Sunday, September 8, 2013

Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Update: I felt like nerdaliciousfangirl.blogspot.com (my original url) was really wordy and a mouthful. Also, it didn't have any connection to books, so this new url seems to be nice :) In case you are confused, I changed my blog website address today from nerdaliciousfangirl.blogspot.com to universeofyabooks.blogspot.com

Fun, right? Anyway, I hope you like it! In order to link up Bloglovin' profile to here I have to add this as well: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Anyway here's my review over this (amazing) book! I can now say that this book is apart of the list: Books Everyone Told Me to Read but I Never Did. IT WAS SO GOOD!

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
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.


Confession time: I actually haven't read many fantasy books lately, mainly because I felt that many of them were just . . . drab. Thankfully, I finally picked up this book and it inspired simply all the feels. ALL THE FEELS.

Whenever I read a good book, I always seem to want to talk about the characters, because characters seem to make or break a book for me. They're hard to perfect, shape, and mold, but when they are done right, they create masterpieces.

The main character, Alina, really kicked some butt. She wasn't afraid to realize when she was being used, or when the situation needed to be turned around. However, I feel like the problem with stubborn characters is that they can adapt to the surroundings, sure, but can they adapt to the characters? I felt like one thing many YA heroines could work on is gettin' a little more philosophical thought into their minds. What makes a villian? Why do I see him as a villian? And vice versa.

Mal, her soppy love interest, wasn't even present for most of the book, and yet, he still made our heroine go downhill. He turned her into some love-struck fool, blundering around like a 'Bella Swan'. (Yes, that was in purposefully set apart from the rest of the sentence to create a separation between items- it's as if Bella isn't an actual character. Which she shouldn't be.) In conclusion, I'm not a fan of Mal. (I thought he was a girl for at least twenty pages, for cryin' out loud!)

The Darkling, though, I DID LIKE, lemme tell ya. He wasn't swayed by anything or anyone. (I'm on Team Darkling, if that exists.) His character was really dark and stubborn. He wasn't willing to see any way but his own, but all of the characters were that way.
I don't want to drag this on too long, so I'll cut it off here! Thanks for checking out universeofyabooks.blogspot.com!

Over and out,
Nerdalicious
(I'll keep that part just for kicks)

1 comment:

  1. OMG.

    I FEEL YOU.

    I read this when I was on a reading slump as well, and I was quite hesitant because everyone's been hyping it up but hypes don't always work for me! HOLY. I was reading up till 3am and I'm like "I NEED TO FINISH!!!" I love a character-driven story and I love how Alina, the Darkling and other side characters are developed in this story. The whole Grisha world was overwhelming, really need the next book!!

    Finally someone who isn't Team Mal! I don't like that guy much-- he disappears for 90% of the book and expect me to root for him? Nope. Not happening. I'll forever and always be Team Darkling. Even with that revelation in the end. Him and Alina make the most enigmatic pair ever, but I have a feeling that now how the series is going to turn out :/

    In any case, great review! And your new blog name is (Y)

    Alicia @ Summer Next Top Story

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