Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1) in YA Reads with Mostly Books

Jun 23, 2014 Risa Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, ya-reads, fantasy-paranormal-sci-fi

We meet Alina marching with the First Army along with her best friend and companion through life Mal. They were both orphaned and taken in as children and have been side by side since. SO what if Alina may fancy him in a secret? Pfft. The are marching to cross THE FOLD. The Unsea if you will. A desolate dark wasteland full of Volcra these delicious toothy flying monsters with blind milky eyes and a taste for human flesh!! When they cross the threshold and plunge into darkness and chaos Alina sum description

We meet Alina marching with the First Army along with her best friend and companion through life Mal. They were both orphaned and taken in as children and have been side by side since. SO what if Alina may fancy him in a secret? Pfft. The are marching to cross THE FOLD. The Unsea if you will. A desolate dark wasteland full of Volcra these delicious toothy flying monsters with blind milky eyes and a taste for human flesh!! When they cross the threshold and plunge into darkness and chaos Alina summons a power she didn't know she had in the face of death! From there things spiral pretty crazy…..

The Grish are lead by The Darkling (so aptly named) who is second to the King of Ravka...he’s mysterious and….dark, but really intriguing. And he takes a strong liking to our Alina and the power she possesses. She is wished back to the “Little Palace” to begin her Grisha training….where the Darkling hopes her skills will advance and he can use her to help DESTROY the The Fold……until...plot twist turn around major OMG!! WHAT?!?!?!? NOOOOOOOO! (I am still holding out hope…..I am.)

There’s some pining away and worrying and eye rolling and kisses and mean girls and pretty clothes all in between though…..and I LOVED IT!

Alina is a good person and she is a believable character. She's strong but not void of fear. She is susceptible to the charms of a strapping young lad (even when she shouldn’t be) and I admire that...a lot of young heroines seem stoic and indifferent to the strong sexy male lead and i just think that's inaccurate. I would SWOON. She want the best for her country and it’s people and truly believes she is HELPING a righteous cause. And she does so humbly and with insecurities in her ability to complete the task. I LIKE THAT.

It’s a bit of a love triangle...kind of…..which I usually am not a fan of...this one kind of tore me apart but I didn’t mind. There is Mal her trusted confidant and best friend who is loyal and strong and good and cares for Alina. There is The Darkling who is all dark and mysterious riding in on his dark horse to take Alina away and show her new things she didn’t know she could do….there is a lot of conflicting tension. Is he GOOD disguised as BAD or BAD pretending to be GOOD…? AHHHH! Who knows!

I love how we get so much information on this world and culture gradually and in a natural progression with the plot. A lot of times in fantasy reads, you get one big information drop and it is just too much to take in all at once. I love the Russian cultural drives in the story too...it makes this story and this world really unique and fun to dive into. It’s diverse and almost contrasting. I’d love to narrow down a “time era” but I feel like some of the imagery conflicts in my head and I end up with a modge-podge of a lot of different things...and oddly I’m okay with that as it just makes it all the more quinque and it’s own.

I tend to lag on the SUPER HYPED series in YA. 9 times out of 10 I haven’t read them yet, but it doesn’t bother me as I’m usually not as impressed as I thought I’d be (Vampire Academy...blah). However with this series I find myself asking, WHYYY DID I TAKE SO LONG!? I always saw this series and thought the covers were cool…”Like hey one day I should read that book that has the cool cover with the Kremlin type buildings and such……” then never pursued it any farther. WHY? Cause I am a silly little book dragon, THAT'S WHY...and sadly you are too if you don't check this out! (Is this series super HYPED? I don’t even know really...but it IS NOW in MY WORLD either way!)

I cannot wait to keep going, and OOHH MAN this has gone down as a favorite for SURE! The epic battles I see in my future are dark and spectacular and have my eager to turn the pages faster and faster!
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Mar 14, 2012 Annejhoyce rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, 2013-tbr-challenge

In all honesty, I thought this was some kind of ripoff off of The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor mainly because of the name. But the thing that stroke the most resemblance was in fact, the writing style. The overly rich detail and exquisite view of a new world. The difference was that I was very overwhelmed with Daughter of Smoke and Bone while with Shadow and Bone, I was just completely mesmerized. Shadow and Bone was just brilliant. I loved being transported into the unknown: with In all honesty, I thought this was some kind of ripoff off of The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor mainly because of the name. But the thing that stroke the most resemblance was in fact, the writing style. The overly rich detail and exquisite view of a new world. The difference was that I was very overwhelmed with Daughter of Smoke and Bone while with Shadow and Bone, I was just completely mesmerized. Shadow and Bone was just brilliant. I loved being transported into the unknown: with the foreign fashion, the language and etc. The author made it so that the book had it's own feel, it's certain originality that will definitely draw in High Fantasy and Dystopian fans a-like.

The feel of the book is very dark and if you're looking for books that keep will you guessing, then this is the book for you. The only bad thing is..... the author will make you love each and every character which pretty much zeroes in your chances on finding a solid character to trust.. or should I say, doubt.

Alina was as every bit heartbreaking as she was awesome. Her traits and overall innocence leaves so much more improvement to happen in the next two books! I felt for her, her tug-of-war with her power and her feelings. Especially for the two boys. Not a fan of triangles but this has one I can't wait to unfold.

I really liked Mal. He's the boy-next-door type and even though, he was gone for the first half, when he came back in, his words and actions to and for Alina made such an impression to me... but not as much as the Darkling. I seriously can't wait to see more of him and learn about his history. There's just something about this one... He's a very complex character and I hope Bardugo sees it to that he stays that way. I'd be very disappointed if he didn't bring in the twists in the next installment... or if he's barely there at all. He added spice to this already sizzling story and I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm saying it.... I have fallen in love with the "villain" of the story. I wonder what my mama's going to say to that.

Bardugo had my heartstrings tugged at every corner and I can't wait for Siege and Storm. ...more

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