bibillieophile's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly I got bored after I read the half of the book.
maxinercd's review against another edition
3.0
OH. MY. GOD. Is it possible to hate a fictional character this much?
Something that is really appreciable with [a:Leigh Bardugo|4575289|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1534446099p2/4575289.jpg]'s writing in this trilogy (except the amazing universe of course) is that her characters are human in all senses of the word, they make mistakes, they aren't always sure of what they're doing, they're not always perfectly moral and good... Unfortunately, sometimes there are humans that you just hate. And that's when it comes to Mal.
Okay, so I didn't like the first volume of this series as much as I thought I would but I decided I would still give the second volume a shot. What a di-sa-ppoint-ment. Literally NOTHING happens in this novel, except Mal being :
1) omnipresent
2) overly jealous and possessive
3) toxic and manipulative
Of course, I'm not going to spit in his face without some explanation. The guy is literally making Alina feeling guilty of no longer being the powerless and insignificant orphan as he always knew her to be, being completely jealous of her power, feeling useless (as he should, sorry but... heh) and trying to change her. How selfish is that when we take into account that she is only trying to save her country?
And then, after being jealous of Alina herself, he is jealous of absolutely every guy around her (once again, as he should... I mean have you seen how charismatic the Darkling and Nikolai are?), as if she were some kind of object he possessed. Ahem excuse me Mal, but where have you been all this time when Alina still didn't know she was Grisha? Oh yes that's right, you didn't care about her.
So that's when I move on to their actual relationship. Is that even love? I don't think so. I mean, Alina never knew what love was before, Mal was simply the only man she knew and she grew up with him, so necessarily she loved him, but I don't think she actually was in love with him, simply with the image of him she built up. Otherwise, why would she fall for every other guy she met after him? Cause, let's be honest here : she had feelings for the Darkling and she did as well for Nikolai. I simply think (and this is heavily hinted throughout this novel) that she had some kind of emotional dependency, in the sense that she did not love herself enough not to need someone by her side (which is sad, because, as much as I ship her with Nikolai, I think she would have been so much more badass if she just dumped Mal and ended up alone).
And I mean, what kind of relationship is this? Instead of communicating, toxic little Mal is just turning his back on her, drowning himself in alcohol and engaging in fights. Oh and yes, kissing other girls (behind Alina's back of course), so much for someone jealous! Let's not forget that he kissed the one girl who was bullying Alina back in the first volume, but did Mal know that? No, because when Alina mentioned it he simply didn't care!
Anyways, this isn't against [a:Leigh Bardugo|4575289|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1534446099p2/4575289.jpg] of course, because she also created amazing characters such as Nikolai, whom I'd very like to marry, and (sorry Alina but) who DOES have always the right thing to say. Give me a lot of him, mixed with more Genya and the Darkling and spiced up with some action and the third volume will be a 4/5 (a 5/5 if you kill Mal)!
Something that is really appreciable with [a:Leigh Bardugo|4575289|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1534446099p2/4575289.jpg]'s writing in this trilogy (except the amazing universe of course) is that her characters are human in all senses of the word, they make mistakes, they aren't always sure of what they're doing, they're not always perfectly moral and good... Unfortunately, sometimes there are humans that you just hate. And that's when it comes to Mal.
Okay, so I didn't like the first volume of this series as much as I thought I would but I decided I would still give the second volume a shot. What a di-sa-ppoint-ment. Literally NOTHING happens in this novel, except Mal being :
1) omnipresent
2) overly jealous and possessive
3) toxic and manipulative
Of course, I'm not going to spit in his face without some explanation. The guy is literally making Alina feeling guilty of no longer being the powerless and insignificant orphan as he always knew her to be, being completely jealous of her power, feeling useless (as he should, sorry but... heh) and trying to change her. How selfish is that when we take into account that she is only trying to save her country?
And then, after being jealous of Alina herself, he is jealous of absolutely every guy around her (once again, as he should... I mean have you seen how charismatic the Darkling and Nikolai are?), as if she were some kind of object he possessed. Ahem excuse me Mal, but where have you been all this time when Alina still didn't know she was Grisha? Oh yes that's right, you didn't care about her.
