Shadow and Bone: The Collector's Edition (Shadow and Bone Trilogy)

Product Information

The moment our lips met, I knew with pure and piercing certainty that I would have waited for him forever.

I was hoping for some non-sensical Russian-like grammatical mistakes would be corrected, but nah, male Morozova, otkazat'sya were all there. Although nobody was getting drunk on kvas at least, or did I miss it? I'll start with a confession: I bought this book based solely on the cover. Yup, that's it. I studied Russian in college and grew to love everything about the country and its people, so I was completely drawn in by the cover's prominent onion domes the way a moth is drawn to an open flame. Much like the unfortunate moth, I was met with disappointment, as the story wasn't nearly as unique and exciting as the cover would lead one to believe. Spoilers follow. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? If only the story was as intriguing and interesting as the premise would suggest. There's nothing new here. That isn't always necessarily a bad thing; common tropes can still be very successful when executed well, but that isn't the case with "Shadow and Bone." The plot boils down to the same tired story we've seen again and again in YA novels: a normal, plain (or so she thinks) girl finds out she has an incredible power and gets to play dress up while training to use her special ability, all while trying to decide who she really loves: her best friend or the supernatural bad boy that has just walked into her life. Many other clichés can also be found: Alina's parents are dead; Alina has no female friends...in fact, she automatically hates every girl or woman she sees; everyone sees Alina as desirable or enviable; and the list just goes on. If you've read much YA, you'll likely be able to predict most of the events before they happen, as there are very few (read: no) surprising twists. This story has been done before, and it's been done better. Honestly, I think the concept of this book is a little 2010 Harry-Potter-ripoff. You know those books with the ten camps? The twelve districts? The seven pies that my grandma used to make? You know what I mean. In all seriousness, I think this world [especially having read SoC] has a lot of potential for political intrigue, but I don’t yet know to what degree this series will go there. I hope it goes there. I hope everything is morally ambiguous as hell. I’m here for it. I enjoyed the writing of this book. I enjoyed the story and the plot. I liked all the characters. I can't think of anyone in this book that I didn't like. I can think of one thing that I didn't like about this book at all...

Customer reviews

Read from the beginning with this beautiful deluxe collector's edition of the first novel in the worldwide-bestselling Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. This edition features brand-new artwork, a hardcover slipcase with exclusive design, a ribbon pull, and more. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

A pretty confusing character. Overall he’s well built. He doesn't have that much room in this book, if we don't refer to the many mentions and thoughts in Alina's mind, of course. I read the romance aspect of this book entirely differently the second time around. During my first read, I did not get what was the big deal about Mal. I liked him and I loved his friendship with Alina but I didn’t fall for him (or the Darkling, really, but that’s another story) the way other readers did. During my re-read. YEAH. MAL. I’M THERE. I really got to know him better in SIEGE AND STORM so that made my connection in this re-read stronger but WHOO BOY, that best friend romance thing going on there…. *fans self* How was I not more into this during my first read!? I don’t understand. Because best friends falling for each other is a trope that I luuuurve and I was totally on board with it during my re-read. I also felt less love-triangley about the Darkling because knowing what I know now, it seemed more like a power play than a romance and I had it in my head that way more happened than it actually did in the book. Since I already knew about the world-building side of the book, I did pay more attention to the romance this time around which hadn’t really seemed to play a big part for me during my original read. There's a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo's original epic fantasy that sets it apart." -- Vanity Fair Now I'll talk about the plot itself. Well, It’s interesting. True, the plot reminds me of some books I have read in the past, but I do not judge it because there are quite a few people who are drawn to similar ideas. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the plot is copied or unoriginal.I couldn't believe any of the words I had read. I just stared at my Kindle for a few moments. Wait...what? What about the kisses and the moments that Alina and the Darkling shared? I admit that I like Mal more than the Darkling, but it was still an intriguing relationship. And the way it was written was just flawless. I was sad to see it go, but if the Darkling had been lying about his goals, he wasn't good for Alina anyway. The biggest issue with this book is actually NOT the utter fail at correctly incorporating the Russian elements into the story. Another negative - sorry - is the rather silly obsession with looks in the novel. For one, I couldn't give a damn about the various vanities of the Grisha women; for another, it annoyed me how Alina seemed to equate her worth with her looks from the very beginning. She denies her power can possibly exist because she isn't a luminous ball of hotness like the others. But, as with good old plain Bella Swan, everyone falls in love with her anyway. To be honest, that is an unfair comparison because Alina - even with her faults - is a far more interesting character than Bella. But still, get a grip on yourself. And douse yourself with some badassery so you can stop being such a wimp because so far this world is looking awfully like the disappointing one of Grave Mercy. I’ve risked my life for you. I’ve walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I’d do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don’t tell me we don’t belong together,” he said fiercely. He was very close now, and my heart was suddenly hammering in my chest. “I’m sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”

