Title: “Shadow and Bone”
Author: Leigh Bardugo. I haven’t read any of her work before.
Type of Book: Fantasy, young-adult novel. I’m a big fan of fantasy and that’s what I usually reach for. I just love stories set in imaginary worlds.
Characters:
1. Alina Starkov is the protagonist of the story. She is a teenage girl that discovers that she possesses abilities that may save the magical world she lives in. I don’t find her character unique. Alina’s character fits the trope I am tired of reading. She is represented as an introverted and reserved person. She is described as a shy girl with unattractive features. But suddenly she unlocks the powers inside her and all of that changes. The book is written from her point of you, but somehow I still didn’t get to understand her character that well. As the story progressed, I didn’t feel her character develop. Despite the lack of character development, I connected to her because of the decisions she made. I felt that I would probably make similar choices if I dealt with the stuff she had to go through.
2. Malyen Oretsev is Alina’s love interest.
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The title of the book suits the storyline. The book covers also made me even more eager to read it because of the Russian elements. My main issue with this novel is the world building. I could not imagine the story setting at all. I was really looking forward to a world that is influenced by Russia, but I could just not imagine it with the poor world descriptions. The world is definitely unique and amazing. But it could have been described better. The story pace was perfect. There wasn’t any part that I thought was boring. I enjoyed how the villain of the story convinces you that what he is doing is for the best. The storyline is constantly making you more and more interested in what is going to happen next. It is unpredictable. There were mny twists and turns I did not see