Shadow and Bone Discussion

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

Write down all your thoughts about Shadow and Bone below!

[Eileen]

Okay, so I read this quite a while ago and one of my students wants me to read the trilogy, so I think I'm going to have to go back and read the first one. I also have to read King of Scars now that the second book has come out. So this may have to be a Leigh Bardugo month for me, lol!

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

Eileen wrote: "Okay, so I read this quite a while ago and one of my students wants me to read the trilogy, so I think I'm going to have to go back and read the first one. I also have to read King of Scars now tha..."

Same! I'm thinking of just binge reading all her books just in time for the Shadow and Bone TV show!

[guppy]

Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Okay, so I read this quite a while ago and one of my students wants me to read the trilogy, so I think I'm going to have to go back and read the first one. I also have to read King o..."

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE TV SHOW!! It's been a while since I've read the books, but instead of re-reading I think I'm just going to go in blind and see what I remember! :)

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

guppy wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Okay, so I read this quite a while ago and one of my students wants me to read the trilogy, so I think I'm going to have to go back and read the first o..."

Ooh nice! I definitely need a recap XD

[Eileen]

Okay, so I finished King of Scars and Rule of Wolves and loved it so much I ended up reading not just this trilogy but also rereading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I am seriously thinking of rereading King of Scars and Rule of Wolves this month just to give me even more appreciation for them! Here's my review and new review on Shadow and Bone.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Zitong]

Eileen wrote: "Okay, so I finished King of Scars and Rule of Wolves and loved it so much I ended up reading not just this trilogy but also rereading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I am seriously thinking of re..."

Ok, wow, I seriously need to get to Rule of Wolves. Happy to hear that you enjoy her work so much!

[Zitong]

I read this not too long ago and I didn’t love it, even though I probably would have if I read it like a year or two ago. It just felt like any generic YA fantasy and I didn’t get anything that was too special from it unfortunately.

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

Zitong wrote: "I read this not too long ago and I didn’t love it, even though I probably would have if I read it like a year or two ago. It just felt like any generic YA fantasy and I didn’t get anything that was..."

Ooh fair! Then again this book was published in 2012 and a lot of current/recent releases may have gotten some inspiration from Shadow and Bone and the rest of the Grishaverse books. I've only read close to 50 pages in my reread of Shadow and Bone and am hoping I actually get around to reading the rest of Leigh Bardugo's books asap!

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

Eileen wrote: "Okay, so I finished King of Scars and Rule of Wolves and loved it so much I ended up reading not just this trilogy but also rereading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I am seriously thinking of re..."

Ahh I still need to read Nikolai's duology!! Glad they're enjoyable :)

[Eileen]

The shadow and bone Trilogy was definitely the weakest of the Grisha books, but there may be something to what you said about them being written in 2012. It may be that other YA fantasy books have been inspired by this series. However, Bardugo has only gotten better with each successive series. I’m not sure if I like the Taz books or the Nikolai books better but I love them both. Overall I think I liked Nikolai better than Taz, but the way Crooked Kingdom ended totally made me love him. On the other hand, the Nikolai books has Zoya and she is totally badass.

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

Eileen wrote: "The shadow and bone Trilogy was definitely the weakest of the Grisha books, but there may be something to what you said about them being written in 2012. It may be that other YA fantasy books have ..."

I haven't read the Nikolai duology but I've read Six of Crows years ago. I definitely need to reread it as soon as I finish Ruin and Rising! It's good that she gets better with every series/book she writes! It gives me hope that King Of Scars will be a winner!

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

I can't help but make a Shadow and Bone TV show and book comparison here. So far I've been getting through the book and really enjoying the writing style. I think Bardugo's writing is really descriptive and creates great imagery with the world of Ravka. In my head I can imagine everything playing out and in the exact same way and order of events as the TV show. It's scarily identical so far. I've read the series and Six of Crows before and I know that these similarities between the books and TV show will continue on till I finish the book as well as when I finish the show.

(of course there are differences but I'm not going to get into that here)

I've only started to reread it just now (I'm thinking of finishing it today if I have time which I keep running out of) but I know my main criticism will be of Mal's characterisation and Alina's passive behaviour as she doesn't do much to stop things from happening around her. I remember loving the book after I read it but years later I saw these gaps that have changed how I perceived it.

[Eileen]

Yes, I think one of the reasons I was so annoyed by Alina is because she was so passive! Mal I kind of went back and forth about how I felt about him. Honestly, it was other characters in Shadow and Bone that I ended up loving a lot more, including Genya.

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

Eileen wrote: "Yes, I think one of the reasons I was so annoyed by Alina is because she was so passive! Mal I kind of went back and forth about how I felt about him. Honestly, it was other characters in Shadow an..."

Yes! I loved Nikolai when he first appeared and Zoya too (even though she's a mean character). I thought the Darkling's relationship with Alina was... questionable to say the least which was why I liked Mal's and Alina's more (although not by much simply because I didn't like their characters).

[Eileen]

I LOVE Zoya's character development. She starts out as a mean girl, but truly grows into one of the most kickass characters!

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)]

Eileen wrote: "I LOVE Zoya's character development. She starts out as a mean girl, but truly grows into one of the most kickass characters!"

Yessss I can't wait to see more of her in King of Scars! She truly gets a redemption arc :)