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.
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/5
I was terrified of reading this book. I had heard such mixed reviews, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m so glad I decided to pick this book up, though, because I absolutely loved it.
From the beginning, I was HOOKED. Leigh Bardugo’s writing is beautiful and (even though I can’t pronounce any of the Ravkan words) she creates a whole …
I love high fantasy and YA, so this was a perfect read for me. I was so taken with Alina’s story (and Mal), I had to take it with me from car, to house, to car again to sneak in a few more pages in between activities. Amazingly enough, the author makes you love the antagonist (the Darkling), too.
I can’t WAIT to read the next book in this series!
I wish I had read this one before Six of Crows because I think I would have appreciated it more. I loved that book so much and the writing was so fun that this book was a little bit of a letdown. I still enjoyed the story though, and I’m excited to read the rest of the series!
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: Shadow and Bone
: The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1 & Grishaverse #1
: Leigh Bardugo
: 3.5/5
This is a really hard review to write, since there were things I loved, but also seriously disliked. This book was definitely not one of my favorite books, but I did enjoy it. It …
I love the Shadow and Bone trilogy! Readers will get lost in Bardugo’s Grishaverse and it’s well worth it! A must read!
This is the best series I read so far this year. I got lost between the pages.
The characters are amazing, I was drawn to them. Even The Darkling took a piece of my heart.
I loved Alina and her growth as the books progressed was amazing. She came into herself. She’s not perfect but has drive and hope. The weight of loss and how she fights to …
Leigh Bardugo has such a way with words! I first read the Six Of Crows Doulgy and I just fell in love! I soon got the entire Grisha series and I loved them! Bardugo creates such wonderful pieces of writing and I can’t wait for her next book!
I really enjoyed Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and decided to read this one because I heard a film version was coming to Netflix. This is fun, epic fantasy stuff. Two young protagonists (one with tremendous magical powers) up against a wildly powerful foe and nothing but their wits and one another to get them by. This is a LONG series (ten books, I …
I really wanted to give this five stars but ultimately I couldn’t. I loved the story, the characters, the magic, the world building, I loved everything. BUT… the writing was… a bit hollow or should I say a bit bare boned? Lacking? I don’t know what the right word is just that I need a few more details as to why the characters felt the way they …
Shadow and Bone, the first book in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy, is a young adult fantasy romance that plays out in the midst of a conflict between good and evil and light versus darkness—the latter in a very literal sense. Leigh does some magnificent world building in this first book.
We watch Alina, the principle protagonist as she forges …
I like it
I think this is one of my favorite series’. I love Bardugo’s worldbuilding, I love her characters and her writing. She makes me aspire to be a better writer myself. #TeamDarkling
I received the 2nd book in this series as a gift, and after only a few pages, I realized I needed to read the first book, Shadow and Bone before diving into my gift.
Shadow and Bone is an easy read, finished in only a few days. I was easily swept up in the drama of the characters, swooning over the Darkling and feeling Alina’s pain at losing …
Wonderful world to get lost in, one of my all time favorite series. Please give it a shot.
Coming up for air after living inside the Grishaverse for the last five days. Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy is a dark fantasy series set in the Russia-inspired land of Ravka, a country torn apart by darkness (literally) and populated by Grisha, beings with magical abilities.
Our heroine is Alina, a seemingly insignificant orphan, which …
I think it was kind of slow. Must be because beginning of the series. Looking forward to next book in series.
I was worried that I had aged out of my beloved Young Adult genre, but Leigh Bardugo’s “Shadow and Bone” convinced me otherwise!
The characters were convincing, the training facility did not scream either X-Men or Hogwarts, and the love subplot was not overdone. The imaginary Russian culture and landscape was also a welcome change. The concept of …
Absolutely loved this book from beginning to end.
The map helps immensely when working out just how far Mal and Alina have come from the initial introduction to the orphaned pair in the prologue.
My only criticism which I have seen others mention is that you are thrust into the world without much world-building. It wasn’t well explained as to …
This was brilliantly imaginative and the tenderly sweet scenes will steal your heart away!! This is the first that I’ve read from Ms. Bardugo and I have to say that I absolutely understand her fans enthusiasm! I loved the world building and the imagery. The story kept me wanting to know what would happen next. While Alina isn’t super likable, …
4.5 stars.
SHADOW AND BONE is the first book in Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy. I recently read another book of hers that takes place in the same “universe” as this one, so now I’m backtracking to get to the origins.
“. . . You look like you’re on your way to a really good dinner instead of possible death and dismemberment.”
So we …