(Shadow and Bone) The Grisha by Leigh Bardugo (Group Read April 2014)

[Stacia (the 2010 club), groupaholic, YA-MA founder]

[Robin]

So I'll start. I hope I don't talk to myself for too long.

Something I really like about is that the Heroine doesn’t go from ordinary to super kick ass just overnight. After Alina accidentally uses her power she struggles to even call it again. In the story she is never the best fighter although she gets better and she has to work at her power for a long time before she can even do small things with it. Also the relationship with Mal is sweet/cute sort of like a childhood crush turned more should be. The Darkling, was written well you can see why people are drawn to his power and presence. He is mysterious and keeps an air of superiority about himself. I can see why Alina becomes attracted to him over time. (view spoiler)[ but wtf he is like 1000 years old and she is what 16, 17 it is a little creepy. (hide spoiler)] Although this isn’t an original story it is really well written and does have some interesting twists to it. I definitely like the world that was built the Russian feel of it and the fact there is magic and muskets.

[Stacia (the 2010 club), groupaholic, YA-MA founder]

There is no such thing as talking too much in this group. We are very social!

I would love to get back to the first book soon because I loved what I'd read before having to put it aside when a buddy read got stalled. I have to finish out a couple of other fantasy series first.

[Robin]

The Witch of Duva. This was not on my radar at all. But I read it today it ended so different than I thought it would. I will say I was surprised. Kind of a creepy story and the bad guys were not who I thought they would be. It was fun to read a folk tale from the Grisha world. Was Karina the woman at the orphanage that ALina and Mal were at?

[Robin]

I also didn’t know about the Tailor. I liked seeing inside Geyna’s mind for a section of Smoke and Bone. It made me understand her motivations a little better and I think that overall her character is very likeable. (view spoiler)[ She betrayed Alina multiple times, keeping the letters from Mal and then with the Darkling but after what the king and Queen did to her you can understand her motivation for it (hide spoiler)]
Spoiler is for Smoke and Bone only.

[Jenny]

I also like that Alina is a reluctant hero. How many people would just accept that they have powers and decide to save the world? Not many. Alina struggles with believing that she can make a difference and with the responsibility of being the one who has to.

I like Mal. He's an ass sometimes, but I adore the connection that he and Alina have growing up together and being there for each other through so much Stuff.

The Darkling is definitely one of the cooler characters I've encountered recently.

I loved The Witch of Duva folk tale. The Too-Clever Fox folk tale went up on tor.com the other day, but I haven't read that one yet.

I also haven't read the Genya POV scene. I'm not in a particular hurry to get to that one, but I'll read it eventually because I do like Genya.

[Robin]

Geyna's is short like 17 pages and just from the first book I read it on my break today

[Ash Wednesday]

Are the other novellas essential reading to the main storyline? I've only read Genya's out of all the novellas, I've been wishing for her POV since the 1st book.

I think what I love most of this series is the pacing's really sharp. Like it doesn't let up, even in the time Alina spent in training when it was I guess a lull from the bigger story arc, the intensity felt unrelenting for me. Though the drama could have been reined in towards the end. I'm not Mal's biggest fan because I'd come to associate him with the high school quarterback who became the whining nobody in college. After S&S I like him a little better but not as much as the "other guy" (I feel when it comes to Mal, I'm always gonna choose the other guy o.O). S&S was amazing, I think its my best read for the year so far (though I do read a lot of contemporaries so the bell curve is a bit skewed o.O)

I'm seeing a pattern here: the Darkling in S&B, Sturmhond in S&S... I need a new yummy for the 3rd book! Though Sturmhond's a tough act to follow I must say, he was the Snarkling in S&S (view spoiler)[plus he designs flying boats and modern artillery, he's a noble Ravkan soldier AND he looks a bit like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in my mind's eye. (hide spoiler)]

[Hillary]

Rofl I love it! The Snarkling. Anyway the novellas are not essential but they are free and interesting folk lore.

Damnable auto correct.

[Robin]

S&S was good I liked the pacing and the addition growth in it. I was a little disappointed I really wanted Alina and Mal to feel more sure of one another but they were a little insecure. I guess that is understandable as they are both young and were trying to figure out how they fit into the world both scared of who they were and weren't.

Sturmhond was great comic relief. So snarky witty and sure of himself. I could see why (view spoiler)[ The trees and rocks were ready to swear fidelity to him. (hide spoiler)]

I have tons of theories already for R&R and by tons I probably really only have 4. But if any of them turn out true I will scream and do a happy dance cuz I guessed it.

Snarkling will be my new favorite work for at least 2 days very nicely put.

[Robin]

This is a fun interview with Leigh Bardugo and Veronica Roth author of the Divergent Series (which I very much enjoy too). They each talk about the others books and characters.

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2013/06/04/v...

[Jenny]

The novellas have nothing to do really with the trilogy other than being folk stories from the world of Ravka. They'd be like... bedtime stories that Mal and Alina read as kids or something.

[Robin]

That is what I liked about the witch of Duval. It seemed like it was going to be like Hansel and Gretel but then it was a completely different story. I think she wanted the reader to sway that way so she could surprise you with who the villain really was. Still need to read the one about the Fox.

