Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This book has been sitting on my shelves for months, just waiting for me to pick it up and read it and I have to say that I regret leaving so much time in between when I bought this book and actually reading it.

From the very beginning, I was transfixed. A prologue that leaves you with questions about what happened to the main characters when they were younger really set me off on a course to read this book well because from those first few pages I was already invested in the character's lives.

On the cover of the copy I own there is a quote from Veronica Roth that says "Unlike anything I've ever read." and to me that describes this book perfectly. I have never before read about concepts like these and from the Shadow Fold to the Grisha themselves, I was taken in by all of them because they were like nothing I had read before.

Firstly, the Shadow Fold. We are introduced to it right at the start of the book so we know immediately the threat it poses to the characters and how it is a work of pure evil. The volcra being a work of the Shadow Fold added to the tension because of what they could do. Not only are the characters having to try and navigate in complete darkness, but there is also the threat of being killed by huge winged creatures that live there. Even though for most of the book we were far away from the Shadow Fold, the threat of it still loomed because of our powerful glimpse of it at the start of the book. That threat and danger would always be present, not matter what distance there was between you and it.

The Grisha were another aspect of this book that really intrigued me. Whether their powers were possible through the Small Science or magic, the only thing that makes the difference to me it how they were able to use their powers. Although, the hierarchy within their own separate class to normal humans was also interesting to me, especially as the seating arrangements at meal times slightly reminded me of my own school lunches. This book made me want to be a Grisha in a way, though some of them seem to be far from nice because of their power.

Russia is a country that has always interested me. As in the country that Shadow and Bone is set in does, it has a history of corruption, beauty and an obsession with being in control. The ideas from Russia were clearly visible, but they fitted in this world perfectly and added something extra to the book rather than having it be something that I as this reader could not relate to.

Alina is a main character who I couldn't help but love. She went from nobody to somebody in a matter of days, but tried to stop it from getting to her. She was afraid of not fitting in because she was scared that she wouldn't be beautiful enough, but really she was more frightened of the unknown that awaited her. Although she let herself be misled romantically, she managed to go back to herself and gain something from the experience. Everybody makes mistakes and even though hers would cost a lot more than just herself something, she still tried to do what was best and that was what was most important to me about her.

When you are introduced to a male best friend you automatically know in books these days that he is going to be some sort of romantic interest, which is a shame, but I have to say that in this book, I was not disappointed with Mal. He was brave and fought for Alina when she needed him to most and that's why I think that he is better than a lot of other male protagonists. You could tell when Mal and Alina came together once again that something had changed between them and that Mal had developed as a character much more than I expected him to when I started reading this book.

I could talk in depth about the other characters, especially the Darkling and Genya because even though I loved the latter dearly, she should have taught Alina that the former was not someone to be trusted because I believe that it would have been quite clear to see Alina's feelings toward him. My personal advice would be to never trust someone who doesn't tell you their actual name. I digress. Overall I think that each character was explored in enough depth so I could decide whether  I liked or trusted them, but not so much that I was overwhelmed and it detracted from the storyline.

I'm sure there are a few faults with this book as there are with every book, but I personally could not spot them because I was so drawn into the story and characters. This is the best book that I have read in a long, long time and I now can't wait to get the second book!