Title: Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Square Fish 2013

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 413

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Modern Mrs. Darcy

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold―a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.

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.

As the threat to the kingdom mounts and Alina unlocks the secrets of her past, she will make a dangerous discovery that could threaten all she loves and the very future of a nation.

Welcome to Ravka . . . a world of science and superstition where nothing is what it seems.

Well… I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it either. There’s some interesting world building that’s hidden in here, but not quite fleshed out at much as I would have like. The characters are typical YA Fantasy tropes, but I don’t completely despise them. I would have liked a bit stronger of a female lead. I would have liked to get to know the Darkling a bit better. Seriously, a few more conversations with him would have gone a long way. I would have liked more action sequences. We only got a bit at the very end. I could have done with less training montages. Despite what sounds like a very negative review, Bardugo kept me wanting to turn the page and find out the next happening in the series. I will be picking the next one up soon. Hoping to read them all to then watch the television show…

Funny story: The last night I was read this, I stopped right after Alina and Mal crossed the Fold. My Kindle said I was 60% of the way through, so I stopped for the night. Turns out, I actually only had the epilogue chapter left and the rest of the pages were filled with previews for two other Bardugo books. Felt very silly sitting down to read the last 40% of my book and it was only three pages.

Shadow and Bone

• #1 Shadow and Bone

• #2 Siege and Storm

• #3 Ruin and Rising

Next up on the TBR pile: