Review: Shadow and Bone

Shout out to Goodreads who had this come up on my feed. I was actually hesitant about Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, but I decided to give it a chance after seeing it a number of times. I’m glad I decided to read it (and I know I say this a lot), but I haven’t before read a story with this kind of storyline. I absolutely loved the fact that it was based on the early 1800’s of Tsarist Russia – I actually love (mostly the Victorian era) the 1800’s and I did a whole topic at school on Soviet Russia (from 1917 to 1945) and I find it so interesting (although I did not enjoy the countless essays).

So I thought that the world-building was pretty great, seeing as Bardugo created an entire new world. And the character development was pretty good too. I thought that the development of the characters’ actions and attitudes matched the events which unfolded in the book. Once again, the storyline was very unique, and I found it a very interesting read. The setting and base plot is enough to keep me reading, haha.

I didn’t realize that the novel was based on a Tsarist Russia, and I was totally wondering why there were so many unusual names – now it makes sense. There were bits of the novel (particularly the beginning) which didn’t make any sense, and as I read through the novel it obviously began to make sense. I really liked the direction in which the story went, and I wasn’t actually expecting the twist – which probably says something about me because I bet you that most of those who read this novel could figure it out.

So my first impression of the Darkling was that he was so mysterious and powerful, and because of this, I got this really strong vibe that he was extremely attractive (unlike that new villain in the new Star Wars movie – let’s be real here, Anakin Skywalker was pretty damn hot, why isn’t this new guy?). My hotness impression of this Darkling was reiterated when he had her pressed up against the wall in some hallway and asked to come to her that night. And the fact that he was evil made him even the more hotter (I can’t help it, I’ll probably marry a serial killer).

So I kind of noticed that Alina Starkov is an emotional person. First, she fancied herself in love with Mal – her longtime friend, and then she couldn’t conjure her powers because she was still emotionally invested in him, and then she kind of fell for the Darkling, and it was her emotions that pretty much made her decisions to do everything – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’m not even surprised that she ended up with Mal. However, despite this emotional thingy, she was still very determined, and that showed in certain situations, and certain decisions she made. She was strong.

I still had some irks with this story. Like near the end, when the Darkling kills the stag because Alina and Mal won’t do it (although they know they really need to), Alina still is able to control her powers although it specifically said only the slayer of the animal could control them. Does this make sense to you? *Sigh* I hate it when there are ‘loopholes’. Also, even though the Darkling ends up evil as hell, I still want him to get together with Alina and such, except I’m 99% sure that won’t happen in the rest of the trilogy and it upsets me, haha. I should just write the book again and make minor adjustments to suit my likes (I’m not being serious).

Anyways, a very enjoyable read, but, I’m still unsure as to whether I’ll continue reading the series. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

#review #books #literature #reading #shadowandbone #leighbardugo