Bookish Bananas : SHADOW AND BONE BY LEIGH BARDUGO; BOOK REVIEW

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date: June 5th 2012
Number of Pages: 372
Format: Paperback

Goodreads description: Alina Starkov doesn't expect much from life. Orphaned by the Border Wars, she is sure of only one thing: her best friend, Mal--and her inconvenient crush on him. Until the day their army regiment enters the Fold, a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. When their convoy is attacked and Mal is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power not even she knew existed.

Ripped from everything she knows, Alina is taken to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. With Alina's extraordinary power in his arsenal, he believes they can finally destory the Fold. Now Alina must find a way to master her untamed gift and somehow fit into her new life without Mal by her side. But nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. As the threat to the kingdom mounts and her dangerous attraction to the Darkling grows, Alina will uncover a secret that could tear her heart--and her country--in two

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Hey guys. Today I'm gonna be reviewing on Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.

I bought this book in a whim. I checked it's goodreads reviews and saw that Veronica Roth loves this book, she has a blurb on the cover if you can see it. So you know, I bought it. And it was on sale.

This book was interesting. I didn't know much while diving into this book. I heard that there's some Russian aspects to it, which I didn't really find in the book. Maybe the names, the locations and all those but in a historical way, not really. But I wasn't really disappointed, i'm not really into historical-fiction.

I really connected to Alina. She's a very stubborn character but likable. She's easy to relate to and she's humble. There was this scene that I didn't want her to be humble since there were people who look down on her. I wanted to say to those people, ''If she weren't so humble, ya'll die of embarrassment you arrogant piece of poop" . She's not one of those vain protagonists, which I really liked. I also saw her growing as a character, and learning from the situations encountered.

Mal, her best friend, didn't connect with me. At first I wasn't very fond of him, I thought he was a very typical character and found him dull. But as the story progressed, I knew more about him and found him likable.

Darkling, he's the "leader" of the Grishas, but If you think he rules the land, he doesn't. He also serves the King. I find him very mysterious. And every time I'm reading about Alina, on scenes wherein she's already in the hands of the Grishas, I'm always expecting him to just show up or maybe I just really like him in scenes.

Now let's get into the world building. Leigh Bardugo did a good job in creating this world. At first, I didn't get most of it. It was hard for me to get into this world, with all the different terms of words thrown at me. But after those, I loved the world so much. I just wished that there would be more world building that happened.

If you think this book is action-packed, you're wrong. This isn't really a book wherein on every page you turn, there's BAM BAM BAM ACTION. It's actually rather slow, but I didn't find it slow. Does that make sense? I didn't get bored on reading this. Usually on slow-paced books, I tend to put it down and stay on the computer all day because of lack of interest in the book. The plot keeps you going and makes you curious about what's going to happen.

Overall, I recommend this book. And I didn't regret buying it, thanks Veronica for that blurb and Leigh Bardugo for sharing this world with us :) This book was just, wonderful and amazing. Happy reading everyone!