Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Shadow and Bone

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Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

22 reviews

marissasa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I actually enjoyed this read a lot more than I thought I would, just from my limited knowledge of what this book and series is as a YA fantasy from the early 2010s. Although I didn't get attached to any of the characters, I was still interested in Alina's storyline and felt like I could continue reading quickly and easily as the plot progressed.

Maybe I'm just not into villains, but I wasn't surprised by the Darkling's actions at all and I didn't like his moments with Alina from the start just because I felt like they had no reason or buildup to liking each other. Some of the training chapters felt longer than they had to be, and it felt very YA trope-y when Alina had the vision of the stag in the last act and was able to summon her power over the Darkling's hold in the exact moment she needed it.

Despite these things I still decently enjoyed the book and like it enough to continue reading the rest of the trilogy before I jump on the Six of Crows train.

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goodgraces's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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safety_pin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The book is a hundred times better than the tv show!

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therobinjoyce's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Shadow and Bone really is one of the greatest Young Adult/New Adult fantasy series I’ve ever read.

Not only does it encompass tropes such as the found family, the chosen one, a thrilling love triangle, and friends to lovers, but we also see so many amazing and wonderful creatures and countries through the eyes of her characters.

The writing style is just incredible and so easy to read. It sucks you right into the story. All of the characters are so diverse but so well written, their character arcs providing just the perfect amount of tension and fulfilment.

There’s still a debate open whether this series will have me leaning more towards darklina or malina but I’m so excited to dive into Siege and Storm and find out.

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shaylee_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

This book was nothing like I expected, I had expected to have to push myself to read this book because I had heard that it was pretty boring and that it wasn't very good but honestly I disagree. I had no problem getting into this book and I actually found it boring although the ending did get kinda slow but other than that it kept me hooked the whole time and I just could not put it down.
I know a lot of people don't like this book because they don't like Alina the main character and they just didn't really connect with any of the others but I was the exact opposite. I loved Alina yeah she could make some stupid chooses and was very easy to manipulate but honestly the reason I liked her so much is because she reminds me alot of myself… like seriously we are pretty much the same person. I also really loved Gyna and found her to be a really good character that I just loved and want to know more about.
I went into this book fully expecting to fall deeply in love with the darkling like everyone else and well… I did. He's just so dark and amazing! I just can't help but love a villain and he was just… something else and I can't wait to learn more about him.
I still don't 100% understand the magic system and everything but hopefully that will change once I read the next books but I don't think me not understanding it affected me enjoying the book.
There is one thing that I didn't enjoy and that was her relationship with Mal….

Like honestly I didn't give two craps if Mal died or not at the end because we barely get to see him the whole book and when we do see him he's kinda of an asshole. Instead of not only building up his character and their relationship we are just supposed to believe that they are in love with each other and give a crap if he dies. I think I would have cared a lot more if we had seen them growing up with each other and actually seen how Mal acted around Alina and the feelings he has for her because the little scenes we do have of them together it seems like Alina is just the girl who loves her best friend and he's just cares about other girls and doesn't even see her in that way instead of seeing him loving her and just not wanting to admit it

Another then that all together I really enjoyed this book and felt like it was a great introduction to this world and story. It has definitely done its job and has me hooked.

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greenapplescented250's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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rayne_1906's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

3 hours 15 minutes - I was very much on the fence about whether to rate this 4.25 or 4.5, but I eventually elected to go with the higher of the two. This came as a surprise to myself, as I really struggled through the first 25 pages of this book, after which point I put it down for the night. I came back to it the next day, a little apprehensive and demotivated, as it hadn't really made me want to carry on reading at that point, but I am glad that I did. From that point onwards, there was rarely a dull moment. The writing was clever, in making you feel and believe exactly what the main character did, which led to some really good plot twists. Speaking of which, there were multiple times in this book where I thought, ahh yes I know where this is going, and then the story changed in front of my eyes, but in a way that made sense, no plot twists for the sake of plot twists. One downside to this book is that there is a lot of terminology, in another language, that often isn't immediately described, or wasn't at all to my recollection, and sometimes it all became a little hard to keep track of. I think this is what put me off initially, right at the beginning. However, this quickly became an amazing read, and left me many times thinking how much I loved the book while reading it.

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gay_wizard's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

The world-building in this book was fantastic! The characters however fell a bit flat for me. They weren't developed nearly enough in my opinion. As the protagonist, Alina is neither particularly likable or unlikable; she just exists to drive the plot. Because the magic in this world is intriguing and the characters weren't so bad as to drive me away, I would still recommend it, but I'm hoping the next book will delve more into the characters and flesh them out a bit.

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nadiana's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

2.4/5 Stars.

Many years back, this book made me fall in love with reading as well as the entire genre of fantasy romance. As far as I was concerned, it was a guilty pleasure, and even after this re-read, I must say, it still is.

Not a lot of strong feelings are connected to this first book but I don't know if that's going to change once I re-read Siege and Storm. However, having watched the Shadow and Bone netflix trailer previous to re-reading this made the whole experience way better, especially concerning the book's main ship which I felt more connected to than ever before.

Leigh's writing obviously isn't the best this early in her career, but all-in-all it was an easy and quick read, just a tad bit below average considering the story, plot, execution and pace. The ending felt very rushed as well, and honestly, this book could've been longer for more developed plots and character arcs which would've probably made the story a whole lot better.

However, I'm still searching for that perfect guilty pleasure book, and quite honestly, I'm getting obsessively desperate at this point...

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ibbswibbs's review against another edition

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relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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