Series: The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1
Publication date: June 5th, 2012
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 her 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.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.
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Review:
With the release of any new show or movie based on a book I feel it is my duty to first read the book. I have a problem finding the motivation to read a book after watching it play out on the screen in front of me. It's hard to create a scene within the confines of my head when it's already been imaged and presented by somebody else. As most everyone has been raving about the Shadow and Bones show I made it my new goal to read the series before ever dipping a toe in the Netflix program. For my first taste of Leigh Bardugo's Grisha world, I am so glad I did.
Bardugo's story opens with a gangly female protagonist facing a fearful trek across the Fold with her other soldier brethren. The only saving grace in her otherwise mundane existence is her best friend and unrequited, secret love interest, Mal. If it weren't for her fellow orphaned buddy, she wouldn't know where she'd be. So when their caravan comes under attack and they are within inches of being killed by vicious blood-thirsty creatures, Alina feels a jolt within her and releases a supernova of light, harming the darkness demons and saving her and her best friend's lives. But this new power is one that hasn't been seen in ages within Ravka and now, seen as a Grisha, Alina must leave her soldiers and start training to control her powers for the betterment of her country.
With the faith and encouragement of the King's right-hand man, the Darkling, she may just yet be able to combine her powers with his and rid the land of the Fold forever. But the Darkling may also not be who she thinks he is. He has a few secrets he keeps close to the breast that may cost Alina and her countrymen their lives.
Can Alina find a way to save her country while also navigating the treacherous waters of attraction to both the light and the dark in her life?
There is obvious "teams" in this book where you are either rooting for the Darkling to win the girl or Mal to and while it's not the entire premise of the book, I do feel its a good thing to touch on. I had a problem with Mal because Alina was not as secretive of her crush on him as she would have liked and it was obvious he felt a little bit of pull there too. It was maddening to watch them tippy-toe around it all the way until they were driven apart. Mal, as someone who doesn't have Grisha powers, doesn't look too kindly on them as a whole. His prejudice even after Alina's powers came to pass seemed petty to me.
The Darkling is the obvious bad boy heartthrob that the heroine is meant to try to resist while also battling her emotions where Mal is concerned. The Darkling, while captivating in his mystery, was not enticing to me. He felt like a placeholder since Alina couldn't be with Mal and their connection just never resonated with me. Others may feel differently.
Between the storyline and the undertones of romance, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The author has a way of weaving details into a tapestry of images and emotions that make you forget you're not a part of the world, living alongside Alina and her boy toys. While I can't say I didn't see the conflict in the story coming, I hoped for a different outcome. I have my fingers crossed for a twist in the story as I continue my journey through the series.
All in all, I would highly recommend picking up a copy of Shadow and Bone before delving into the Netflix special.
