'I was either giggling 'Yes, this is good, this is very good' or screaming at Alina to run for her life. It's just unfortunate I was on an airplane'
In the country of Ravka, a land plagued by a wall of darkness cutting it off from vital ports and cities and wrought with war from neighboring countries, magicians called the Grisha defend their homeland using water, fire, air, steel and glass... Or do they actually have the country's best interest at heart?
Alina has never been anyone special. She's an orphan who grew up with one best friend, Mal, who's the best tracker in the army. She's a child who failed the test which would prove her to be a Grisha, dooming her to a commoner's life.
She's a map-maker not a soldier, and she's certainly not a Grisha. Definitely not a Grisha who has a rare and unique power which people would kill to harness. And she's absolutely not Ravka's last hope against the ever encroaching darkness which is killing more citizens everyday.
Except she is.
Alina suddenly finds she has a astonishing power she never knew was possible, and saves Mal at the last moment before he's killed by terrifying creatures which rule the darkness, called Volcra. Alina is swept away from Mal and her old life and is dropped into the rich and privileged world of the Grisha; a place where they wear fine robes, hold huge balls and feasts and hone their skills.
Who's the person who takes her to this new place? The Darkling; a Grisha who, among many powers, has the ability to plunge everyone into complete darkness whenever he wants. The Darkling is the second most powerful man in Ravka, the King being the only person with more control, and could make Alina richer and more formidable than she ever imagined. He may be the most alluring person Alina has ever met, but could he also be the most dangerous? When Alina suddenly finds herself emerged in a plot which could save or doom her country she must choose her friends wisely and, more importantly, decide whether or not she can trust The Darkling.
I loved this book for many reasons, but one of them is definitely how sassy and funny Alina is. In a lot of fantasy books you get really rich mythology and an awesome plot, but the main character is more of the traditional 'I embrace the challenge and will do so seriously and rarely joke' fashion, which often works because then you have supporting characters to bring humour. But with this book? No problems, because Alina is hilarious. She's the kind of person who always speaks her thoughts so will happily mock herself and mock others. You could imagine Alina being one of your sarcastic, comical friends which for me was nice because I felt like I got her sense of humour and her character.
The second reason I enjoyed this book was the Grisha. There are so many witch, wizard, warlock, spell-caster, dragon-tamer, element-conquerer books out there. You name it, it's exists. But the Grisha was a new take on the idea and I loved how instead of calling what the Grisha studied and practiced 'magic' it was called 'Small Science' and the author gives logical reasons how the Grisha perform 'Small Science'. For example, the Inferni (the Grisha who can make fire) use Small Science to group together combustable molecules in the air and then use flint to set them on fire, instead of it just being 'Poof! I give you fire!' which is quite a nice change.
The Darkling was probably the third reason why I devoured this book so quickly. I actually cannot work out what I feel for The Darkling (never mind the fact you never find out if he has a name besides 'The Darkling'). He could be the kind of character who seems all bad and then turns out to be good and you hate yourself for hating them all along (i.e. Severus Snape, but much sexier) or he could be the kind of character who strings Alina along and then completely breaks her heart and breaks Ravka at the same time. I can't decide because there are factors weighing in each side. But I think The Darkling is awesome, and terrifying. It's a real love-hate relationship you get with this character.
In conclusion this was a fantastic book. The main character's strong, the plot winds in directions you never thought it would and the love interests are interesting (as they should be). I read Shadow and Bone in about four hours and spent most of them either giggling 'Yes, this is good, this is very good' or screaming at Alina to run for her life while she still could. It's just unfortunate I was on an airplane while I was reading.
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