Shadow and Bone ~ Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha Verse #1)

[WARNING: This review contains spoilers]

★★★★☆

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! lol I should have known that a character who literally goes by "the Darkling" would turn out to be evil, but alas. I gotta admit though, even though there seems to be no hope for them, because, well, the Darkling is like super crazy and controlling, man, I still kind of want it to happen for some reason. I mean, I like Mal, but the Darkling is so dazzling 😍😍😍 but I guess that was the point. I'm still under his spell.[lol I should have known that a character who literally goes by "the Darkling" would turn out to be evil, but alas. I gotta admit though, even though there seems to be no hope for them, because, well, the Darkling is like super crazy and controlling, man, I still kind of want it to happen for some reason. I mean, I like Mal, but the Darkling is so dazzling 😍😍😍 but I guess that was the point. I'm still under his spell. (hide spoiler)]

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.