Book Review - GrishaVerse Book 1, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Last year I got the TikTok app, and it did not take me long to find the book side of TikTok, called BookTok. BookTok is a community of readers sharing their favorite books, opinions on books, and their recommendations for what they feel are the "best" books. One recommendation I saw repeatedly was Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, the first book in the GrishaVerse Trilogy. I'd read Ninth House by the same author in October and loved not only the story but the writing style Bardugo had used as well. Shadow and Bone was not going to be exactly like Ninth House, but, I had hoped that the writing style and the story development would be similar in both execution and depth, so I added the whole box set to my Christmas list. 

Bardugo was building a great story in the first half of this book that I was enjoying. However, by the end, I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by the resolution and a little disheartened by the number of clichés used. Now cliché's do have their place, and I can appreciate them when used in ways that make sense, but I didn't feel the clichés used added much substance to the story. 

In Shadow and Bone, we meet Alina Starkov, a simple and unassuming cartographer with the army, preparing with her regimen to attempt a trek across the Shadow Fold. However, while in the Shadow Fold, in a moment of high intensity, it is revealed that she may be the fabled Sun Summoner. Whisked away at the command of the Darkling, the leader of the Grisha and second hand to the king, Alina must now come to grips with the fact that there is more to her than even she knew about herself. As her powers grow, the Darkling promises to bring her the greatest amplifier, one that will make her even stronger than she could ever hope to be on her own. However, when there are whispers that there may be more going under the surface, Alina has to make a choice, will she follow the path the Darkling is preparing for her or the one that will take her away from the only place she has ever belonged. 

One-Line Takeaway: 

People can be more than what they limit themselves to believing they are.

Favorite Quote

"I wonder sometimes how much we really understand our own gifts" - The Darkling (pg 144)

Things I liked - 

I am a sucker for a well-done magic system, and just like in Ninth House, Bardugo did not disappoint. The Grisha's magic system, which they call the "Small Sciences", is based on the idea of manipulating things around the user at a fundamental level. For example, one group called the Inferi have the ability to call on the chemicals that are naturally combustible in the air around them and use those elements (and the flint to create the needed spark) to control fire. For Alina, as the Sun Summoner, she calls to the light around her and controls it. As Alina learns more about how Grisha powers work, the reader learns more too, slowly building the information. This gradual explanation is an element that I feel is key when creating a magic system. With any magic system, the trick is to provide enough information so that the reader understands how the magic works, but leave enough information out so that there is still some mystery. Bardugo has done a wonderful job creating the rules to the system, while also showing there is a depth to the magic system that the main character doesn't quite understand yet. 

I thought there was a great message that Bardugo was trying to get at in this story, and that message is that we need to own the power and the strength that we each have within ourselves. Alina has this amazing power to summon light, but we find out that she's been suppressing that power inside herself for all these years, and it not only affected her emotionally but physically as well. This idea is relatable because when we try to hold ourselves back, that can be very destructive to our health and well-being. Once Alina accepted and welcomed the power within herself, she improved physically and emotionally, which I think is a great message for a young adult audience to see. 

Lastly, Bardugo is a purposeful writer, small details mentioned have purpose and reason, they're not just details that come up once and never get brought up again. Things like how Ivan got his amplifier and the scar on her hand are mentioned very early on in the story, and they come back up throughout. I even found myself checking back to confirm these were things mentioned initially because the last third of the book took me a little while to get through so I had forgotten some of the smaller details in the beginning. Small purposeful details in writing can elevate a story from being good to great because it shows attention was put into even the smallest of details.

Things I didn't like - 

For stories where is a lot of very specific information to keep track of, as a reader, I prefer the author add an appendix or reference guide so that I can keep the information straight; unfortunately, Bargudo did not provide this in the first book. For example, the Grisha are broken up into three groups and then further broken up within those groups. Each group is distinguished both by a kefta (a robe of a particular color that each group wears) as well as the embroidery on the sleeves of the kefta. I found myself constantly trying to keep all the groups straight and eventually began writing all of the information down. I love detailed world-building, which Bardugo has done wonderfully, but the more intricate things are in the world, the more necessary I feel it is to provide a guide for your readers so that they can understand the world and further immerse themselves into the story.

The thing I had the hardest time with was the way the midpoint conflict was handled. The first half seemed to be building to something that hinted at revolution. There were lots of mentions about tension; between the Darkling and the King, as well as between the Grisha and the King's soldiers. It was also mentioned that the common people had begun to worship Alina as a near saint for being the Sun Summoner. These things all seemed to hint at possible revolution coming. That was not the case. The midpoint conflict was a classic uncovered secret betrayal conflict, revealed to Alina by a side character. The conflict itself does not bother me, I'm all for a good betrayal conflict in a story with characters you want to like, but it was the way that Bardugo handled the conflict revelation that I had an issue with. Something should have been done to make this conflict unique, to help solidify Alina's motivations. As it was, I found myself confused why Alina would take the word of someone else rather than confront the person who was alleged to be only using her. A poorly handled conflict makes for a less than interesting story, and in true form, this time I lost my interest.

Lastly, the resolution was not the payoff that I think the reader deserved, partially because, by that point, Alina did not impress me as the main character. I like for main characters not only relatable but to be someone that I could look up to as they overcome their struggles. I especially feel this way about young adult fiction. However, Alina is not a character I would want my future daughter to emulate someday. She will have this great moment and realize there's more to her than she believes, but then two chapters later Alina goes right back to self-doubting and having a pity party for herself, wondering if she's making the right choice. This is not something I think people should emulate. When someone makes a choice, they should not constantly be doubting themselves or pitying themselves for making a hard choice, they make the choice, accept the consequences that might be a part of that choice, and then begin looking to the future, preparing for the next choice. Alina does not do this, and that bothered me slightly. By the time we get to the ending, while the resolution scene itself was interesting, this was not the payoff I thought the reader deserved. The resolution was short and felt very sparse compared to the rest of the book. It didn't leave me with this feeling that there was more to this story. By the end, I was honestly surprised Bardugo wrote two more books in the series plus a companion duology. However, in true reader fashion, I will be reading the other two books because I hate leaving a series unfinished. 

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5

Shadow and Bone is not a book I would recommend to anyone without giving some advanced warning about what I felt was an overuse of uninteresting clichés and the lost opportunity in the way the conflict is presented. I do not judge Bardugo's work as an author on this one book alone. While I did not think it was a particularly interesting story, it cannot be denied that many people have enjoyed it and that I have enjoyed other works by Bardugo. The things that made me love Ninth House were things that Bardugo might not have been considering when Writing Shadow and Bone, but just as you can't judge a book by its cover, you cannot judge an author by a single book, and if these two books only showcase how much Bardugo's writing has evolved over the years, then I cannot wait to see what book she will be putting out next.