Review : Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title : Shadow and Bone
Author : Leigh Bardugo
Genre : YA fantasy
Release Date : June 5th, 2012
Publisher : Henry Holt

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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.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

I actually have been meaning to read it since I first notice it on Goodreads (which is like, a year ago), but didn't get chance to until some people on Twitter recommend it to me. I'm so happy that I did it because Shadow and Bone turns out to be freakin' amazing.

The thing that I love most from this book is the setting and world-building. Eventhough it's pretty confusing at first, Bardugo did a great job in explaining it (plus there's a map and a little glossary in the beginning). Also, the world-building is really awesome. When I read it, it feels like I got transported to Ravka--I'm the one who walk in the forest, attend the ball, and fight the volcra.

Not just the setting, I also like the idea of Grisha. Basically, Grisha is like enchanters or wizard. They can control the wind or water or fire, or in Alina's case, she can created light. I have yet to read a book like this, so I think it's refreshing. 

Speaking of characters, let's talk about Alina. Personally, she's not my favorite heroine ever. She's rather plain, and easily influenced. I still enjoy reading from her point of view, though. On the other hand, the villain in this book, The Darkling, is the most complicated character. He's mysterious in every possible way--past, motives--so everytime he showed up in the book, I'm always intrigued. You can say that he's my favorite character (and not just because he's hot)

As I'd guessed, there's also love-triangle in this book. I have to admit that I have no ships in this book, seeing that both ships have a problem--with Mal because I didn't really like him, and with The Darkling being the villain (unfortunately, I already read a spoiler about who Alina end up with, and I'm not happy).  Fortunately, the romance wasn't the focus of this book, so it's not really a problem to me.

In conclusion, Shadow and Bone is a great book and worth reading. I obviously will read the second book.