Shadow and Bone: Book 1 (Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1) (Grishaverse, #1)

by Leigh Bardugo

"The Hunger Games meets Potter meets Twilight meets Lord of the Rings meets Game of Thrones; basically epic magical fantasy but completely for grown-ups." STYLIST MAGAZINE Originally published as The Gathering Dark. The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka. Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom's magical elite - the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free? The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him. But what of Mal, Alina's childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can't she ever quite forget him? Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance. Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and Laini Taylor.

• ISBN10: 1780621418
• ISBN13: 9781780621418
• Publish Date: 6 June 2013 (first published 3 May 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 19 June 2014
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Indigo (an Imprint of Orion Children's)
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelsenator]

For more reviews make sure to visit my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf!

Alina was so easy to get attached to as this book started. She’s a regular girl in the war making maps, who has no particular talent or strength. She grew up with her best friend Mal, both orphans raised by a generous man. As the story progresses though, we see so much from her; doubt in herself, feeling alone and missing her friend, and then eventually confidence. There’s also of course some romantic-ness possibly going on, and the confusion that always accompanies it. When she finally finds her inner strength and the power that is inside her, she changes completely in her attitude and physique.

The Darkling on the other hand was much darker and he seemed almot not human, which they mention in the book. He had charm and power and he sends fear to those around him. When he finds Alina she becomes his favourite and he wants her power for his own, to destroy the Fold as he says. He does have his secrets though, and quite a few of them.

The world was so beautifully built, and I really appreciated the map at the beginning so I could peek at it once in a while if I forgot where something was. The Grisha and their unique abilities were definitely cool, especially Alina’s because she’s the only one who has it. When she goes to the Grisha school to learn her powers, everything seems set against her but I love it when she proves them wrong. There are of course those that would want to harm her so she has to be careful.

There is a twist and things change suddenly in the book closer to the end, I won’t say what buy you might not be expecting it, but it definitely brought on some action and excitement. if you love fantasy books, and want to engage in a new world full of interesting people, wars and a bit of magic then go read this book!

[Amanda]

Joint review with Kelly (10/10/2012): http://onabookbender.com/2012/10/10/joint-review-with-soulswallo-shadow-and-bone-by-leigh-bardugo

Kelly: I am just… blown away by the awesome here. From the world building (OMG! So wonderfully imagined!) to the characters (Alina! Mal!) to the shadowy goings on (who can you trust?)… I am smitten.

Amanda: I picked this book up on a Saturday afternoon and had trouble putting it down until I finished, for all the reasons you mentioned. It’s hard to even pick where to start because there is so much awesome to choose from. But let’s start with the world. The world is really very complex. It took me quite a while to situate myself in the world, but a part of me liked not knowing everything, and learning about the Grisha along with Alina. And, as someone who loves a little historical fiction, the nod to Tsarist Russia just made the world that much more intriguing.

Kelly: For me, the world felt oddly brittle. Like, the way of life that Alina and the others knew was about to fall apart. The Darkling talks about this. He tells Alina that the Grisha aren’t going to fit into the new world. The thing that got me was that she never really fit into the world anyway. I liked that she was seen as the salvation of their nation and yet she’s been an outsider all her life.

Amanda: Yes, brittle. Fragile, almost. It was a carefully constructed world that only needed one thing (person?) to send it crumbling down. Underneath the surface–beyond the narrative that we’re given–I felt other players shifting and trying to gain power. In most monarchies, everyone is vying for power, and back-stabbing is the norm. There was that here. And yet, there was also much, much more. Alina is a typical YA heroine in many aspects (hello, only one possessing the power to save the nation and being caught between two men), but she was also so uniquely written that those things don’t even matter. Heck, I even enjoyed the love triangle as much as I hated it.

Kelly: Talking about back-stabbing… whoa. Alina seems to feel the bite of betrayal often. Some of it isn’t traditional betrayal (such as when she and Mal find themselves growing apart after years of being the only one the other had) but every one stings. There came a point at the end where I was staring at the book all wide-eyed and crazed, thinking “No. Just… how can this be happening?” This book made me feel everything that was happening to Alina. Her exhaustion, her frustration, her anger, her loneliness, her fear that she wasn’t good enough to do the things that everyone believed she could do. It was exhilarating.

