Bookwhit

“The Darkling slumped back in his chair. “Fine,” he said with a weary shrug. “Make me your villain.”

Title: Shadow and Bone

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Published: June 5th 2012 by Henry Holt and Company

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Stars: 4 Content Rating: 2

Synopsis:

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.

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Oh my goodness! I can’t believe it has been so long since I have posted! I’m so sorry! We have been so busy and we are in the process of buying a house and selling ours. We have had lots of home projects we wanted to finish up before we put it on the market so I have not been reading. ( I know.. so sad) I did find some time with all the said projects to do some listening! I finished Shadow and Bone this week and wanted to immediately start the next book. I had so many recommendations for this series and I’m so happy I gave it a chance. Leigh Bardugo has just become one of my favorite new authors!

This is a story about a girl that has been suppressing her powers her whole life. Since she was a small child to stay with her friend, Mal. She didn’t even know she was doing it. After they grow up and join the army together, they set off into the “fold” with their company. In this world, Leigh has created the Grisha. There are different types depending on what their magic can do. Each are identified as such with what colors they wear. There is a King, with his first army. Then there is the Darkling, with his second army: the Grisha. As Alina and Mal go through the Shadow Fold and Mal gets attacked, her magic breaks loose and saves them. Now that the Darkling has found her, he can set his plans in motion. Alina gets swept away and trained with the other Grisha in drills and learns how to use her power. She is a Sun Summoner and the only one. It’s confusing to figure out this life of luxury or is it only masked as such? Can the Darkling be trusted with his plans of world prosperity and peace or does he have more sinister plans up is sleeve?

I will be honest. I am confused about the Darkling. I really want him to be good. As of how book 1 ended he is the villain. … but I have hope for him yet. I really love how the Darkling is all shadow and dark power. His color is black, and Alina is light and warmth. Their powers balance each other out and they are the only two with those powers. I know there is more that these two are going to go through and I can’t wait to see how it will play out with them contrasting and complimenting each other. It took me a minute to get into this story. Sometimes it just does when it is a new world that you are trying to figure out, but now that I have finished I can’t wait to start book 2. This is a trilogy and I am looking forward to it! Happy reading!