Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)

A grim opener to a series, I confess that although I enjoyed it for itself, I'm not overly sunk on following up. I enjoy some bleak fiction, but there's a nebulous nature to the powers called that has yet to really be defined and, if I'm being brutal, I've just spent 22 chapters reading about an orphan girl hiding her powers because of another orphan while some sort of centuries old planner tries to bring things to fruition. We've not yet been told about any ancient or mysterious reason for this, the old-woman-as-mother trope was easy to spot from the beginning and almost everything present was muted: - the training for talented kids although set in a palace was only briefly covered. The creepy priesthood is very much underrepresented by the apparat. The political mess of the other lands only really comes into any sort of meaning in the final chapter, and the actual people are really only given form in the hierarchy of Corporalki versus Summoners, with serving girls who don't know their place, Orphans with mysterious scars, and trackers who never actually explain their tallents and seem overpowered to the story anyway.

A quite unsettling mix of things which, I would hope in future works, would fall onto a more even keel but for me here and now left me felt a touch disappointed.

Absolutely loved this book from beginning to end.

The map helps immensely when working out just how far Mal and Alina have come from the initial introduction to the orphaned pair in the prologue.

My only criticism which I have seen others mention is that you are thrust into the world without much world-building. It wasn't well explained as to why the Grisha are so unique and their talents sort out but that would be the only problem I found. Leigh Bardugo has created something that I am eager to continue to learn more about whether it be Mal and Alina’s relationship or why The Darkling is so intrigued obsessed with the young orphan girl from their first meeting.

With the Grishaverse covering several novels I am certain I will not be disappointed at all as ’Shadow and Bone’ has opened the door onto another fantasy realm that is both dark and intriguing as well as light and welcoming.

I can definitely see why Netflix have picked this up and hope that whilst also enjoying the books I will be able to witness the world of the Grishas and men come to life.

The conclusion to the series finds Alina and Mal trapped in the caverns underneath Ravka, with the clergy using her as symbolic figure of little power, Saint Alina. Eventually the gang of Grisha flee to find the mystical Firebird, the last of the sources of power that Alina hasn't bound yet, hounded on all sides by the vastly superior powers of the Darkling. The book is dark, full of action and only in its conclusion managed to disappoint me, with a giant cop-out. An opportunity of giant emotional impact was lost here. I wish Leigh Bardugo hadn't gone for this cop-out and had treaded a less safe route. But then, who am I kidding, this is YA. I have to admit I was a bit disturbed to read all the Goodreads reviews of teenage girls fawning over the 'hotness' that is the Darkling. Erm, yeah.