Shadow and Bone by Leigh BardugoMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. Just wow. I read this book within one sitting. ONE SITTING. I honestly cannot remember the last time I sat down and read an entire book in one night. Probably not since I finished The Infernal Devices over a year ago.
I was drawn into this world from the beginning with the chapter entitled Before, which is written fittingly 'before' chapter 1. Written in the third person, Before immediately draws in the reader with its mysterious ghosts, monsters and powerful people in flowing keftas. We meet two orphan children, Mal and Alina, (who in the following chapters we read about through Alina's adult eyes), and they are described in all of their childhood innocence and wonderment, their friendship solidified through a kindred bond of loneliness and a lack of family. This first look into the childhood of Alina and Mal is important for us as a reader - their bond runs deep and I'm glad that Bardugo chose to add these passages because when it finally comes for Alina and Mal to make difficult, life-altering decisions (and there are difficult decisions a-plenty throughout this series!!) we really understand how hard it is for either one to leave the other behind.
As I mentioned, the rest of the story is told through Alina's eyes, which I enjoyed because I love getting into the deep, internal struggles of main characters. It just adds a certain oomph to my own internal struggle as I watch them, inevitably, crash and burn and (hopefully) rise back up!
The world that Bardugo has created is amazing, stunning, enchanting, frightening, mysterious...need I go on? In the past I have read so many books that all share similar worlds and types of magic with each other, so much so that I have become a bit bored with the conventional 'girl discovers her power, has to learn her power, now has too much power, becomes changed by her power' cliché that unless it's done well ... I'm not going to stick around. Shadow and Bone is unlike all these other stories in that you really and truly become invested in and conflicted over who to root for and trust! The magic and the world-building is so intricate, so detailed. You can feel the history of this world through the folk-tales, imagery, mythology, and real-world parallels that tie the country of Ravka to what I believe is supposed to be imperial Russia. Bardugo incorporates aspects of Russia's history, specifically early 18th-19th century, into her own story, including the use of the Russian language. It all adds for a richly beautiful story that treads the line of believability.
The characters are as mysterious as the Grisha power that flows through them, especially the Darkling, our 'villain', and time and again I was catching myself thinking "maybe the Darkling is good, maybe he's bad, nope he's okay, nope wait, he's bad...or?....". Without giving away any spoilers, lets just say that by the time you get to Siege and Storm you should probably have the Darkling all figured out. I mean, he is called the Darkling. Not that he isn't totally swoon-worthy in all of his bad-assery....mmmm yes. He's typically complex, but don't let that fool you because he definitely has an agenda.
Other noteworthy characters include Genya, who is a beautiful ray of sunshine. I love her outlook on life - she may be a servant and she may have had to deal with a lot of disgusting favours for the royal court, but she doesn't let any of that break her spirit and becomes a true friend to Alina. Well, I say friend but again, because of spoilers, I can't really say what I want to say.... so yes she's a friend for all intents and purposes! She's definitely what Alina needs during her time of transition from a nobody to a somebody with immense power.
Now Mal. Mal is wonderful. Wonderful. I have to say that at first I really couldn't understand what Alina saw in him romantically and I guess that's partly because we don't really get to know Mal very well until the latter half of the book. He's just this great guy, handsome, witty, and apparently everyone loves him and he can light up a room with his smile. All great qualities in a man, yes. Yet as I said I found that he didn't really shine for me until the story took a turn and we are suddenly up close and personal with just him and Alina. (Again, spoilers..it's so hard to write about what I want to say without saying it!). Anyway just trust me when I say that he's a good guy, through and through.
I truly, whole-heartedly recommend this book to everyone and anyone who loves fantasy, intricate world-building, mystery and yes, swoony boys. This is an action-packed beginning to an awesome series!
Happy Reading!
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment