infjkiki's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, and Animal death
Moderate: Gun violence, War, Toxic relationship, and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.
It’s been 10 years since Shadow and Bone was first published, and well, the content certainly speaks of its age. Littered with generic themes and tropes, two-dimensional characters and a drama-filled love triangle, Shadow and Bone is your typical YA book circa 2010. Seriously, if you needed a book that embodies practically all mainstream YA books of that era, this is the one. I flashbacked to practically every book within the same genre I had read around that period.
Let’s start with the themes and tropes: your bland Good VS Evil with no greyness, your rigid Light VS Dark (looks like you’ve been forgotten again, Dawn and Twilight), your cookie-cutter “Chosen One” trying to find their own identity while struggling as the Special Snowflake who’s been cleansed from supposed muddy, humble roots. I know it’s difficult to write something new and I don’t expect that at all, but what makes a book different despite the similar themes, is the execution. It’s the emotions, the way the characters are alive and how, despite reading this story so many times already, this version still has an impact because these characters are the ones who leave that impact. Sadly, this isn’t the case here.
Alina is your not-conventionally-pretty-but-actually-is “Chosen One” who’s also the owner of one single brain cell that doesn’t even multiply. Mal is the childhood friend and first crush who’s also a possessive, toxic bundle of insecurities. Darkling acts as your typical manipulative, power-grabbing villain whose main flavours are abusive and sexually aggressive (and, he’s also toxic!!). These are the stars of Shadow and Bone 's complete mess of a love triangle. I’m never convinced by Alina’s “love” for Mal because of how she’s made breathless by Darkling at the next moment, but I’m definitely convinced by Alina’s lust for Darkling because she goes back to moping over Mal’s lack of attention for her right after.
Outside of the love triangle, the characters don’t stand well on their own. They don’t really change or contradict themselves, their complexities are practically zero which makes them flat. They’re simply there as devices to move the story forward to the next plot point, and that’s it! Though, I do like Alina’s moment at the end of the book. She was so ornamental for the majority of Shadow and Bone that that scene was her only flash of three-dimensional character potential for me.
While the author’s writing makes Shadow and Bone an easy read, I couldn’t appreciate the very apparent lack of care for the culture that heavily inspired the book. I’m not an expert in cultures, but I think it is only polite to treat every culture with respect and if you’re going to use a lot of elements from it instead of properly making up most of it, then it should be done with care and respect. It’s fine if some words are wrong (it’d be unrealistic to be an expert in the language when you’ve not learnt it or spoken it), but the most basic thing like names should never be mistaken.
Honestly, had I read Shadow and Bone earlier, back when it was first published, maybe I would’ve liked it more. But, right now, as my present self who has grown and read amazing YA fantasies where they dive deeper into themes, respect the culture they’ve been inspired from and have incredibly human-like characters, reading Shadow and Bone has shown me that I shouldn’t wait for time to ungracefully age hyped books. Nevertheless, I know that Bardugo has grown as a writer with her newer books and I’m excited to dive into those.
It’s been 10 years since Shadow and Bone was first published, and well, the content certainly speaks of its age. Littered with generic themes and tropes, two-dimensional characters and a drama-filled love triangle, Shadow and Bone is your typical YA book circa 2010. Seriously, if you needed a book that embodies practically all mainstream YA books of that era, this is the one. I flashbacked to practically every book within the same genre I had read around that period.
Let’s start with the themes and tropes: your bland Good VS Evil with no greyness, your rigid Light VS Dark (looks like you’ve been forgotten again, Dawn and Twilight), your cookie-cutter “Chosen One” trying to find their own identity while struggling as the Special Snowflake who’s been cleansed from supposed muddy, humble roots. I know it’s difficult to write something new and I don’t expect that at all, but what makes a book different despite the similar themes, is the execution. It’s the emotions, the way the characters are alive and how, despite reading this story so many times already, this version still has an impact because these characters are the ones who leave that impact. Sadly, this isn’t the case here.
