Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Mar 02, 2012 Misty rated it really liked it

Shelves: review-copy-accepted, debut, read-in-2012, cover-appeal, juvenile-ya, sci_fi-fantasy, own, series, recommended, excited-for

3.5
I've mentioned before that I was excited for this one (I mean - the title alone...). But I also just read an excellent fantasy maybe a week or so before this, so it sort of had a lot to live up to, on top of the hype. That always makes me a little wary. And I think, in this case, deservedly so; at least, in the beginning. For a good chunk of the beginning, I was hesitant and not completely sold. It's not that I ever wanted to put it down, exactly, but there was a sameness to it; a typical YA, 3.5
I've mentioned before that I was excited for this one (I mean - the title alone...). But I also just read an excellent fantasy maybe a week or so before this, so it sort of had a lot to live up to, on top of the hype. That always makes me a little wary. And I think, in this case, deservedly so; at least, in the beginning. For a good chunk of the beginning, I was hesitant and not completely sold. It's not that I ever wanted to put it down, exactly, but there was a sameness to it; a typical YA, unoriginal feel that had me worried for what the rest of the book would hold. And this lasted for awhile, and had me questioning whether I was going to find this one a throwaway in the end: quick and enjoyable enough, but forgettable and predictable. Fortunately, there came a point where that changed and it didn't fall back on formula (or at least, not entirely.) It had a strength of its own and went to the places I was hoping it would go eventually, even if not always fully.

The characters were interesting to me, and what kept me hanging on in the beginning, though oddly enough, they started out much the same. They would come into the story as sort of somewhat fleshed-out stock characters, and just when I would get worried that that's all there was to them, they'd show me they weren't. They had dimensions and personalities and little bits to set them apart and make you care, but it was just something you had to be patient for. (I know not everyone will be patient, but I want to reiterate that the story is not unenjoyable before they start to stand apart from the crowd. It's always engaging enough to keep you going, but it takes awhile to sort of step into its own.) I am a big fan of explorations of the type of belief and fervor that lead people to do bad things in the name of good, and this aspect of some characters really heightened things for me. Belief and fervor, and the murkiness of right and wrong is what could set this book apart, and was one of the things I got from it that I wasn't expecting. [pleased face]

And - at the risk of being very repetitive - the world-building was much of the same. It was good, and enough to keep me engaged and visualizing it, but it started out with a sameness, feeling a touch lackluster and flat, and then becoming something more as the story grew. Bardugo seems to like finding a balance between originality and stock, and sort of building off of that. It works, it's serviceable, but something that doesn't catch me or impress me right off the bat isn't something I'm necessarily going to rave about as I do the world-building or characters or plot of some other books of a similar nature. But as I said, those all come around in the end.

I would have liked the nuances that were there to be explored more fully, though. In a story about light and dark, I want to really explore the shadows. This, for me, is where the wow factor comes in. The nuances and explorations were there and were touched on more than I'd dared hope after the way the story began, but less than I could have wish for. Part of this I'm sure is me being a little hyper-critical because I saw the potential for some heartier fare. Whenever I see that potential, whenever it's so close, I just want to keep pushing, and that sometimes lets me down more than if the potential had never been there to begin with.

But there was some exploration there, and Bardugo did ultimately build up some of the gray areas that I wanted to linger over, and I'm grateful for that. If this were really an unoriginal, "typical" YA, that wouldn't have happened, and the fact that it did at all gives me hope for the rest of the series and her growth as a storyteller. For those of you that are unsure you want to start a series with this sort of back-and-forth type review, let me mention 2 things:
1) I rated it 4 stars on Goodreads, so it's not like I didn't enjoy it by any means. (In fact, I'm going to a Fierce Reads signing so I can get mine all fancied up.)
2) This would work quite nicely as a standalone with the future left open, I think. Personally, I'm curious to see where it's going, as it is the start to a series, but I think you could easily read it and leave it as is, with some threads hanging and possibilites endless; it's a well-rounded enough ending to leave you feeling satisfied. But as I intend to read the next book, I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that the murky gray areas, the vagaries of belief, fanaticism, control and power, etc., will be capitalized on, as I think that's the only thing that would make me want it to be a series rather than an open-ended stand-alone.

[And on a side note, if you are the type to be bothered by an author taking liberties with a culture or language, I'd suggest checking out Tatiana's review before picking this one up. This did not bother me the least little bit (well, except the female names not ending in female forms and v.v.) but I can understand why it would maybe work under someone's skin, especially if they have ties to that culture (in this case, Russian). So, worth checking out.] ...more

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Dec 12, 2013 D.G. rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy

**3.5 stars**

Here's my issue with this book: I'm sort of rooting for the villain.

Why? Because in the history of the world, no country has ever destroyed a weapon they could use against their enemy, no matter how terrible. Sad but true.

