Where Genres Collide Traci Dowe YA Author

Book Talk…8/31/18: Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone
Traci Kenworth

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. 2012 Henry Holt & Co. Macmillan Publishing. YA Fantasy.

The blurb from Amazon: Enter the Grishaverse with Book One of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

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.
A New York Times Bestseller
A Los Angeles Times Bestseller
An Indie Next List Book
This title has Common Core connections.
Praise for the Grishaverse
“A master of fantasy.” —The Huffington Post
“Utterly, extremely bewitching.” —The Guardian
“The best magic universe since Harry Potter.” —Bustle
“This is what fantasy is for.” —The New York Times Book Review
“[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp.” —NPR
“The darker it gets for the good guys, the better.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Sultry, sweeping and picturesque. . . . Impossible to put down.” —USA Today
“There’s a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo’s original epic fantasy that sets it apart.” —Vanity Fair
“Unlike anything I’ve ever read.” —Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent
“Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!” —Rick Riordan, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series
“This is a great choice for teenage fans of George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien.” ?RT Book Reviews
Read all the books in the Grishaverse!
The Shadow and Bone Trilogy
(previously published as The Grisha Trilogy)
Shadow and Bone
Siege and Storm
Ruin and Rising
The Six of Crows Duology
Six of Crows
Crooked Kingdom
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
My review: (spoilers)I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Grisha world! It is the story of a girl and a boy who are seen as ghosts, not mattering in life because their orphans in a ravaged world. Then they join the army. Mal quickly rises through the ranks, winning awards while Alina struggles in mapmaking. When the feared Grisha known as the Darkling arrives, he nearly runs Alina over in his carriage. Later when they go to cross the Shadow Fold with his army and are attacked by the Volcra, Alina saves Mal from death with the power of her light. Though he tries to protect her, she is taken to the Palace and thrown into Grisha training and a world of privilege. She is the Darkling’s darling. Soon, she finds herself attracted to him but then her trainer who happens to be the Darkling’s mother tells her that her son is the Black Heretic who created the Shadow Fold. If she stays, he will make her a slave once he captures the legendary stag and makes her a collar of it. She flees in the night and Mal finds her, deserting the army to help her.

I loved the characters. The Darkling is fearsome. Alina is a brave girl. Mal is steady and heroic. The world is deep and immersive. Sometimes it’s hard to remember all the terms but I enjoyed the story nevertheless.