Shadow & Bone

Shadow and Bone

GrishaVerse - Volume 1

By:  Leigh Bardugo

Book Quote:

“And there's nothing wrong with being a lizard either. Unless you were born to be a hawk.”

Library Cat Rating:  😺 😺

Review:
      Shadow and Bone is a fantasy novel that will grab readers attention and leave them wanting more.   Alina, our main protagonist, is a seemingly inconsequential person.  Sickly and weak from a young age, the sole bright spot in her life has been her friend Mal.  Both orphaned at a young age, they were fostered together and now serve in the kingdom's First Army.  As their country of Ravka is besieged by the dark force of the Shadow Fold and foreign enemies, the two friends are sent to the front lines for the fight.  When Mal faces death in Shadow Fold, Alina reveals an unbeknownst power.  She is quickly spirited away from the army and Mal to learn the ways of the Grisha, a mysterious and magical group of elite powers led by one known only as the Darkling.  For the first time in her life, Alina begins to see her own value and develop outside the identity ascribed to her from an early age.  As her powers grow it becomes clear Alina may be Ravka's only hope.  

    VERDICT Shadow and Bones checks all the boxes for a guilty pleasure when it comes to YA reads.  An underdog heroine with a couple viable love interest and some magic. There are some predictable tropes and I couldn't help but wish Alina had a little more guts, but I am sufficiently in it to the end with this series.  Few of us are blessed to be born confident and I am willing to cut Alina a little slack and hope we see some more growth in the next two books.  

Awards:  

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2014), Lincoln Award Nominee (2014), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2012)

Citation:

Bardugo, Leigh.  (2017, originally published 2012).  Shadow and Bone.  New York, NY:  Square Fish.  

Annotation:
Orphaned at a young age and seen as unexceptional by everyone around her, the only consistency Alina Starkov has known in her life is in her friendship with Mal.  Sent to the front lines of war with First Army, Alina reveals an unknown power when Mal's life is in danger.  Once revealed, Alina is spirited away from the life she knows and Mal in order to grow her power and perhaps save her country.

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Extras:

-GrishaVerse Website:  http://www.grishaverse.com/extras/#videos

Check out Leigh Bardugo's website for videos on what inspired the Grishaverse, additional book recommendations and more!