Alina is your not-conventionally-pretty-but-actually-is “Chosen One” who’s also the owner of one single brain cell that doesn’t even multiply. Mal is the childhood friend and first crush who’s also a possessive, toxic bundle of insecurities. Darkling acts as your typical manipulative, power-grabbing villain whose main flavours are abusive and sexually aggressive (and, he’s also toxic!!). These are the stars of Shadow and Bone 's complete mess of a love triangle. I’m never convinced by Alina’s “love” for Mal because of how she’s made breathless by Darkling at the next moment, but I’m definitely convinced by Alina’s lust for Darkling because she goes back to moping over Mal’s lack of attention for her right after.
Outside of the love triangle, the characters don’t stand well on their own. They don’t really change or contradict themselves, their complexities are practically zero which makes them flat. They’re simply there as devices to move the story forward to the next plot point, and that’s it! Though, I do like Alina’s moment at the end of the book. She was so ornamental for the majority of Shadow and Bone that that scene was her only flash of three-dimensional character potential for me.
While the author’s writing makes Shadow and Bone an easy read, I couldn’t appreciate the very apparent lack of care for the culture that heavily inspired the book. I’m not an expert in cultures, but I think it is only polite to treat every culture with respect and if you’re going to use a lot of elements from it instead of properly making up most of it, then it should be done with care and respect. It’s fine if some words are wrong (it’d be unrealistic to be an expert in the language when you’ve not learnt it or spoken it), but the most basic thing like names should never be mistaken.
Honestly, had I read Shadow and Bone earlier, back when it was first published, maybe I would’ve liked it more. But, right now, as my present self who has grown and read amazing YA fantasies where they dive deeper into themes, respect the culture they’ve been inspired from and have incredibly human-like characters, reading Shadow and Bone has shown me that I shouldn’t wait for time to ungracefully age hyped books. Nevertheless, I know that Bardugo has grown as a writer with her newer books and I’m excited to dive into those.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Gaslighting, Classism, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming, Kidnapping, Death, Murder, and Bullying
onefineelephant's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
7/10. I think the magic system and even the political system are interesting. However, I usually hate love triangles and this is no exception. I typically love the friends-to-lovers trope but Mal kind of sucks at the beginning. Like, who would sleep with a ton of girls when you're actually in love with your best friend the whole time?? I like Mal more by the end. Also, them confessing their feelings wasn't satisfying at all and fell kind of flat. I think that the character of the Darkling is super fascinating and complex, which I love. I am not a fan of Alina which is really unfortunate because she's the main character - but this is because she is TOO MUCH of a main character. She just wants to fit in when she clearly is unique, she is a peasant in high society, she only has one friend and doesn't get along with other girls (aka she's not like other girls), and she won't kill when it is absolutely necessary. The dialogue is kind of so bad that it's good. Like it's very bad but most of the time it made me laugh because of how bad it is instead of making me say "this is stupid." The ending was awful, in my opinion. I know there are more books in the series but the events of the last 50 pages made me say "what the f is this?" about 8 times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Gore, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and War
Minor: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Self harm and suicidal ideation are mentioned but not acted on. Also, there is an attempted sexual assault but it does not progress further.katiev9beb5's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Torture, Alcohol, Body shaming, Gun violence, Slavery, War, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
georgiaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, and Kidnapping
Minor: Rape, Animal death, Gun violence, Death, Classism, and Death of parent
aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Animal death, War, Violence, Torture, Sexism, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/injury detail, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, and Confinement
emeraudienne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Kidnapping, and Murder
kat_andherbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
it's 6 in the morning, I haven't slept and I'm bawling my eyes out over Mal's letters. given that it was written in 2012, I'll cut it some slack, but Alina is wayyy too predictable for my liking. I hate the typical love triangle with the best friend and the bad guy, she's giving off big pick me energy. I love Mal, he's really sweet and he definitely deserves better. Alina's narrative is too tiring for me, her inner monologue seems repetitive and it's tiresome.
I'm not as eager to get into the next book as I'd thought I would be :/
I'm not as eager to get into the next book as I'd thought I would be :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, and Grief
Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
soph22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Slavery
Minor: War, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
bugzandthingz's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, and War