“And there’s nothing wrong with being a lizard either. Unless you were born to be a hawk.”
Title: Shadow and Bone
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Dark Fantasy/YA
Series: Book 1 in The Grisha Trilogy
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.”
Okay, this is the first book by Leigh Bardugo that I’ve read and holy cow why have I put this off for so long??!! I’ve heard such rave reviews of Leigh’s Six of Crows duology as well as the Grisha trilogy so when I saw this book was only 4 dollars on amazon it was too good of a deal to pass up! I always get nervous reading books that are so hyped up because I don’t want to be let down if I end up not liking them, but thankfully this book is well worth the hype!
This was a truly excellent read and I couldn’t put it down. This novel has everything: well-developed characters, an impeccably built world, perfect pace, and an exceptional plot twist that shooketh me-shooketh to my very core😨 Alina is so relatable as our main character. She is witty, a bit naive, and flawed and just wants to find a place where she truly belongs. Mal (aw, Mal) is sweet, resilient, and a typically oblivious boy at times. And the Darkling, oh lordy, is well-dark😝 and you love to hate him. Ooh there’s just something about a bad boy 🤷
I ordered book #2 almost as soon as I started reading this because I knew I was going to love it. I very much recommend this! Yay for Leigh Bardugo! I can’t wait to read the Six of Crows duology next( yes I know I can’t believe I haven’t read that yet either🙈)
Shelf-Rated 