Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo -Spoiler Free Book Review

“Fine,” he said with a weary shrug. “Make me your villain.” – Leigh Bardugo Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone

by Leigh Bardugo

4/5 Stars

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.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy.

-Taken from Goodreads

So, I just finished reading Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo this week for our book club. I couldn’t handle the end of that duology and had to get more for Grisha world. Thus, I had to dive back into this trilogy.

I read this book at the beginning of last year. After reading the Six of Crows duology I felt like I wanted more background information on Grisha and the surrounding world. I had forgotten a lot of characters and specifics of this book. Therefore, I felt it was time for a reread.

Honestly, I feel as though I appreciated this book a million times more after finishing Crooked Kingdoms. I feel as though Bardugo’s writing and world building has really grown and matured throughout the course of her career so far. I understood so much more of the Grisha powers and political system because I read Six of Crows.

The first time I read this I was confused a great deal of the time. I was a little fuzzy on what Grisha’s really were and how they interacted with those who are not Grisha. That got in the way of me truly connecting to the characters on my first read. After reading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdoms all of these things made perfect sense. It allowed me to truly delve into the plot and the characters.

I really love a good broken character. I can’t help but love The Darkling. I am completely drawn to him as a character. I can’t wait to finish out this trilogy and find out what comes next.

My advice if you were thinking of reading these books is to pick up Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdoms first. I adore Leigh Bardugo’s mind and writing. I cannot wait to see more work by her.

-Jenn

Have you read these books? What were your thoughts?

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