Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Macmillan
Print List Price: $17.99
E-book Price: $9.99
For hundreds of years the land of Ravka has been divided into east and west by a miles-wide void of darkness called The Fold. Another name for it is the Unsea. Probably because the only way to travel across it is to use sand skiffs which use sails to glide across the wasteland inside the Fold. Within the Fold, no light enters. So once you are inside you can't even see your hand in front of your face. You can use torches and lamps, but you really don't want to attract notice while you're in the fold. For, you see, something or actually, some THINGS live in the fold. Here there be monsters. The volcra, blind, flying humanoid creatures with razor sharp teeth, are attracted to any light source or noise. They are always ready to feed on any voyagers across the Unsea.
Now you might question why, if it's so dangerous, does anyone even try to cross the Fold? It's due to geography. Ravka is hemmed in by hostile countries to north and south and to the east, there is nothing but mountains. Across the Fold lies Ravka's port cities, it's only means to export and import goods, supplies, and wealth. In essence, West Ravka is the backbone of the land's economy. The only way to get across the Fold is to bring armed guards or soldiers, and hopefully, some Grisha.
Grisha are the equivalent to what we would call sorcerors. They don't really use magic though. They simply have the ability to manipulate matter at its most basic level. Kinda more like the alchemists in Fullmetal Alchemist. Some can control the elements such as the Inferni or Tidemakers. Others are soldiers or healers that can effect living things, either positively or negatively. Some are even used in manufacturing. The Fold was actually created by one of these Grisha, called The Black Heretic, who, mad with greed and power, used his powers over darkness to bring the Fold into being. His descendants have spent their entire lives trying to right his wrong and destroy the Fold.
Alina Starkov, a war orphan, was once tested as a child to see if she had any Grisha abilities and came up negative. She's now a soldier in the Ravkan army and is assigned to an escort mission through the Fold along with her childhood friend Malyen Oretsev. The mission quickly goes to hell in the Fold as volcra attack in great locust-like swarms. As her best friend (and love interest?) is about to be killed, Alina lets out a blinding light as bright as the sun and saves her friend and the fleet. It turns out that Alina is a Grisha called a "Sun Summoner" who has the power to control light. It is hoped, that along with the Darkling, the descendant of the Black Heretic, they will be able to find a way do destroy the Fold. But she will have to learn how to use her power and avoid enemy assassins in order to do that.
If you've gotten this far in the review, you might think, wow, that sounds like an interesting book. I thought so too when I read about this novel. I had read good reviews in multiple publications and Shadow and Bone also made the Amazon Best Books of the Month list. I had high expectations, so I wasn't really prepared for the level of mediocrity that I encountered.
The main complaint I have against the book was its saggy middle. Shadow and Bone definitely needed a tummy lift or lipo or something because I quickly lost interest once the book got rolling. After Alina is brought to Ravka's capital city, Os Alta, she sees how the other side lives. Raised as an orphan and then enlisted in the army, her mind is not prepared for the opulence, some might say decadence, of the royal court or of the Grisha. The Grisha are treated like nobility, get very nice living quarters, the best food, and they even all look uncannily attractive. They might even be unnaturally attractive. And now here comes Alina, who is short, pale, and has really scrumpy hair. She doesn't fit. She doesn't belong. BUT she wants to. And that is when this book goes south.
You see, Alina WANTS to fit in, so she starts taking a lot of pride in her dress, lets another Grisha named Genya who seems to specialize in cosmetology and plastic surgery do her hair and make her face look better. She worries about catching the Darkling's eye. Mainly because he's a gloomy bad boy (actually, he's 120 years old, but still looks young and hot). Eat your heart out Edward. She feels guilty for wanting the Darkling because she really loves Mal but when has that ever stopped a foolish romantic girl? Come on love triangle! There were a couple of scenes once she makes it to the capital that made me cringe. It's when Alina "squeals" with delight as she looks at herself in the mirror or tries on new clothes. Yes, she actually squeals. At this point in the book, my mind checked out and my soul probably died a little. I had just finished reading an 18th century novel called Evelina by Fanny Burney, which was mainly about a heroine who spent the whole book walking around and going to parties and worrying about how she looked. When I started Shadow and Bone I was like "Cool, a sassy heroine who isn't afraid to speak her mind or fight". But, as Alina desperately tried to fit in with the Grisha, I thought I was reading Evelina all over again. Except Evelina was well written.
Another unfortunate result of the Os Alta section of the novel was that I came to the conclusion that Alina was dumb and uninteresting. Bardugo hardly hints at what Alina's training consists of. She spends most of her time social climbing. Also, in times of danger, Alina almost always chooses the path of least intelligence. When she's not supposed to reveal herself, she causes a scene. When she's supposed to conceal her power, she uses her power. She reminds me a lot of Sookie from the True Blood novel series. At a certain point, you just realize the protagonist is an idiot and you quit reading.
There is a little world building and the Fold is an interesting premise but it just never really fully forms in your mind. Yes, the author uses Russian names and Russian clothes terms, but nothing about this novel FEELS Russian. It would be like if I wrote a novel and used Japanese names, would that automatically give it a Japanese ambience? No. I didn't see any real use of Russian folklore or anything either, so I don't understand why she used the Russian wordbank when she chose the names her characters and locations.
In the end, it seems like the author tried to write a Twilight type romance and just put a veneer of fantasy over it without really thinking things through or getting too worried about telling a story or creating a living breathing world. It was more about "ok, I want a girl torn between two hot guys", "I want a girl that wants to join a clique, so she has to get made over like in those 90s teen movies", "I want a manga heroine that has to train" etc.
Maybe I'm wrong, because there are a ton of book reviews and readers that love this book. I'm probably in the minority, but I have to say, this book wasn't very good. I definitely will not be reading the rest of the trilogy.
My Grade: C-
Chapters 1-5 are available for free on Amazon Kindle so you can check out the book yourself. Also, there is a video trailer for the book below:
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