Review Detail

Shadow and Bone was nothing like what I expected. While I was expecting fantasy and a very old-Russian feel, I got so much more magic and adventure and not as much Russian.

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't LOVE this book the way many others did. I loved the book at first, but several months later I look back and realize it was just an okay book for me. It hasn't stuck in my head.

Alina was a pretty strong character. But there was nothing really remarkable there for me. And the Darkling was always skeevy and wrong to me, even though I wanted to like him so much. It was just too perfect, you know?

I really liked the world they were in. It was well crafted and complex and very interesting and different. It was fascinating and beautifully described. Definitely original and wonderful and I'd love to dive in there again.

I also really enjoyed the ending. Those last couple scenes really stand out to me as fantastic and action-y and insane and just...perfect. It made me eager to pick up book 2 and see where their lives go and how the events of book 1 follow them. And I really want to see more of Alina's world.

While this wasn't a major sticking book and I don't have a lot of passion (or memory) for it, I enjoyed Shadow and Bone and hope to read the sequel next year.