April 2021 Series BOTM: Shadow and Bone

[Sofia, duckish things]

Our April Series BOTM is Shadow and Bone.

[Sofia, duckish things]

I have mixed feelings.
I really liked the worldbuilding, to my surprise - especially the magic system. It's enchanting.
Unfortunately, that was the only part I liked.
The characters annoyed me. Mal was toxic and gaslit Alina so many times. Alina was incompetent and whiny.

[ATheReader]

I think I may just watch the TV series...
scandalous

[Elizabeth]

ATheNotReader wrote: "I think I may just watch the TV series...
scandalous "

Same though

[ATheReader]

Elizabeth wrote: "ATheNotReader wrote: "I think I may just watch the TV series...
scandalous "

Same though"

;)

[Sofia, duckish things]

ATheNotReader wrote: "I think I may just watch the TV series...
scandalous "

*gasp*

[Helene]

I liked how fast these books were- I read them each in a day or two- but they were pretty boring tbh. I didn’t really like any of the characters, and Alina and Mal were especially lame. I’ve also realized I don’t love Leigh Bardugo’s writing, it’s a bit too simple. I feel like this didn’t need an entire trilogy, it could’ve been two or maybe even one book.

[Sofia, duckish things]

Helene wrote: "I liked how fast these books were- I read them each in a day or two- but they were pretty boring tbh. I didn’t really like any of the characters, and Alina and Mal were especially lame. I’ve also r..."

I agree with all of that. They were pretty entertaining, but not high quality.

[Ayla]

I'm going to read the book in preparation for the show.
But idk what I'm preparing for, I don't know if I'm even going to be able to if it's going to be rated TV-MA *sobbing noises*

[Emma]

i want to read six of crows and crooked kingdom and someone said that i need to read shadow and bone first to be able to properly understand it but i haven’t read any of the shadow and bone trilogy so i don’t know if i do but i don’t want to haha

[Ally]

Personally I read six of crows first and then shadow and bone. I was a little confused for like a couple chapters but I thought it was still good without reading the trilogy first. I have heard that there are spoilers for the trilogy in crooked kingdom so keep that in mind :)

[katie ❀]

i read this a while ago and didn't enjoy it at all #unpopularopinion lmao

[Sofia, duckish things]

katie wrote: "i read this a while ago and didn't enjoy it at all #unpopularopinion lmao"

SAME

[the bard]

i just reread this last month and... yeah, not great, but honestly could be a lot worse?? still super hyped for the show, though (for my crow bbs)

[Gabi]

EmmaReads wrote: "i want to read six of crows and crooked kingdom and someone said that i need to read shadow and bone first to be able to properly understand it but i haven’t read any of the shadow and bone trilogy..."

i read six of crows and crooked kingdom before reading the shadow and bone trilogy (i'm currently reading ruin and rising) and it doesn't really spoil anything, because the plot focuses on other characters from a different part of the grishaverse world. Leigh's writing is also so much better and the characters are so much more interesting... i really recommend the SoC duology it's definitely one of my favourites.

[Catalina]

I’m so done with Mal and Alina’s toxic relationship but otherwise I’m enjoying the books. I’m quite hopeful for the show because the show runners and actors have said in multiple articles and interviews that they’re improving on both Alina’s relationship with Mal and with the Darkling to make them much healthier for her.

(This article from IGN for example: https://www.ign.com/articles/netflix-... )