Amanda: Oh. My. Word. I loved Mal (especially at the end of the book). Funny how much we come to love him when we actually don’t see much of him. But, I think we will find out more about him in the next book. (Seriously, is it out yet? I want it now.) And Alina goes through so much growth in this book. She has to discover who she is, what she is capable of, and what her limitations are. And, perhaps most important, Alina has to decide who her enemies are. Because you’re right–she does seem to feel betrayal often. She is a pawn in the game, and this–whether Alina realizes it or not–is what she struggles with throughout the book.

Kelly: Yes. Her growth is phenomenal. I think that the moment she embraced her ability was the moment that she really spread her wings. The trust issue… yeah. *I* didn’t know who to trust as I was reading this. She’s given information at one point that causes her to make a pivotal decision and I kept waffling on whether the person giving it to her was telling her the truth or whether her inexperience with the ways of the Grisha was being used against her. It was masterfully done. There are so many twists and turns in this story that part of me still isn’t convinced she knows everything she needs to know.

Amanda: Considering two more books are in the works, I feel pretty safe saying that we definitely do not have the full story. In some sense, there are too many players and too much going on for Alina to know everything she *needs* to know. She gets filtered bits of information that she’s pieced together to somehow make a stand. But her story is far, far from being over. And I like this. I like it a lot.

Kelly: How long do we have to wait for book 2? I don’t know how long I’ll be able to last without knowing more!

Amanda: If we don’t get book 2 tomorrow, then the wait is too long. That’s about the only wait that is bearable for me. (Sadly, Goodreads only has the year 2013 listed. I’m hoping for early 2013.)

Kelly: *weeps silently inside*

[Chelsea]

Quick Thoughts (After rereading)

1. Just as good as the first read through.
2. There's a little part of me that wants Alina to be with the Darkling.
3. The characters are all great. They grow and change with the plot.
4. The plot was unexpected. I thought a love story was going to happen, turns out it was the complete opposite.
5. Love the world created. It's different and fascinating.

[Beth C.]

What a creative, amazing world inhabits this book. So Russian-inspired, and yet...not. The characters are well drawn, and none are completely expected. An amazing story - I'm just bummin' that I have to wait for the next o e!

[ladygrey]

This may be one of my new favorite books.

There are so many things to love about it, I don't even know where to start. Except that it's beautifully written. Not overtly lyrical but very nice descriptions and very effective and poignant language. Also, it totally has a Russian flavor to the language and I love Russian. But it's also succinct.  Leigh Bardugois able to give these characters such life and depth, this world so much veracity without giving off the sense that she's trying too hard with too many words.

There's a lapse in the second act where it's the sort of typical, idyllic training sequence. But eventually Leigh brings the pain back and it's a beautiful sort of pain. The whole book is full of that crushing sort of alluring pain that's real in that life is complicated and messy but fantastic because it's eloquent and has meaning so it's a sort of pain the characters can survive and the reader doesn't have to endure.

The characters are so fantastic. I love them all (except maybe Zoya). They're flawed and conniving and unexpected and so precisely developed that they anchor you in the story without letting go. Alina almost veered too much into her inadequacies, but then they were given substance and meaning. And I love Mal's evolution. I feel like nothing in this book was wasted, no flaw or fear, there isn't a stray word or an unexplained element. It all goes to serve the characters in one place or another.

Plus, I love that it isn't a cliffhanger even though it's part of a trilogy. It's so refreshing to read a self-contained book. I mean I'm dying for the next one but only because I enjoyed this one so much and because I need more of these characters, but not because she dropped me off a precipice at the end.

And the magic, the culture of this world, is clear without suffering under a lot of exposition. It's unique and incredibly engaging.

This definitely has the potential to be a five star book on second reading and will absolutely be reread.

