Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 27, 2016 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it

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

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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Nov 05, 2016 Julie rated it really liked it

Really enjoyed this one once I finally dove in. Unique and beautifully written, I really cared about these characters and wanted them to succeed.

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Aug 18, 2022 Laura (booksnob) rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, books-into-film, science-fiction, fantasy, 2022

I read through this one quickly. So good and so in love with the characters. I can't wait to start book 2 and live in this alternate world for awhile longer. ...more

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