A Book Review: Shadow and Bone
Title of the book: Shadow and Bone
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: First published 5th of June 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Why I picked up this book:
If you hadn’t heard yet, which is quite the accomplishment considering the hype, Shadow and Bone Season 1 is life on Netflix! Which I thought was an excellent excuse to dive back into the Grishaverse and refresh my memories of Alina.
I originally picked up the complete Shadow and Bone Trilogy back in 2017. I had a subscription to Illumicrate and they announced they were going to be doing a themed ‘Grishaverse’ box. I was vaguely aware of the book series at that point, but my friends seemed over the top excited for this limited edition box. Egging me on, on more than one occasion to get this one! Immediately!
It featured The Language of Thorns, which acts as a collection of folk stories to the Grishaverse. Not wanting to be left in the dark, of course, I had to go out and buy and read all three books in the series, before sinking my teeth into The Language of Thorns.
About the Author:
Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels and the creator of the Grishaverse (coming to Netflix in April) which spans the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows Duology, The Language of Thorns, and King of Scars—with more to come. Her short stories can be found in multiple anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Ninth House (Goodreads Choice Winner for Best Fantasy 2019) which is being developed for television by Amazon Studios.
Leigh was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Southern California, and graduated from Yale University. These days she lives and writes in Los Angeles
Synopsis:
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Review of the book:
After my initial readthrough in 2017, I rated this book a 4 out of 5. I don’t think I can give it again on my second run. Perhaps this is due to everything changing in the past 4 years. I hadn’t lived through a global pandemic, I hadn’t lived through Brexit. Oh, I was young and naïve. Sadly – this is no longer the case.
Let’s start by taking a look at our heroine Alina Starkov. The girl who apparently realized she had incredible power, but chose to shut it down and shove it into the darkest corners of her mind. The girl who then conveniently forgot she had this power in the years that followed. The girl who is utterly flabbergasted when her powers are re-discovered. Outright denying it for a large portion of the story.
Until she gets ‘over’ the boy she pined after since she was 8 years old. Right. The girl who is skinny, sickly, with dark circles under her eyes, until he lets her magical powers shine through. Finally becoming the pretty girls she always was inside. Right. The girl who falls in love with your stereotypical, one dimensional bad-boy, because he looks pretty and he has a fancy car. Ok, I lied he doesn’t have a car, but you know he fits all of the other tropes and he does have a carriage. He is moody, barely gives her the time of day and when he does speak to her he constantly puts her down. What. A. Dreamboat. Right.
There is so much potential for this girl. An orphan of a war that has torn her country apart for centuries. A girl who does not know her history but who will surge ahead to forge a future for herself. Yet ultimately she is turned into your run-of-the-mill doe-eyed flapper.
The cast of side characters is not that much better. Sure, they are all fine on the surface, they are passable, and that is where it ends. None of them seems to have any complex emotions. They all seem to operate on the most base motivations. Good vs evil. Gaining more power. It’s all completely fine at a passing glance but if you are looking for anything with a bit more complexity, a bit more layering then go look elsewhere.
If we then turn our attention to the world and the magic systems, I have to stop and take a moment to complement Bardugo’s writing style. Her sentences flow together beautifully and her descriptions are imaginative. Even if the world she is discussing falls short of the mark.
Yes, we have an alternate reality to tzarist Russia which is imbued with magic. But that is all it is. I can’t help but feel we are being presented with a watered-down version. Throw some kvas here and there, call the king a tzar and get some Russian sounding characters. Mix that with some buildings reminiscent of the Kremlin and Abracadabra here’s Ravka. It almost feels like the author had fully created her world, characters, politics and all, before she decided she needed something edge, something different. Enter Russia. I can’t help but feel like it is about as real as a cold plated bracelet. It feels like a betrayal to a country that has such rich folklore that could have been drawn from, traditions that could have been included. It’s performative and nothing more.
All in all, the book is not great. The pacing is flawed, with the first part of the book being downright boring. The storyline is predictable, following the path carved by those who came before. The characters are bland, frustrating and trope-y. The plot could use a boost to steer it clear of the tried and tested magical boarding-school feel. The only thing that saves this book is Bardugo’s writing style.
That being said, if the reviews are anything to go by, this series gets better as time goes on. Alina actually develops into a badass female lead and we get presented with some darker themes. Guess I’ll have to go see for myself!
What are your thoughts? Have I just turned into a mean, bitter old lady who can’t appreciate a sweet young-adult romance with a sprinkling of magic? Did you like Alina, Ravka and the Darkling? Please let me know in the comment section below, and until then - just one more page!