Book Review: Shadow and Bone Trilogy

Shadow and Bone is a teen/young adult trilogy written by Leigh Bardugo set in a world called the Grishaverse. The three books in the series are Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising.

*Very Small Spoilers*

Overview:

Shadow and Bone introduces us to the main character of the series, Alina Starkov, and her best friend, Mal. She begins the story working in the First Army as a mapmaker before she is thrust into the world of the Grisha by one known as “the darkling.” He discovers her after her unit attempts a trek across a horrifying section of land called The Unsea. On The Unsea, Alina and her unit are attacked by creatures called volcra. It is revealed that Alina has the power to summon light, and is deemed a Sun Summoner.

The book’s events pick up from there. We discover what life as a Grisha is like in Alina’s home of Ravka. She is taken to a place called “The Little Palace” beside the actual palace of the king of Ravka where she trains as a Grisha. Her life becomes forever changed from here.

Review:

Story:

The first book in the series moved along at a fairly steady pace. I was able to remain interested throughout and finished it in a few days. The second book, however, took me much longer to muddle through. It started out okay, but the middle seemed to drag on. It was filled with backstory, logistics, planning, and all the not-so-fun stuff. The book would have been better had it been broken up by some action, romance, or something to keep my attention. Thankfully, towards the end, the story picked up again and I was able to finish strong.

Characters:

Alina

The characters are pretty well fleshed out. Alina is someone that I enjoyed reading about. She goes through a lot of changes and moments of discovering who she is that help make her a relatable character (although unfortunately, I cannot relate to being able to summon light as much as I’d like to be able to!).

The Darkling

The darkling also is a character that I’ve grown to enjoy reading about. Without giving away too much, the reader is put through many hoops while learning about the darkling and his past. This changes our perspective of him. He is not one-sided or flat, there is a lot to be learned about him and it all makes up who he has become in Alina’s story. I do wish that the author spent a little more time developing his story and maybe showing a chapter or two from his side. We see a tiny bit into his past, but I feel like there should be more to it.

Mal

Mal is meh. He is your average cute, muscular, protective, love interest. Also, he is a bit sexist and has the AUDACITY to judge Alina based on the fact that she is Grisha — not something that she can control or change. There is one specific scene in Shadow and Bone that sealed my view of him, and I could never go back. He was upset with Alina for being happy when he expected her to be suffering. And then, he was also upset because she might be in a relationship with someone else when he himself had never shown any interest in her prior to that moment. Like, you do not own her, check yourself. She deserves happiness as much as you. He doesn’t get any better throughout the series, in my opinion.

Nikolai

Nikolai is my favorite character. He comes into the series in the second book and he is great. He overshadows the darkling and Mal, in my opinion. If it wasn’t for him, Siege and Storm would be a complete waste of time to read. That book had too much fluff happening, not enough important pieces. Nikolai is fun and witty and makes the book bearable.

Ending:

I won’t give anything away, but I was not a fan of the ending. It seems a little forced because of the way everything is tied up so nicely with a bow. I felt there was a lot of build-up leading to a too-small bang. Ruin and Rising was much more fast-paced than Siege and Storm and much easier to read, though.

Rating:

3/5 stars. It had all the bones and characters for a good story, however, it lacked substance. It felt very simple compared to Leigh Bardugo’s other series, Six of Crows. So, if you are to read the Shadow and Bone series, I recommend reading it first and then the Six of Crows series. Otherwise, you expect much more from her, and it just doesn’t deliver.

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