[Ash Wednesday]

Oh gad, I just finished reading Insurgent last week and I was thinking how Roth failed at the new characters while Leigh Bardugo crushed it with the Snarkling. Yup I'm gonna use that name to my heart's content :)

[Ash Wednesday]

I loved the second book so much, I kinda forgot some of the first book's fuzziness. Because everything was going well for me until Baghra dropped the bomb on Alina. I'm still confused as to (view spoiler)[ what the Darkling needed Alina for in the Fold. I got the impression he wants to use it to threaten/overthrow the monarchs(?) but I don't understand how Alina being a Sun Summoner fits into the equation. Actually the Darkling's masterplan is very confusing for me. (hide spoiler)]

I'm also unclear (view spoiler)[on the extent of Alina's powers. Is it just light (which is, duh, lame) or is it the power of the sun in her hands? (I may have quoted a Spiderman villain there) (hide spoiler)]

[Hillary]

Okay (view spoiler)[ He needed her to protect him and his cohorts while in the fold. He needed her to be for lack of a better term The Super Bodyguard while he did his dastardly deeds of expanding the fold. (hide spoiler)]

And as for (view spoiler)[ The extent of Alina's powers...well I think its more along the lines of the power of the sun in the palm of her hands. She just has to be able to channel and handle it. I think there is something else but I can't remember specifics that made me think that atm. (hide spoiler)]

[Ash Wednesday]

Oh okay,(view spoiler)[was just checking with Alina's powers, there was a bit of an explanation I think in S&S but I was wondering if there was any precedent to it or if it was because of the scales. I remember thinking in S&B Alina's powers were over-fussed and lacking in use outside of being pretty in parties. (hide spoiler)]

I have the feels that (view spoiler)[Mal won't make it. Which I don't know if I'd be happy or sad about right now. (hide spoiler)]

[Robin]

I kind of think that Alina will have to choose (view spoiler)[ To save Mal or keep/acquire more power (hide spoiler)]

I think Alina's power (view spoiler)[Was light and heat like the sun so basically I think of it as a laser beam when it is focused, other than that it is just good in a power outage (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

I just got the other day super excited to start it soon

[Ash Wednesday]

Robin wrote: "I kind of think that Alina will have to choose [spoilers removed]

I think Alina's power [spoilers removed]"

I thought it was pretty useless too until (view spoiler)[she got the scales bangle and got the ability to cut. I'm wondering if she becomes something like a blackhole when she gets the third amplifier. A small part of me still hopes the Darkling gets some redemption though he really was awful to Genya in S&S (hide spoiler)].

And completely swerving thought, I imagine the creepy priest(?) here looking like Varys in GoT.

Melanie wrote: "I just got the other day super excited to start it soon"

Enjoy, Melanie! :)

[Hillary]

About that... (view spoiler)[ She got the cut when she took back control over her power from the Darkling in the fold. It's how she saved Mal and ran away. (She is always finding she can do "miraculous" things because of Mal. 1. She thought Mal abandoned her, she finds her power. 2. She thought Mal was going to die, she finds a way to wrest her power back.-- And did anyone else notice the maybe hints in S&S that when Mal grabbed her by the wrist that didn't have the scales...things happened?-- HM I say HM.) (hide spoiler)]

[Jenny]

Hillary, PLUS PLUS in S&S she (view spoiler)[gave one of the scales to Mal. (hide spoiler)]

[Ash Wednesday]

Oh so THAT was your theory, I was wondering what it was :) so (view spoiler)[you think Mal's a Grisha too? Eeenteresting. I just thought Mal was pretty and this sort of emotional anchor for Alina when she does get too powerful. With a bit of search I found that Alina did get to do the cut already in S&B, (hide spoiler)] thanks for clearing up all my S&B-related fuzzies, it really got confusing for me towards the end :-)

Edited because I iz not thinking right.

[Robin]

Jenny wrote: "Hillary, PLUS PLUS in S&S she [spoilers removed]"

Ah I didn't remember that.

Mal (view spoiler)[ I'm not sure what he is. He might be Grisha but he might be the descendant of that Saint that made the stag, dragon and firebird which is why he can track them. Or....he is the firebird (that one is far fetched I know).
The twins know something about him though. When he said in the war room that they needed him the twins got a little fidgety and exchanged nervous looks until he finish the statement and said to hunt the firebird.
Where Alina is now missing her power maybe he is a counterweight or sinkhole of sorts for power. When he pulled her out maybe he absorbed the last of it since she was so close to death. It could be possible that he is a door that absorbs or amplifies power idk. When he grabber her wrist at the end of the battle she saw into him the way se can see into the Darkling and through that door saw something light and golden. Seemed like her power maybe Mal is just a mirror reflecting back to people what they are which is why he is so likeable to everyone. (hide spoiler)]

Okay done rambling. Many thoughts.

[Ash Wednesday]

Robin wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Hillary, PLUS PLUS in S&S she [spoilers removed]"

Ah I didn't remember that.

Mal I'm not sure what he is...."

