Jen's Review
by Leigh Bardugo
Henry Holt and Co. (HC)
June 5, 2012
WOAH GUYS.
I totally did not expect to like this book so much! High
fantasy is usually way out of my comfort
zone, as I don't read much of it. However, I had high hopes for this one
because a) I loved Throne of Glass, and
that was high fantasy, and b) there is not enough rave reviews for this book
out there, it seems! Literally, every review of this book is 4 stars or higher,
and pretty much all of my trusted blogger buddies all LOVE this book to death.
I'm so happy to say that I am far from disappointed! Shadow and Bone is a high-paced, magical fantasy with crazy
in-depth characters, fantastic creativity, and action-packed plot.
I was so worried in
the beginning of this book, solely because the overload with the names, cities,
and types of clothing they wore in the Grisha world. And they're not ordinary
names, either. They're names like kefta and Os
Kervo and oprichniki. You can
imagine my panic. I absolutely hate, hate, HATE getting confused during a book,
because then I usually end up flipping back and forth to un-confuse myself by
referring to previous pages. While I was puzzled for a little while, Bardugo
was able to refer to the names frequently, and before I knew it, I was immersed
in the world without anymore confusion. This was the only minor problem I had
with the book, fortunately.
One of the many
things I loved about Shadow and Bone was
the dark and beautifully magical world that Bardugo has created. It's so
memorable and different, and, like Veronica Roth says, it's "Unlike
anything I've ever read". The world of the Fold and the kingdom with the
oh so mysterious Darkling ruling over the Grishas and with the different ranks
and powers of the Grishas was just FASCINATING. Trust me, this is NOT a world
you'll want to miss out on.
Of course, I have to
mention my love for the characters! Alina Starkov is the protagonist and I loved her from the start. I'm still not sure
what drew me to her in the beginning, but I think it's the fact that she never
really knew her background of where she came from that drew my curiosity
towards her. Later on, I learned that she is incredibly smart: she learns from
her mistakes and is able to rationalize the best solutions. I also have to
mention the other characters, duh. [OKAY. WAIT. So I totally thought there was
going to be a love triangle in this book, and then I kept reading and AHH I was
a tad disappointed, but SURPRISED by the twisty and turnies.] All right, so the
Darkling. I don't know what made me like him so much, but he is dark, powerful,
and I was drawn to him like Alina was. In fact, he's kind of smexy. Yeah. But
then, we have MAL. I kept picturing him as Josh Hutcherson/Peeta in my head for
some reason. Mal is kind of like him though, in a way: mellow, friendly,
protective… He was just adorable. And let's not forget about Alina's servant
(ish), Genya! She was so girly and fun and she really lightened up this book a
bit. The characters in Shadow and Bone
were absolutely sensational and definitely memorable.
Like I mentioned
above in the brackets, there are twisty and turnies. The plot pacing was simply
fantastic! It moved at a steady-pace in the beginning of the novel as
characters and the world of the Grisha are introduced, but I think the middle
section of the book was my favorite. The story got exciting as Alina moves to
new, unfamiliar territory (things even got a little... steamy). The last
section of the novel was kind of back to it's steady pace, but there was a lot
of information that the author surprises the reader with and the
not-so-fast-pace was made up for.
So what I thought
was going to be a composed, calm review, kind of turned out to be a spazzy,
excited, gushy review for Shadow and Bone.
I guess I'm just trying to tell everyone that they need to read this book if
they haven't already! I can't believe I have to wait 6 months until I can read
the next installment, Siege and Storm. Shadow and Bone will take readers on a wild,
vivid, engrossingly enigmatic ride with Leigh Bardugo's innovative world of the
Grisha.
4.5 teacups for Shadow and Bone!
Posts
