Shadow and Bone is Part #1 of the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Grishaverse, and an amazing portal to the beautiful fantasy world carved by Leigh Bardugo.

Ratings: 5⭐

Genre: Fantasy

Page Count: 358

Format: Paperback

Originally published: 5th June 2012

Publisher: Macmillan Publishers

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone- Leigh Bardugo

“And there’s nothing wrong with being a lizard either. Unless you were born to be a hawk.”

Summary of Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone is primarily based on Alina Starkov, a seemingly normal girl, a war orphan who loves spending time with her best friend Malyen Oretsev, aka, Mal. She feels she is good for nothing, but she is oblivious to her real powers.

Once a great nation, Ravka, is now war-stricken and torn into half by the Shadow Fold (the Unsea). When Alina’s regimen is attacked by the monsters of the Fold, she discovers her dormant powers that saves lives. 

Soon after, she is taken away from Mal, to the Little Palace, by the Darkling, the leader of the Grisha (practitioners of the small science), where she learns more about the power and how she is destined to save the world. But is that what she really wants? Alina has to confront the secrets of the Grisha, some dark secrets of the Darkling, and even some secrets of her own heart!

“What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.”

Personal Reviews on Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone is my first Leigh Bardugo book and I am so so glad I picked this up. There had been much talk about it on #bookstagram, especially after the Netflix series was released in April 2021.

I absolutely loved the book. I had been on a reading slump for some time and this book made me realize that fantasy is the answer! This book is fun. I loved the Grisha world! There are definitely a lot of tropes at play, which can occasionally take away from the political maneuvering and epic action scenes, but looking past the few cliche moments, I had a fun time. The first half of this book starts fast but then has a couple of slow moments, but the tension picks up in the second half when the characters reveal who they truly are and uncover their motivations. 

The characters are fascinating. Alina is not very easy to love, she’s ugly, clumsy, and very dependent, but eventually, as the story moves, I developed a liking for her. Mal is not someone I am a fan of, again. I think his character has great potential and he’ll be better developed in the later books as happens in the latter part of the story in Shadow and Bone. 

“Fine,’ he said with a weary shrug. ‘Make me your villain.”

The character that I truly loved was The Darkling. His character is so dark (literally and figuratively) and well written, with a compelling backstory and interesting intentions. I absolutely love his aura. I don’t wanna spoil the story but he brings some really great twists to the story.

“The problem with wanting is that it makes us weak.” 

I read a lot of mixed reviews about it on Goodreads but I genuinely liked this book. I’d highly recommend this and even the other books of this trilogy- Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising.

I am not very keen on adaptations but I did watch the Netflix series and I think it’s great. It’s not exactly based on the Shadow and Bone book but picks up characters and plots from the whole of Grishaverse. It can be a nice Friday night binge-watch if you haven’t already.

About the Author of Shadow and Bone

Leigh Bardugo- Author of Shadow and Bone

Leigh Bardugo- Author of Shadow and Bone

Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows Duology, the King of Scars Duology, and The Language of Thorns—with more to come. Her short stories can be found in multiple anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Ninth House (Goodreads Choice Winner for Best Fantasy 2019) which are being developed for television by Amazon Studios. She lives in Los Angeles. For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for her newsletter.

She would be delighted if you visited her at LeighBardugo.com and fairly giddy if you liked her selfies on Instagram.

 

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