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

by Leigh Bardugo

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Shadow and Bone is one of those books I gave too much credit to the first time I read it.

I know, I know!  How dare I speak ill of the Grishaverse!

I gave this one five stars on my first read, but really, it was more of a four star book for me at the time.  That rating and giving into the pressure to round up on a book because it is so popular has haunted me.

As a piece of literature, I'm sorry, but Shadow and Bone just isn't that impressive.  I understand why people love these books because I agree that the world is positively fascinating, doubly so for what was out there in the realm of fantasy at the time (non-western European fantasy settings are still too uncommon, but there's been leaps and bounds in recent times).  I think people love the Grishaverse mostly for its characters.

And that's where I fall short.  I don't love Alina.  I don't love Mal.  I really don't love the Darkling.  I remember loving Genya last time, and while I don't love her this time, I am interested in her character.

I don't think Shadow and Bone holds up as well to rereads, particularly after reading Six of Crows and seeing what Bardugo is capable of.  But every great story has to start somewhere!

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Original Review 2/22/2017
5 Stars

In a YA fantasy world where everything is all about the romantic relationships, this was a breath of fresh air. At times I think Bardugo wanted the romance to take over, but this didn’t read like a romance to me at all. Which was nice. Because I like plots.

I didn’t find the male characters particularly impressive – Mal and the Darkling are pretty much the only ones we see, although I did like Alexei at the beginning. However, I did enjoy Alina, Genya, and Zoya. I thought Alina was genuine and reactive while Genya was sweet and smart. If the story had gone in that direction, I think that Alina and Genya would have made an excellent team… but of course we followed the relationship instead of the friendship.

Zoya was an interesting character. She only appeared a couple times, but always with importance. I suspect Bardugo was just playing her up as the “mean girl” but honestly, I would like to see her come back as someone who switches sides. Baghra as well seemed to be a character with a lot more to offer… I hope we see her again as well.

Maybe it’s because I read this in February, but Shadow and Bone felt cold. Despite the fact that Bardugo describes sunshine and the sea and the lake where the Summoners practice… the vibe I got from this story was very “tundra, dark, despairing, gloomy”. Which I liked. A lot. I love my forest-based fantasies, but every once and a while it’s nice to have something a little different!

Although she doesn’t go deeply into detail about it, the concept of Small Science is so important to this story. Magic must always have rules and reason and limitation. Most stories don’t discuss this as all, even to have it mentioned as a theory, but I like knowing that Bardugo has really thought this through.

The concept of the superficial monarchy and the rise of the Grisha is also and interesting element to this world. We are shown hierarchy and chaos in the first chapters of the story, and it will keep everything structured.

At the surface, this definitely comes off as a one of those girl-of-ultimate-power, oh-no-who-should-I-love? gushy YA stories that we’re all getting pretty tired of. The thing that kept me on board here was the fact that every time Alina got kissed… something went down. She had no time to really *enjoy* the sensation or be all gooey about it because something immediately more pressing required her attention – and she actually dealt with it. Yes! Thank you!

On a serious note – yes, we’ve more or less heard this story before. Good verses evil. How to handle power. It’s still a good story, though, and told in a refreshing enough way that yes, I want to know more.

Bardugo. Is. Wonderful. Her storytelling is simple enough that it leaves some things up to the imagination, but precise enough that you can see the Little Palace. She also makes a lot of choices that aren’t popular in YA literature right now, which makes her stand out as an author with confidence in her plot and characters rather than falling into too many cliche trends, which I really appreciate.

She does use some non-English terminology which may throw a reader not expecting it – like kefta, for example, but she always explains herself well and I feel as though these terms accent the storytelling rather than draw away from it.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the unexpected twists and turns in this story. I like Alina’s heart and look forward to seeing the next step of her adventure. The magic was interesting and smooth, and the dynamics between characters were interesting. There were many times I was ready to groan about a love triangle, but Bardugo used devices while simultaneously breaking cliches, which definitely gives her points in my book. I loved Shadow and Boneand will definitely be picking up Siege and Storm when I can.