natalie_jade'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? Yes
3.0
emwestm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
starereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
kaitlin_hansen's review against another edition
5.0
I haven’t read YA in a really long time, but this was a fun and quick read. It definitely gave me some nostalgia for the YA fantasy novels of my childhood (Eragon, Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, etc.)
myah1142's review against another edition
5.0
I really thought Alina and the Darkling would fall in love yk? But i <3 Mal! I was so confused in the beginning with all the weird words, i had no fucking clue what was going on half the time
rstein3170's review against another edition
5.0
Not sure why I didn’t read this sooner?! I loved every second of it - kept me highly invested the whole time and so what if some things were predictable I thought it was great! Nothing too flowery and I felt immersed in this other world and I’m excited to watch the series now and read the next few books!!!
foxandkit's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
i thought this was a really strong start to a new series. i didn't LOVE love it, which is why it isn't a 4.5/5 star read. but i am definitely going to continue with the series and am excited to read more by leigh bardugo. i thought that the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out, especially alina and mal during childhood - they definitely needed more than just the prologue. especially because it wasn't a super long book, there was definitely room to do so. i also thought the settings were a bit limited and would love to see more of the world but that's fine because i now have the whole grishaverse to look forward to finding out more! excited to continue and very excited to eventually get to six of crows.
sephranix's review against another edition
2.0
Re-read June 2020:
Two stars. One for Baghra who takes no shit and one for David who cares more about making cool shit than Genya trying to distract him. And one of these characters shows up on page twice in this whole fucking book, so that's about how this review is going to go.
I'm buddy-reading this series with a friend right now. The first time I read this series, I could only get through the first two books in this trilogy, [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1339533695l/10194157._SX50_.jpg|15093325] and [b:Siege and Storm|14061955|Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1362166252l/14061955._SX50_.jpg|19699752]. At the end of the second, I could not bring myself to care enough to read the third, [b:Ruin and Rising|14061957|Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392398530l/14061957._SX50_.jpg|19699754].
On my second read through, this book still has a lot of issues that I find hard to ignore. But I want to start first with the fact that the ebook I read had 384 pages, but only 231 pages were the actual book. Literally 153 pages of excerpts from book two and [b:Six of Crows|23437156|Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459349344l/23437156._SY75_.jpg|42077459]. What the actual fuck? Apparently the book came across as really short, so you had to pad the file to make it seem like it was a more developed story? Or you knew this one was kind of crap so you pray that someone gets through it and at least reads the 86 page excerpt of Six of Crows, which was a good book?
At the heart of it, this book could have done with a great deal of fleshing out. The premise is nice, and I liked the idea of it being based on Russian folklore, but there wasn't enough world-building and not once did I actually care about Alina or her struggles with the Grisha. She had no redeeming personality traits, and there was no real backstory aside from the fact that she was an orphan and grew up with Mal. The story felt so rushed. I wanted to know more about the Grisha! I wanted to read about her training, what kind of theory she had to learn, GIVE ME TRAINING WITH BAGHRA.
And then, let's talk about the Darkling. Because she literally spent her whole childhood hearing how the Darkling is like... evil, basically, but this followed the classic YA trope of, "he's evil, but OH NO HE'S HOT."
You've known him for a couple months and actually interacted with him a handful of times. Just UGHH. Also, all of the time Alina spent training with Baghra was wasted. Baghra could have been training her and earning trust and telling her about the Darkling ahead of time, but nooooo.
Let's face it. I'm probably not going to enjoy this series any more the second time around, but at least I can write some angry reviews?
Two stars. One for Baghra who takes no shit and one for David who cares more about making cool shit than Genya trying to distract him. And one of these characters shows up on page twice in this whole fucking book, so that's about how this review is going to go.
I'm buddy-reading this series with a friend right now. The first time I read this series, I could only get through the first two books in this trilogy, [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1339533695l/10194157._SX50_.jpg|15093325] and [b:Siege and Storm|14061955|Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1362166252l/14061955._SX50_.jpg|19699752]. At the end of the second, I could not bring myself to care enough to read the third, [b:Ruin and Rising|14061957|Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392398530l/14061957._SX50_.jpg|19699754].
On my second read through, this book still has a lot of issues that I find hard to ignore. But I want to start first with the fact that the ebook I read had 384 pages, but only 231 pages were the actual book. Literally 153 pages of excerpts from book two and [b:Six of Crows|23437156|Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459349344l/23437156._SY75_.jpg|42077459]. What the actual fuck? Apparently the book came across as really short, so you had to pad the file to make it seem like it was a more developed story? Or you knew this one was kind of crap so you pray that someone gets through it and at least reads the 86 page excerpt of Six of Crows, which was a good book?
At the heart of it, this book could have done with a great deal of fleshing out. The premise is nice, and I liked the idea of it being based on Russian folklore, but there wasn't enough world-building and not once did I actually care about Alina or her struggles with the Grisha. She had no redeeming personality traits, and there was no real backstory aside from the fact that she was an orphan and grew up with Mal. The story felt so rushed. I wanted to know more about the Grisha! I wanted to read about her training, what kind of theory she had to learn, GIVE ME TRAINING WITH BAGHRA.
And then, let's talk about the Darkling. Because she literally spent her whole childhood hearing how the Darkling is like... evil, basically, but this followed the classic YA trope of, "he's evil, but OH NO HE'S HOT."
Spoiler
OF COURSE HE BETRAYED YOU, YOU FUCKING WASTE OF SPACE.You've known him for a couple months and actually interacted with him a handful of times. Just UGHH. Also, all of the time Alina spent training with Baghra was wasted. Baghra could have been training her and earning trust and telling her about the Darkling ahead of time, but nooooo.
Let's face it. I'm probably not going to enjoy this series any more the second time around, but at least I can write some angry reviews?