Review to come... ...more

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Nov 27, 2016 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction, young-adult-teen-new-adult, library-has-a-copy

I was a bit late to the party on this series, I know it wrapped up back in, like, 2014. And I'd heard of it for sure, I remember when this started exploding in the book blogosphere and all the praise it was getting. But, I don't know, I didn't feel hooked by the premise. I mean, sure, it sounded interesting, but there was so much more that interested me a lot more. Until now. Shadow and Bone was yet another pick from the list of YA books recommended for Game Of Thrones fans and I finally decided I was a bit late to the party on this series, I know it wrapped up back in, like, 2014. And I'd heard of it for sure, I remember when this started exploding in the book blogosphere and all the praise it was getting. But, I don't know, I didn't feel hooked by the premise. I mean, sure, it sounded interesting, but there was so much more that interested me a lot more. Until now. Shadow and Bone was yet another pick from the list of YA books recommended for Game Of Thrones fans and I finally decided it was time to read it. So, do I feel it lived up to the hype? Yes and no. One of the absolute best things about this book is the setting, bar none. Most high fantasy novels are set in a quasi medieval Europe with it quite frequently being a version of England going by another name, Westeros, Middle Earth, Adarlan, etc. Name almost any extremely popular high fantasy series of the past ten odd years and it's almost certain to be set in a quasi medieval Europe. Leigh certainly stayed in Europe, but that's where the similarities end. Leigh decided to use a very seldom utilized country as her basis for inspiration. Russia. Specifically, tsarist Russia in about the late 19th century roughly 50 or so years before the Russian Revolution. And I was really glad that she used Russia as the basis of her inspiration for Ravka. With all the political and social turmoil that Russia has endured over the past 100 odd years, I think a lot of people tend to kind of forget that there's a lot more to Russia than Stalin, Putin, USSR, Romanovs, etc. That it is a country and culture that is so much more than its worst news headlines. I am no scholar of Russian history or folklore, so I can only judge what she did with the setting based on what I do know of Russia. And I found that I really enjoyed it. As much as I like a wholly original fantasy world, I also really like a fantasy world obviously inspired a real world country or place because I like having that frame of reference. It helps me to picture the settings and whatnot in my head. I found Leigh's worldbuilding to be rich and textured and she devoted a fair amount of time to descriptions of places and buildings and that in combination with my knowledge of 19th century Russia and Europe in general, helped me to really be able to picture places such as the Little Palace and so on. Overall, I found Leigh was able to establish a fantastic and very fully realized sense of place. And Leigh didn't just take inspiration for Ravka itself from Russia, she also took inspiration for food, drink, clothing, etc from Russia. Even the Ravkan language was obviously inspired by Russian. And the names are quite Russian as well. I also liked the characters a lot. Alina was a very good protagonist and I liked her character arc in this book a lot. She did a fair amount of growing and changing and was left at a pretty interesting place at the end. The Darkling was very well done, he was this great combination of charming and mysterious and I was definitely left wanting to know more about him. Mal was a good character, but I can't say he thrilled me as Alina's love interest. In general, I enjoyed the characters and I found them to be well written and developed. The plot itself was pretty darn good. It's one we've read a thousand times before, protagonist has heretofore undiscovered fill-in-the-blank and is whisked off to a life of luxury and glamour. But quickly discovers that there's so much more going on and that this undiscovered whatever has made life that much more complicated. Much to her credit though, Leigh made it feel fresh and interesting. But I didn't find the fantasy itself, the Grisha and their abilities to be that fresh, see the X-Men, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, The Young Elites by Marie Lu, etc. A select group of people with the ability to manipulate the elements and such has been done time and time again. I enjoyed Leigh's spin on it, but it didn't blow me out of the water either. It was just fine. Not horrible, not fantastic, just fine. And certainly very enjoyable. The plot flowed smoothly and easily kept my attention and I found that this book read very fast. Now in regards to recommending it to Game Of Thrones fans? I'd say no. This completely lacks pretty much all of the hallmarks of Martin's writing. A dense and extremely layered plot with meticulous worldbuilding and an extremely rich fantasy with an enormous cast of characters. I'm not saying that in a bad way, this book is good, don't get me wrong, but if you are looking for something like the YA version of Game Of Thrones or even something similar to it, this is not your book or series. It is markedly different from either A Song of Ice and Fire or Game Of Thrones. And I am content with that. I like this book on its own merits and I enjoyed it for what it is. I am ultimately giving this book four stars because for me, it lacks that oomph, that je ne sai quois that would have made this a five star favorite. But I do still definitely recommend it and I am going to read the rest of the books in this trilogy. ...more

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Aug 01, 2022 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2022, fantasy, young-adult, magic

Alina Starkov grew up in an orphanage with her best friend Mal Oretsev. The two have joined the army and they are sent on a transport across the Unsea, a pitch black barren area full of creatures called Volcras. When they are atatcked and Mal is threatened Alina manages to unleash a blaze of light. It turns out she is a sun summoner, a type of grisha (magic weilder), thought to be extinct. She is taken to the capital of Ravka to be trained in using her talents so she can hopefully eliminate the ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Tehreem rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019

I was introduced to the grisha world when I read the six of crows and fell in love with it. I would keep reading all the books from this series cause I find some aspects and characters of the story exciting but the plot is very predictable. The six of crow had an amazing plot and I did not see the end coming so this makes this book a bit of a disappointment. Hope it gets better with the second book.

Also the three star review might be a little misleading as younger people might like this book be ...more

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