Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Page Count: 356 pages, Hardcover
Date Published: June 5th 2012
Find it on Goodreads: Shadow and Bone
Source: Won (Thanks Brad @ BookYAReview!)

Alina Starkov doesn't expect much from life. Orphaned by the Border Wars, she is sure of only one thing: her best friend, Mal--and her inconvenient crush on him. Until the day their army regiment enters the Fold, a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. When their convoy is attacked and Mal is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power not even she knew existed.
Ripped from everything she knows, Alina is taken to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. With Alina's extraordinary power in his arsenal, he believes they can finally destory the Fold. Now Alina must find a way to master her untamed gift and somehow fit into her new life without Mal by her side. But nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. As the threat to the kingdom mounts and her dangerous attraction to the Darkling grows, Alina will uncover a secret that could tear her heart--and her country--in two.

GUYS. GUYS. GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

OH. MY. GOD.

You know that feeling when you're in a reading slump and it seems like nothing can get you out of it? That's how I was before I read Shadow and Bone. I could not pick up a book and stay interested, until I picked up this one. Right from the start, with the haunting "Before" scene that then leads into full on epicness,  I was hooked. I could. not. put. this. book. down.

Right off the bat, we are thrusted into a world of magic and intrigue as we read the short introduction that shows Alina and Mal in the orphanage, waiting to be tested by the mysterious Grisha. And then we jump several years forward, to the pair travelling with their army regiment into the dark and terrifying Shadow Fold. When a book starts off with a crazy amount of awesome like that, all I can say is:

Shadow and Bone was thrilling and captivating and it absolutely blew my mind. I was amazed at the way Bardugo executed her story in such a way that kept me wanting more and more, while her characters were so well-rounded and had me feeling so much for them. I loved Alina. She was a brilliant protagonist, with a bad-ass attitude, but she wasn't hard. She had feelings and she cried and she swooned... I felt like she was someone I could relate to, even though her world and situation was wholly different from my own. She got scared and sad and yet she also fought hard and stuck to what she believed in. Definitely a top protagonist on my list.

Then there was the Darkling...

I KNEW SOMETHING BAD WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BUT I TRIED TO CONVINCE MYSELF NOT TO AND YET IT DID AND AHHHHHHHHHHH HE IS SUCH AN EPIC VILLAIN OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND YET I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE'S BAD OR GOOD OR JUST SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN AND HE JUST NEEDS TO GET HIS ACT TOGETHER OR WHAT. I JUST AHHHHHHHHHHGHHHHHHHH

Okay, sorry about that. Ahem.

Usually with villains, I despise them. I don't feel much for them, because of their despicable behaviour and yet, with the Darkling... I just can't decide. I mean, I hate him. I do. His plan is horrible and he's not a nice person, at all. AT ALL. But at the same time, he just.... ahhh. I can't decide on how I feel about him! He had me swooning one minute and then freaked out the next and I just...

Okay, I'm going to move on before I combust.

Finally, there was Mal.

The thing with Mal was, at first, I didn't like him. He was just kind of... there. But then, BUT THEN he all of a sudden redeemed himself for me and I was hooked. Mal was a really interesting character for me and I'm so excited to see more of who he is and what his story will be like in the next book!

Okay, enough about the characters.

This review is getting pretty lengthy, but I'll just conclude by saying that this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Shadow and Bone kept me guessing the whole way through and had me captivated from the very beginning. I was impressed by the detail and the history that Bardugo put into the story and the fact that the world was so well developed made me very happy. This was a well rounded story, filled with action, fantasy, romance and mystery. The Shadow Fold  sounds like my ultimate nightmare and that intrigued me. Darknesss... as a place? With scary creatures running around inside? CREEPY.

Shadow and Bone surpassed my expectations and I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it. Now, I'm going to tuck myself into bed and start Siege and Storm! YAY!

Also, I just want to shout out a huge thank you, again, to Brad and Macmillan Kids for the awesome giveaway!

Happy reading!
~Kristy