Grishaverse Read Along discussion
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Shadow and Bone
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Shadow and Bone Chapters 16-22
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Briana
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rated it 4 stars
Jan 17, 2021 03:17PM
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The last chapters was tense. Even if it was a bit slow during the long walk, I'm glad Leigh Bardugo put them into "we spent days" "it's been a week" and such -- no extra long talking, straight to the point.
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I would have been disappointed to see him as an actually not-so-evil character, while everyone seems to fear him.
I still have lots of unanswered questions about him!! Why did he created the Fold in the first place? How old he truly is? What are all of his power? How was he at the beginning, what turned him so greedy and evil??
I hope for the best in the next book
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Of course she made mistakes. There are no plot without mistakes tbh. But I feel like she acted truly, like anyone else would?
She was true to herself. Of course I rolled my eyes everytime she stook her tongue out like a child, but that was the only thing that made me sigh about her.
BUT-- I feel like she could have made something better for everyone on the skiff. I'm not proud of her for damning everyone else who were just confused and couldn't move because they just couldn't go against the Darkling...
I'm disappointed but at the same time I understand: no one else did a move to stand by her, and she must act quick for Mal and her to escape. I get that it was the first and only thing she could have done. But I expected better from her!
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He showed his funny side, his love to her. I'm actually glad he actually really loves her and saved her from the trackers! Even to the very end, close to his death, he was humble and accepted to die. Ugh, I like him a lot lol
I just finished tonight and at first I was really upset that the Darkling was actually evil, but towards the end I just hated him and wanted to scream at him! I’m starting to like Mal and I think as the series continues I will be rooting for him! I’m eager to learn more and see where they end up!(:
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But with my love for true villains in books I can't wait to see how's things will go with the Darkling! What he'll do to Alina and Mal when they find them, what his actual mood is...
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ALINA IS AMAZING! I am usually not a huge fan of the hero complex that so many heroines have but she is so human and real. Shes not perfect, shes hard on herself and she loves hard. She is a great character with real flaws and I love that. Also I wasn’t a fan of Mal and I’m still not necessarily happy that he all of a sudden realized his feelings after she became all beautiful and powerful. But hopefully we can see more of his growth in the next book.
Anyway, the book is a solid 4 out of 5 for me. The issue I had with it lie with the fact that there were times that I was asking questions about the whole magic/small science system and not really paying too much attention to the plot because I was confused. But I still impressed and excited for the rest of the series!
I finished this around two week ish ago, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it... I did like it but I'm not sure its virtues made up for its flaws. So my thoughts down below will be a bit messy and quite critical but that’s typical me.What I liked most with this book was how it did not try to explain every little thing from the get go. I really love fantasy books that sort of dumps you into a foreign place that you have to figure out and explore, and really get to know as strangers. Which was also what I really began to miss as the book went on, because Alina was very passive and not really interested in exploring and figuring her situation nor surroundings out. So the beginning was much more interesting and vibrant, and as it went on felt more and more stale for me.
I think the main thing that didn't work for me was Alinas weak characterization due from the lack of (developed, memorable) characters for her to bounce off to. Pretty much the only characters that Alina interacted to was the romantic interests, the Darkling and Mal, and those were isolated from each other and hard focused on. During the Darkling arc there was some Genya sprinkled here and there, but their interactions felt more like providing Alina some space to think or provide omnious tides for her to disregard (instead for Alina to pick some of those up on her own.)
I think the lack of characters important to Alina also made the ending less impactful. What was the stakes for Alina really? The only person that she had a meaningful bond with was Mal (aside from Genya, but it really didn’t hold a candle to what Mal meant to her). So the decision to save Mal or a heap of characterless NPC’s was not really a choice at all. Just imagine if she actually had a bond to those nameless people, it would have been so much more impactful.
It just felt like to me that although she went on about wanting to fit in, she didn’t actually try to interact with people. Somewhere I wish that Alina also would have started to pick up on her isolation instead of just disregarding it. There was just too many doors closed for an academia setting. For instance, while I liked that she threw away the book of saints I really wish that she would have picked it up again later. I’m still wondering about the myths mentioned in the beginning about her light powers were. As it is, it really lived on the twist and generally I think that books that do that miss out on other possibilities.
When it comes to Alinas characterization it’s a bit all over the place. But I think it’s intentionally not fleshed out properly because it makes sense for this book. She is the sort of protagonist that is meant for the reader to easily project oneself onto. Which is why she changes depending on the situation rather than according to her character. (Imagine it like a rpg or an otome game, where you have more than one option of answers so that the replies will suit your own better) Which is why I think she is a hate/like character. It depends on how easily you see yourself in Alina. The downside is really what I’ve been ranting about earlier - her passiveness. The end of chapter 15 when she asks ”What do I do?” sums it up pretty good.
Overall, I liked this book. I think I might have mentioned it in the messenger group, but while fantasy is my favorite genre I do read all sorts of books. YA books are perfect for me when I am overthinking (like in this discussion post, it’s like I’ve written a review instead of a comment - so sorry everyone) and needs to turn down a bit and relax, and this is perfect for it, light and fast pace. I just hoped it would deconstruct the chosen one trope with ”good” and ”evil” and go for a morally grey path. There’s still hope for that, but I don’t like how Darkling is going right now. I’m all in for evil, but I don’t quite get his reasoning but for the sake of being evil, nor do I particularly like he turned out to be so old. I also think there’s a lot of room for Alina to grow her character. In many ways, the decision to abandon everyone in the Rift was also Alinas first real decision not influenced by others but what she wanted. It was satisfying to see everyone tell her what to do and for her to go in the opposite direction. And while that might lead her down a dark path, I’m all here for it.
And when it comes to Mal…
While I loved how he showed up for her and took her side instead of buying the bullshit said about her, and their reactions were so cute and a nice little wholesome escape, I feel like he should focus on living than giving his life away so much.
“Sometimes, it would be much easier to die for one's king than to give one's life for him.”- Robin Hobb
“Keep in mind that many people have died for their beliefs; it's actually quite common. The real courage is in living and suffering for what you believe.”- Christopher Paolini
I’m living for these quotes. So the ”take my life” thingy is not really in my alley. So I respect Mal’s no. Alina needs to chill.
Also, I didn’t quite buy his speech about that he did not care about who she slept with, because he did judge her tho?! When they met outside the palace. Like you can’t just shame her and then later say the opposite. He didn’t really acknowledge that he was in the wrong. Like, tell her that you were in the wrong because who she sleeps with is none of your business rather than stating that it’s okay for her to be with whomever she wants because that’s always okay. Also later during his confession he really says that they belong together, so isn’t that a white lie then?
The ending also gave me some warning signs regarding their relationship, and hopefully room for improvement. That Alina feels like she can’t speak up to Mal about her feelings because he would not understand is not right and not a good basis for a relationship. But there’s two volumes left, and I hope we will get more insight into the Darklings motivation and backstory. Hopefully it won’t just be bad boy takes out his anger on the world.
Sorry if I’m being too critical. I mean it when I say I enjoyed the book, and rated it 3/5 stars. After a little break reading upon other series I’ve started I will read Siege and Storm and hopefully I will like it as much or better. I’m excited to see what all of you think about the books!
I genuinely love reading everyone's comments on this book. I think I'm more disappointed in the ending now, a couple weeks later, than I was when I first finished it. I think about it and just think "Wow, how anticlimactic". I was rooting for the darkling sooo bad that I'm still super disappointed at the ending. I don't even know if I want to continue this series in all honesty, I'm gonna have to put it down and maaaaybe get back to it at a later date.