So that's when I move on to their actual relationship. Is that even love? I don't think so. I mean, Alina never knew what love was before, Mal was simply the only man she knew and she grew up with him, so necessarily she loved him, but I don't think she actually was in love with him, simply with the image of him she built up. Otherwise, why would she fall for every other guy she met after him? Cause, let's be honest here : she had feelings for the Darkling and she did as well for Nikolai. I simply think (and this is heavily hinted throughout this novel) that she had some kind of emotional dependency, in the sense that she did not love herself enough not to need someone by her side (which is sad, because, as much as I ship her with Nikolai, I think she would have been so much more badass if she just dumped Mal and ended up alone).
And I mean, what kind of relationship is this? Instead of communicating, toxic little Mal is just turning his back on her, drowning himself in alcohol and engaging in fights. Oh and yes, kissing other girls (behind Alina's back of course), so much for someone jealous! Let's not forget that he kissed the one girl who was bullying Alina back in the first volume, but did Mal know that? No, because when Alina mentioned it he simply didn't care!
Anyways, this isn't against [a:Leigh Bardugo|4575289|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1534446099p2/4575289.jpg] of course, because she also created amazing characters such as Nikolai, whom I'd very like to marry, and (sorry Alina but) who DOES have always the right thing to say. Give me a lot of him, mixed with more Genya and the Darkling and spiced up with some action and the third volume will be a 4/5 (a 5/5 if you kill Mal)!
leftylucie's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
nikkideeley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Alina Starkov’s power is growing but she is on the run with Mal from the Darkling. Will the Darkling catch up to her and final realise his plan to expand the fold and take over Rakva?
A fantastic second instalment in the Shadow and Bone series, this story felt more fast-paced and unpredictable compared to the first book. The introduction of Sturmhold’s character was so fun and I hope to see him later in the series! The turmoil of Alina is well portrayed and you just want to go and give her a hug even when she’s fighting her inner darkness. I can’t wait to read the third book!!
A fantastic second instalment in the Shadow and Bone series, this story felt more fast-paced and unpredictable compared to the first book. The introduction of Sturmhold’s character was so fun and I hope to see him later in the series! The turmoil of Alina is well portrayed and you just want to go and give her a hug even when she’s fighting her inner darkness. I can’t wait to read the third book!!
bookworm_15's review against another edition
5.0
I am in total shock right now. I don't even know where to start. I don't have words to describe how much I loved this book. I love the character development in this book, it really propelled the story to an unimaginable high. And it left my emotions in a shattered mess. It was an amazing book.
merbearmer's review against another edition
4.0
The action scenes were so good and I'm absolutely obsessed with some of the side characters like Nikolai and Tamar. But I had a really hard time getting over how ANNOYING Mal and Alina were. For Alina, I realized in this book that the reason I dislike her so much is because she has basically no agency whatsoever, she just does whatever other people tell her to do. And Mal complained the entire book and treated Alina really poorly. Their relationship is so toxic and they have no chemistry so I wish Leigh Badugo hadn't focused so extensively on them. That being said, I gave the book 4 stars because I really like the universe and Leigh Bardugo's writing is (overall) pretty fast-paced. I was also genuinely shook by a lot of the twists in this book.
gingerrvgers's review against another edition
3.0
Forse andrò controcorrente rispetto alla maggior parte dei commenti, ma a me questo libro è piaciuto di gran lunga più del primo, nonostante anche qui ritorni la pecca di una parte centrale molto (troppo) lenta e introspettiva, senza nessun evento particolare che porti avanti la trama principale. Sarà il carisma di Nikolai a trascinarsi dietro tutto il resto, o la (seppur minima) crescita del personaggio di Alina, non lo so di preciso, ma di sicuro non mi ha annoiato come temevo. Persino Mal in alcune parti è più tollerabile. Unica pecca, l’elemento mitologico centrale (o che perlomeno sarebbe dovuto esserlo) - Rusalye, a cui viene dedicata la copertina - si esaurisce prima ancora che si arrivi al decimo capitolo, a differenza del cervo del primo libro, lasciando il posto a una vera e propria ossessione per l’uccello di fuoco, il terzo elemento mitologico.
ilaria_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75