If Mal is (view spoiler)[the bird will he be an anklet or a snazzy belt to complete Alina's accessories? :) whatever he ends up being I just wish Leigh Bardugo won't pull a Moning and make him a Barrons or something nobody would've guessed since technically we don't know it exists yet (hide spoiler)]. Actually I kinda like Mal as he is. There's a bittersweet quality to his character that makes me want to smack and hug him all at once.

[Jenny]

PLUS PLUS (view spoiler)[Mal and Alina killed Rusalye together. He put her hands around the harpoon and they both drove it in. (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

arg I finished so many questions...so many males!

[[deleted user]]

Has any one read any of the short stories?

[Ash Wednesday]

I read after S&S because I've been wanting a Genya novella since S&B. It wasn't what I wanted/expected off a Genya book, but still pretty good :)

[Hillary]

I've read them all. They aren't essential but they are interesting folk lore.

[Jenny]

They are on Amazon, but you can read them for free on tor.com:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/06/th...
http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/06/th...

The Genya POV scene is on scribd.com:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/143207221/T...

[Jenny]

The Witch of Duva is included in the Fierce Reads anthologies, which you can download for free on Kindle.

[Ash Wednesday]

Thanks Jenny! The second volume has Lish McBride too :) Sweet!

[R.S.]

Personally, I really liked the system in place for these books. There was a hierarchy which had a dress code, language and social rules which I found interesting. It was neat to see an author create a unique system and then have to work inside those parameters.

[Ash Wednesday]

Ruin and Rising has a cover!!!!! And a blurb!!!!!!



(view spoiler)[

The capital has fallen. The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

(hide spoiler)]

Dat flying bird on fire... So very looking forward to this one!!!

And I like the bit about putting aside old rivalries (view spoiler)[Darkling Team-Up???? (hide spoiler)] One can hope <3

[Robin]

Yeah reg fantasy with a semi-Russian feel to the culture.

[Ash Wednesday]

Spoiler tagged the blurb... Sorry, I just realized O_O each cover features (view spoiler)[an amplifier! (hide spoiler)]

Amy! Its the last book! #insertcrazinesshere

[Sandra]

Does it qualify for our april's group reading? i think it's high fantasy but I don't know if it can considered out of our world or not.

[Hillary]

I am in need of a Snarkling and Darkling fix. I may have to reread these. Hm...

[Jenny]

It's a high fantasy set in an imaginary world (Ravka).

[Ash Wednesday]

Alina/Darkling Ruin and Rising snippet. For posterity. And because... Well, Darkling <3

(view spoiler)[ “Why waste my anger on you when the fault is mine? I should have anticipated another betrayal from you, one more mad grasp at some kind of childish ideal. But I seem to be a victim of my own wishes where you are concerned.” His expression hardened. “What have you come here for, Alina?”

I answered him honestly. “I wanted to see you.”

I caught the briefest glimpse of surprise before his face shuttered again. “There are two thrones on that dais. You could see me any time you liked.” (hide spoiler)]

#toomuchsquee

[Isamlq]

o.O so much WANT.

[[deleted user]]

So excited :)

[Stacia (the 2010 club), groupaholic, YA-MA founder]

Our group read is now open.

If you need to talk about any major plot points (minor story details don't need to be tagged), please use this code to put your text inside of a spoiler tag and make a note of whereabouts in the book you're talking about so people know if they've read far enough to be able to click on the tag :

[La La]

I just let Leigh Bardugo know that we are doing this group read, via Twitter. Maybe she'll stop in and surprise us.

[La La]

She just tweeted that she gets scared when people are discussing her book, but hopes we all enjoy it. If any of you are on twitter I hope you are following her. She is funny and super nice.

[Stacia (the 2010 club), groupaholic, YA-MA founder]

Aw, I understand that. It's probably easier to avoid conversation as an author.

[Rachel]

I loved this first book so much! And then I pre-ordered the second book last summer, promising myself I would put everything aside to read it... but.... it's still sitting in a box!

So maybe I'll read book two while others read book one. Then I'll be all caught up for the release of book three!

[La La]

Stacia (keyboard abuser) wrote: "Aw, I understand that. It's probably easier to avoid conversation as an author."

I think it varies from author to author. A.G.Howard talks to us all the time here on GR. Most of the YA authors are very involved on Twitter. We even watch tv shows together, sometimes! Anyway, Leigh says she will be doing some Q&A's on Twitter, and she hopes you all can participate. I will let you know when that happens.

I took Storm and Seige out of the library yesterday, so I can keep reading. I will buy the boxed set when it comes out.

[Stacia (the 2010 club), groupaholic, YA-MA founder]

I think it's great that a lot of authors like to chat up the readers. It's kind of fun. :) We have a few that I know of who talk to our members on a semi-regular basis, such as Brigid Kemmerer and the like.

I do actually think it's smart for authors to avoid conversations about their book if they think certain comments are going to bother them. That way, they avoid getting their feelings hurt and also avoid saying something to make the readers feel uncomfortable. We try to keep our discussions honest, and people are welcome to say if they hated a book just as much as if they liked it.