REREAD: Having read the full trilogy I can see better both the strengths and weaknesses of this book. There’s lines here and there that already hint at the ending. Some so subtle I didn't catch them until my third time through. But there’s little interaction between the characters (partly because it’s a small cast) and a lot of general description of her thoughts and her training. I get that part of that comes from Alina feeling alone but the book really comes to life when she’s interacting with Mal, Baghra or the Darkling. I would have liked more of that.

[Ashley]

More reviews at Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

Before starting Shadow and Bone, I felt like I had no idea what to expect. For some reason I just wasn't clicking with the blurb. In hindsight it sounds obvious enough, but at the time I just wasn't getting what the book was about. So in case you're in my shoes, I'll do a little plot recap first!

Shadow and Bone takes place in a unique fantasy world. My first question was: who the heck are the Grisha? The Grisha are basically like the elite X-Men of the kingdom. They have special powers. There are healers, summoners, and more. They're totally elite, honoured, and bathed in riches. They're both admired and feared. In regions where they're not thought of as elite royalty, they're burned for possessing "witchcraft." When kids are young, they're all tested for Grisha powers. If they are found to have powers, they're taken away to be trained and prepped for a life of service to the kingdom (serving at the palace, fighting in wars, that kind of stuff).

So basically this story is about Alina Starkov, an orphan. When she was young, she was tested for Grisha powers and found not to have any. Then, many years later when she's apprenticing as a cartographer for the military, her powers surface. She is a sun summoner. That's a Grisha power that was thought to be legend or extinct. A sun summoner may be able to destroy the Fold, unnatural darkness full of horrible dangerous monsters. So immediately Alina is whisked away to the palace to be trained, and there she is exposed to the life of high court, stuck up Grishas, horndogs who get away with it, and shallow royalty.

Get it? Good! Because this book is freakin' awesome. I was totally blown away, and that's saying something because I had high hopes for this book.. and I was still in awe.

I guess Shadow and Bone is really about a girl finding her place in the world. Between being an orphan and having one true friend — who she secretly loves, and no clear talent, Alina just doesn't feel like she belongs. As she uncovers her new powers, Alina tries to find her place in the world. It was great watching Alina start out as an unsure, insecure, unimportant character, and grow into something more. Through training and self-discovery, she really becomes her own person.

I literally felt like I slipped into Leigh Bardugo's world. I was so unaware of the 'real' world around me and was just solely focused on the world and culture in Shadow and Bone. It felt so real to me. At first I was intimidated by all the crazy names like Ryevost, Balakirev, Poliznaya, Materialki, and so on, but soon enough I forgot all about it. I wasn't that caught up with names and labels and not knowing them didn't hinder my reading. There is an extremely useful map in the front of the book that I was often referencing, and that's what helped me really get immersed into the story. Alina makes a lot of long cross-country journeys in Shadow and Bone, and by referencing the map I literally felt like I was travelling along with her.

The romance in this book is deliciously realistic. It's not perfect; there are doubts and roadblocks and all kinds of trouble, but that's why I loved it. At the beginning, Alina is just harbouring secret feelings for Mal. They're best friends, but she wants something more. Then they're separated by distance, then Alina finds herself drawn towards the creepy and powerful Darkling, then there's Mal's jealousy with that, and so on. The relationship is not perfect and isn't all amazingly lovey dovey throughout the whole book. At first I thought that would bother me since I love an epic romance in all my reads, but the romance troubles worked extremely well in Shadow and Bone. And luckily, everything ties together beautifully at the end!

Fantasy used to be the only genre I would read. But after a while, I felt like I couldn't find any more books that fit my criteria. This book totally fits it. I was completely transported back to the good old days when I'd snuggle up with an amazing fantasy book after school.

I seriously just wish I could slip into the amazing world that Leigh Bardugo created.. And to think, I have to basically wait an entire year to get back into it with book 2. :( Excuse me while I learn how to time travel.

Freaking amazing. It's your typical fantasy story with brilliant writing and imagery and a gorgeous cover. Just what I needed after all the other crap I've been reading - a good old fashioned fantasy tale. Couldn't be more perfect - unless the sequel was available right now.