This is the first book of a trilogy. I found the characters interesting, diverse, and occasionally perverse in making bad decisions. The world building is a bit more than adequate. The main downside is that "battles" are dealt with quickly and pretty much always with the same Deus ex Machina approach- the last minute unforeseen introduction of a previously unrevealed power and/or person that saves the day and helps our heroes live to fight on. There is humor (yay!) and moral ambiguity in most of the characters. Once I got well into the first book I got hooked and pretty much sped through all 3 volumes, which was not hard to do as Bardugo's prose is easy enough to read. I should go on to say that the second book is better than the first and the third satisfied the reader with an ending, although it drags underground (you'll see).

This book was the BEST book I've read in a year! The plot was full of romance, suspense, betrayal, and everything else needed for the audience to cling to their seats while reading this rollercoaster of a book. The book has the cliché love triangle, but the two characters fighting over the heroine are well developed. I could not figure out who to root for as the two characters were both my favorites! This book makes me think of Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard. Their plots are very similar: a girl with a hidden power and didn't realize it, becomes royalty/powerful after discovering their power, love triangle, betrayal, court scheming...everything I love. Shadow and Bone deserves 5 stars and the love of many readers!

I had so much fun while reading this book. I absolutely flew through the book, it was such a quick and easy read. I loved the world and I’m so intrigued by the magic system and characters. I also really enjoyed Leigh Bardugo’s writing, it was simple but so enjoyable and had such a fantastic pace to it. I felt as though there wasn’t as much build up to the events as I would have liked, and a lot seemed to happen very quickly. I also wasn’t invested in the romance. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this novel and can’t wait to finish the trilogy. Rating - 3.5/5.
- @Average_Bookworm of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library

I LOVED this book! It's about a seemingly ordinary girl with a humble up-bringing who discovers she is one of the most powerful Grisha (a magical being in her world) with a very unique power. She teams up with another very powerful Grisha in the hopes of using their magic to save their war-stricken country. It's a perfect mix of adventure, magic, and romance and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy/magical stories with a twist. I could not put it down! This is book 1 of the Grisha trilogy and I am really looking forward to reading the next installments!

Quick paced fantasy in a Russian inspired setting. The first book of a trilogy, a fair amount of time is spent world building and introducing us to the heroine, her power and the impending doom she'll need to prevent. I didn't need the romance with the childhood friend; the story would have worked as well with them caring about each other as friends who were brought together as orphans and bonded strongly - in this book, at least. But I understand why the author made that choice.

Well written and I look forward to the remaining books in the series.

I'M SHOOK

The Writing and Worldbuilding

The writing style wasn't my favorite, I gotta admit. There wasn't anything wrong with it, per se, but it just wasn't that engrossing for me. I did really enjoy the story though. THAT PLOT TWIST I should have seen coming but didn't, because I'd blinded myself was so great!

I found it really hard to tell what time period this was supposed to be a parallel for; the clothing and weapons supports anywhere between 1500 and 1800 AD in the West, but the dialogue sounded modern day. I guess it's supposed to be high fantasy so it really doesn't matter too much, and I should stop thinking too deeply about it, but idk I don't like ambiguity in a setting.

The magic system was super cool. I really liked how it doesn't drain you to use your powers, but I would like to know what the limits are, because there have to be some. How far can someone go? What is the extent of their power?

The Characters

Alina: She was funny and spunky, but sometimes it was weird because she was too spunky in some situations she really shouldn't have been spunky in, and it came across as reckless, proud, and ungrateful. But I totally related to her naivety sometimes.

The DaRkLiNg oh my goodness: I don't even know what to say other than, "I should have known but I didn't" and "oh my goodness I don't even care to a degree"

Mal: Mal was cute and nice, and I really liked how he changed from where he's at at the beginning of the book and when we see him again later on, having been affected by the war. I wasn't a fan of the whole, "I'm sorry I didn't see you before. I see you now" thing because that's pretty darn cliche lol

Genya: I really liked her! The audiobook I was listening to gave her the weirdest, most ethereal sounding voice that was hard to get used to, but I still got a good idea of her character.

Baghra: THAT PLOT TWIST THO didn't see it coming

Conclusion

I'm pretty darn glad I read this, because I love me some fantasy and this is the unique YA fantasy I needed in my life right now. I'm so glad it lived up to the hype because I don't know how much disappointment I can really handle in my life anymore.

I recently had the same thing to say about Laini Taylor. If you've just discovered Bardugo and love her more recent books, this will probably disappoint in comparison; whereas, if you read it when it came out, it may have felt fresh and new.

Shadow and Bone focuses on Alina, a war-orphan raised by a Duke that has taken in many orphans. Other than the fact that it means that she grew up with her best friend, the tracker Mal, for whom she now has feelings, this fact isn't very important. They could have been raised by villagers, or wolves, whatever. The only point is that Alina will do anything to stay close to him, and they join the army together where Alina's powers come to light and she suddenly finds herself one of the Grisha, those special soldiers of the Second Army who use the "small sciences" (magic) to help the kingdom fight its wars.

So much time is given over to Alina's lovelorn angst that it really detracted from the story for me. That said, it was still a good story. Whom should Alina trust? What is the end game of her new boss, "The Darkling"? Can Alina's powers protect her country? We get answers to at least a few of these questions and the final chapters find Bardugo at her best: writing an action-packed adventure. While it's not ground-breaking, those who love the world of Six of Crows will enjoy this for another taste of the same fantasy universe.

The best way too describe this series is by saying it’s an alternate universe 19th century Russia where the main character has some inkling of her abilities but after a certain incident chooses to hide them. For a good portion of the book the author pulls you along into and enchanting story about a boy and a girl, but you keep thinking that the girl is going to end up with one boy most of the book before the author pulls you in the comeplete opposite direction. Mind you it’s been a few years so I should reread it.

Started the Grisha Trilogy after finishing Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. If anything, its a testament to Bardugo's growth as a writer since its publication. The story is fairly predictable and trope driven, but as someone who does enjoy a good YA fantasy novel, it was alright. I'd recommend reading through this so you can get to Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, as Bardugo pushes away from the tropes of the genre more in her more recent novels.

I'd give the full trilogy 4/5 but this is definitely the weakest example of Bardugo's writing! I'd almost recommend starting with Six of Crows (my personal favorite of the 5 books) just to get a taste of the world lore and get some context before embarking on the Grisha Trilogy.

Definitely a fun easy read. Not remarkable but worth it for the overall quality of the trilogy! If you like the genre, just do it.

I really enjoyed this story. The book was set at a nice space and the world was really developed. I loved all the characters to, and would recommend this book to friends and family. The only downside: the page count. I got this as an ebook and the story finishes at 60% !! The last 40% of the book is just sneak peeks at the second and third book -_- and though that's nice in its own right, I thought I was going to get a much longer read out of the book.