Just read that in a really creepy voice. You creeped out? good we may continue. Today I'm going to be reviewing Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.
I always get really confused between Shadow and Bone and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Seriously this is about the fifth time I've either written; Daughter of Shadow and Bone or Shadow and Bone by Laini Taylor. I need help, they're just so similar! The titles not the books.
Anyway, just one more thing before we start the review, I don't promise that there won't be things to do with six of crows. Not major spoilers, just discussing setting and characters.
The book is mainly about this girl who discovers she has a very special power and she is thrust into the world of Grisha. Grisha, to me, are quite confusing. But, at the beginning of the book there is a run down, so I'm going to give you that run down;
1. Corporalki, under this falls the Healers and the Heartrenders.
2. Etherealki, under this falls the Squallers, Inferni and Tidemakers.
3. Materialki/Fabrikators, under this we have the Durasts and the Alkemi.
I know, it's painfully confusing. Not only is there a shit ton of different 'species' but they all have different skill sets, and they're really, like, not described.
OK, So although I kind of started off on a negative tone, I did actually really enjoy this book. I flew through it, seriously, I started last night and finished it this morning. It went in a direction I wasn't expecting, but it didn't overly shock me. The characters were interesting to read about but they didn't captivate me.
Because I'd read Six of Crows I expected to get an advantage towards learning about the world, but it was set on a different Continent and we didn't hear about the Six of Crows setting at all.
That's all I'm going to say for the non-spoilery section, I preferred Six of Crows but I was happy to read more about the Grisha world. I recommend you go pick it up, then come back so we can delve into the spoilery section. So, bye xx non-spoilers!!!
Welcome to the spoilers...
I'm sorry but the Darkling in my mind has switched to the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I'm sorry.
We start off with them walking and stuff, because of the world it is set in I expected Alina to be Grisha.
I didn't read the blurb, for some reason, so I spent the first 20 pages confused about whether Alina was male or female.
For me some of the drama in this felt a little forced, and it was very predictable. The Darkling felt to false to not be hiding some sort of evil. When he was kissing her I practically screamed "Oh My God, he is so obviously using you"
The only character that surprised me was Genya, I appreciated her friendship and what it added to the book. I would like to find out more about her past. The dynamic towards the end with her friend ship kind of dampened the mood. Also I'm kind of confused to what happened with her and the king to get her that Corporalki kefta.
I did enjoy the way the hierarchy between the different Grisha was done, it was interesting to see. I don't know whether I'm going to finish the series, I was quite contempt with the way things ended. Other than Mal, who for some reason enjoyed me a lot. think it was the way he was so jealous towards Alina's boyfriends but he made her suffer through his, he just felt a bit hypocritical.
Just one thing I picked up on, when Mal said about how he was the best tracker, and how he was the one to locate the herd, I was just thinking about how Alina had bragged about his abilities to the Darkling. I just wondered if the Darkling chose him because of that.
Although my review was kind of negative, I did enjoy the book. I had a few problems with the story but the world and the characters are fantastic. I just prefer Six of Crows. I will leave you now. I've been bombarding you with posts recently. Don't forget to pick up our book of the month - Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
- A
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