Book Review: Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo is the first book in the Shadow and Bone Trilogy and the first in the larger Grishaverse.

Premise: 

Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov, a cartographer and orphan serving in the army of a fantasy world, who unlocks a magical ability within herself. The Grisha, the magic users of this world, have elemental abilities, but nothing like our main character, who is thrust into a game of life and death based on what she can do.

Book Talk:

First and foremost, the initial several chapters of this book drew me in and laid out what would become a vivid fantasy landscape in my mind. The magic system was accessible while still being interesting and the Russian-inspired naming was something new and fresh. The aesthetic of the book is something I liked even more than the plot, though. In fact, beyond the prose, the cover is one of my favorites in the genre.

This was a quick read for me, maybe 2 days off and on, and there was a lot to like. Certain scenes are still memorable in my head and, based on the setting and magic system, I really wanted to like it. The world building was solid and it felt very live-in as a world. The villain was menacing and as more is revealed my interest only increased. It's definitely not without its criticisms though.

Alina Starkov as a main character was pretty milquetoast, and her love interest was under-developed. In fact, all but a couple of the characters were pretty forgettable. Additionally, there was a scene around mid-to-2/3 of the way through the book that was particularly rape-y and uncomfortable. If that was intended, well done, but if it was intended to be sexy, it was a fail for me.

Finally, one of my biggest gripes was with the climax. The book was super anti-climactic and made me question the necessity of much of the previous foreshadowing and attempts at character-building. That being said, this is a series and so I'm going to give it another shot with the sequel and see if it can be redeemed.

Leigh Bardugo as a writer is quite skilled with her prose and world building, but this book struggled to move cohesively toward its climax, resulting in an unsatisfying ending.

Rating: 4 / 5 (Some gripes with the ending but otherwise a solid read)

Find Shadow and Bone on Amazon.