Spoiler-Free Review!!!
Shadow and Bone
By: Leigh Bardugo
Grisha trilogy #1
4|.|4 stars
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold - a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed. Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country's magical military elite - and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift. As the threat to the kingdom mounts and Alina unlocks the secrets of her past, she will make a dangerous discovery that could threaten all she loves and the very future of a nation. Welcome to Ravka . . . a world of science and superstition where nothing is what it seems.
This is going to be a brief non-spoilery review with my thoughts on Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. Obviously, the Grishaverse is beyond popular and I am very late to the party but since the Shadow and Bone show recently came out, it's so popular on booktok and because I own the Grishaverse books, I've decided to finally commit to this 7 book ensemble and read it!
Now, to start with, I was a bit confused with the world but I slowly understood it and the world-building was done very well. I've heard criticism that this trilogy is pretty slow but I actually enjoyed the pacing! I wasn't bored and at some parts especially near the end, I was extremely engrossed in the book.
I love Alina's character. She started off kind of bitter which I LOVED!! She's so realistic and her flaws and everything and I just really like her.
Now for the huge dilemma! I love the Darkling he's literally so hot. And those makeout scenes... I squealed. Very loud. He is pretty much evil, not even morally grey but I love him!! We all know how I feel about villains, especially HOT villains. See fanart to the side for reference đ Yes, he may or may not have put a collar on Alina and forced her to watch her best friend be eaten alive by Volcras.... yeahhhh the pretty privelege is real.
Mal on the other hand is ummm alright. He's nice I guess. Not my type, but I guess Alina's type. He's kind of a hypocrite though, tumbling around with girls all time making poor Alina jelly then she goes to the Darkling without choice and he loses his shit and says all these things to her. Like, how rude. But anyways, he risks his life multiple times for her and saves her and says super romantic things to her... those letters at the back convinced me. I think for the moment, it's Mal with Alina?? I think so? I haven't lost hope for Darklina yet! But even if Alina doesn't get with the Darkling đĽ, then he is for ME!! So Mal for Alina and Darkling for MOI!!! But I don't know! I want to want Alina to be with the Darkling but... I don't know.
Anyways, that's it for this review. Hope you enjoyed!! Byeee đ Leave any requests down below in the comments or contact me!