Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1) in Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC

Apr 04, 2022 Josiane Claremont rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-manga, e-copies, e-s-p, ya-f

Okay first let me be confused. My reader says I'm 58% done, yet the actual story for "Shadow and Bone" is completed? So the other 42% of this specific edition is just excerpts and stuff? Way to really keep me interested in reading...

After mysteriously warding off the volcra while trying to cross the Fold on a routine military trip, the apprentice cartographer tries to fight the truth for as long as she can. She is a rare Grisha, a Sun Summoner, one who could destroy the Fold once and for all. Gr Okay first let me be confused. My reader says I'm 58% done, yet the actual story for "Shadow and Bone" is completed? So the other 42% of this specific edition is just excerpts and stuff? Way to really keep me interested in reading...

After mysteriously warding off the volcra while trying to cross the Fold on a routine military trip, the apprentice cartographer tries to fight the truth for as long as she can. She is a rare Grisha, a Sun Summoner, one who could destroy the Fold once and for all. Grisha are magic users, beautiful and strange. None more so than the Darkling, the most powerful Grisha, rumored to have created the Shadow Fold hundreds of years ago, dividing the continent and housing monsters within its dark secrets. So when he begins to take interest in Alina Starkov, she knows she's in trouble. She is taken to the luxurious and beautiful capital Os Alta and trained in the ways of the Grisha, when she discovers the Darkling's dark secret and his true motives for her.

My immediate thought once starting this is that the vibe is sort of like Fire; monsters everywhere, only one person has the power to negatively affect them, and there's a plot to use them for an evil purpose. And of course, there's the childhood friend she's forever had a crush on who suddenly realizes how much she means to him once she's gone. Cute love story, really. Hence why I'm looking forward to reading more! Not a lot of romance-y angst compared to others, which is an appealing factor.

The whole chapter when Alina is finally moving on from her childhood crush Malyen Oretsev, has to be one of the most satisfying bits I've read in a while. (view spoiler)
(view spoiler)

Something that's a little hard to sort is the order of the Grisha themselves. Luckily, this book comes supplied not only with a helpful map, but also categorized descriptions of the Grisha.
The Grisha make up the Second Army of the Ravka kingdom (where the story takes place). They don't call themselves magic users or witches, they call themselves "Masters of the Small Science", manipulating the particles and atoms of things to make things happen. Each Grisha has a different ability, and wear colors to represent their "faction" with colored embroidered threads to indicate their specialty:

Corporalki -- The Order of the Living and the Dead -- Red: Heartrenders, Healders
Etherealki -- The Order of Summoners -- Blue: Squallers, Inferni, Tidemakers
Alkemi -- The Order of Fabrikators -- Purple: Durasts, Alkemi

...more

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Feb 10, 2021 Meghan 💫 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5 stars, but you can round up! I was totally not expecting to love this as much as I did! I wanted to start this series to prepare for the upcoming Netflix television series, but I didn’t have many expectations. It blew me away! The writing drew me in immediately, and I flew through the book in less than two days. It is a pretty simple story, but the world that’s created is gorgeous and fascinating. There were echoes of other fantasy stories I know and love, but overall it was very unique. The ...more

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May 05, 2015 sneha rated it liked it

Shelves: old-favorites, fantasy

I just reread this book and now that I’m older I can say that the writing for this series is not as mature and developed as I would like it to be and as the storyline requires. There is some darker, heavier stuff that i feel gets rushed or understated because of the targeted reading level. There’s so much potential for this to be amazing for an older age group of young adults rather than teenagers.

Also on my reread some of the characters got on my nerves. This series will always be in my heart b ...more

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Mar 19, 2021 Kathryne rated it really liked it

Been in the mood for something totally different with a high stress job so I listen to these are night.

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Nov 07, 2024 Casey | Casey's Book Club rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really liked the Six of Crows duology, so I picked this series up. While I enjoyed the book and ultimately wanted to read more, it was apparent that Leigh Bardugo’s writing was in an earlier stage than when she wrote Six of Crows. This book sets the stage for the rest, and there is a lot of backstory.

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