Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)

by Leigh Bardugo

As we were led from the clearing, there was no sound but our own footfalls and the crackling of the flames behind us. No rustle came from the trees, no insect buzz or nightbird call. The woods were silent in their grief.

When I set out to write Shadow and Bone, my only goal was to finally finish the draft of a novel. I had wanted to be a writer since I was a kid and I'd started so many books. I'd get a chapter or two in and then I'd lose my way. There had been so many false starts that I didn't have a lot of faith in my ability to see a project through. But when I wrote these lines I wasn't thinking about plot mechanics or the challenges of completing a draft. I was standing in the snow with Alina, my breath white on the air, my heart aching. This was the first moment I really believed in the book and my ability to write it.