lot of building up is
going on and a lot of vocabulary will be thrown here and there and that I will
have a hard time to cope up but now I learned to love this kind of genre and
series-es (is there such a word lol). So what’s keeping me from giving it a
five-star? I don’t know too. I just don’t feel it. I usually feel when to give it
but I didn’t feel it here. But this was an amazing book. This is just book one
and I’d say that it already surpassed the Uglies
series that I love. I only pick this up because I badly wanna start reading Six of Crows Duology but knowing that
they are in the same world made me read this trilogy first and it didn’t
disappoint. I’m happy with my book choices lately.
MY RATING
★★★★☆
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