While it is completely okay and acceptable for your Main Character to be ugly-skinny, both males MUST be strapping fine specimens of their species. Ripped and buff. No skinny-minnies allowed. The characters as well, overall were good - but not so much, not all of them. If it weren't for The Darkling (and a little of Genya, too) I think it goes without saying I loved the writing. The descriptions were vivid, easy to visualize and thankfully, not overdone (I'm really hoping there will be a map in the finished copy. Please tell me there's a map waiting for me!). The book is told through Alina's PoV, so we get a first hand account of the happenings. And boy are there some happenings! I'll tell you one thing, Bardugo can write a kissing scene... well. And the romance? Man, I just loved the romance. It was so sweet and by the end it just tore at my heart!He paused in the act of pulling on his gloves, and I pressed my lips together nervously. “I didn’t mean –“

I must say, re-reading SHADOW AND BONE really proved to me how amazing SIEGE AND STORM was. As someone who wasn’t a fantasy reader before, I very much appreciated the whole revelation of having powers, learning how to use them in that almost boarding school-type setting, and the romances involved but reading all of these things a second time and especially after reading SIEGE AND STORM came across totally differently. Honestly, TOTALLY. For one, I already knew Alina had powers and exactly what they entailed, so I wasn’t as interested in the figuring out process so much as paying attention to the other details that I may have glossed over in my first read. The whole learning process actually wasn’t as appealing to me the second time around, I think because I really already knew how it happened so I was ready to dive into more character development of secondary characters which didn’t happen as much in the first book as it does in the second. SHADOW AND BONE is very much about Alina and about Mal and about their ties to the Grisha so my impatience didn’t exactly pay off haha. But of course, it was still enjoyable to go through that experience again! And, I swear, the last example (of many on my list). The name of this trilogy - The Grisha (in the book, the Grisha are magic wielding army). Grisha is actually a short form of the male name Grigori. Come on now, no better ideas, no better words to call your magicians other than this random personal name? Or "otkazat'sya," which in Bardugo's interpretation means "The Abandoned." In reality "otkazat'sya" is a verb which translates into "to refuse." That is why I am saying that even the words made up by the author make no sense, linguistically. When Alina comes too, she finds herself in the Grisha tent. Confused, she tries to play off what happened on the ship. There was no way she could be Grisha. She had been tested as a child and wasn't. There was simply no way. But the Darkling has other views on the situation. The Darkling is the leader of the Grisha. He is the ruler of the Little Palace and corresponds with the King himself. He has dark gray eyes and a handsome smile that everyone seems to fancy. ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. As always, this review expresses my honest opinion of the book. No gifts or monetary funds were exchanged for a review. a) It should be pretty easy to find information about its culture and language, including a native Russian speaker beta-reader, perhaps.Bagrha is Alina's teacher. She helps her control her power and pushes her incredibly hard. Almost too hard. There are times when the Darkling comes in and snaps at Baghra for pushing Alina too hard. The Darkling and Baghra have a very tense relationship, and Alina wants to know why. The Darkling and Alina have been getting closer and closer. But when she asks about Baghra, the Darkling just shrugs it off. Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country's magical military elite--and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift. To get the full effect you have to mix up all the ingredients and let the dough rise for at least half an hour. Well and then you just mix it all again! *lol* SO many people recommended it, and I honestly feel a bit awful with the low rating - but ehhh, what's the point of goodreads if I can't rant?