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Saturday, June 6, 2015

BOOK REVIEW : SHADOW AND BONE BY LEIGH BARDUGO!

Hello Readers! Today I'll be talking about Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo!

As I've said on instagram over @readingwithluigi (my bookstagram account) I will talk about it more over my blog, which is what I am doing now!

Let's Begin!




Details:

Title: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Number of Pages: 368

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Published on: June 5, 2012

Format: Hardcover

Price: $18.99 (TBD & Amazon), Php 865.00 (NBS) & Php 855 (FB)
*Prices may change due to different sales/offers.


Purchase the book at:
*I am NOT getting any profit for endorsing these sites



Synopsis:

"Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. 
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy."


About the Author:



Leigh Bardugo is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Grisha Trilogy: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising. She was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University, and has worked in advertising, journalism, and most recently, makeup and special effects. These days, she’s lives and writes in Hollywood where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band. Her new book, Six of Crows, arrives fall 2015. 





Reach the author at:



Review/Rating:

I've read this book unsure on what it's about, having read the synopsis, the synopsis itself doesn't give too much and so I entered Ravka with less information about it. I've met Alina and trust me, this book is worth the read. Here are some of the things that I've noticed (positively & negatively) about Shadow and Bone, the first Installment in the Grisha Trilogy.

  • This beginning started too slow and gave out less information. Starting on a quite negative note, the book started slowly. The beginning also, I believe, was quite confusing as it didn't clearly introduce the world and the way things work in Ravka (which is the main setting in the book). It didn't give out too much 'rules', information, and things that would've made me understand the world much easier. I found myself rereading some pages while reading half of the book to make sure that what I think about their world is true. On the other hand, that was not much of a problem since I ended up understanding things in their world.
  • I loved how each character was established differently and that they make a good story. Let's be honest here, there are a lot of books in which we didn't like the characters but fell in love with story giving it a lower rating than what we would give if we liked the characters and saying that makes the characters so important in the story. Almost all the characters in the story changed a lot and showed a lot throughout the book. Saying them would make me spoil somethings. So, I'll just tell you small things that had a lot of meanings behind it if you have read the book. I don't like what Alina thought of herself during the first part of the book but that didn't make me hate her. I also loved how Mal and Genya changed the story a lot, especially for Alina. I quite like the Darkling during the first part of the book for as he shows little of himself but hides a lot of what he thinks. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the Darkling he's just ugh. I also loved how Zoya, Botkin, Baghra and a lot of characters made a huge change (especially Baghra. Lol.) on how Alina thinks. All in all, I really liked how the characters blended together that made the story so wonderful!
  • The character development is mind blowing. If you have read the book you'll understand. I'm not quite surprised at how Alina changed because there's two more books in the trilogy and she's expected to stay in the story because the story narrates from her point of view but I still liked how she coped though. Mal's transition from the first part to the middle part and to the last part of the book is confusing though. He's like in then out then in again but I loved how he played a huge role on Alina's development. The Darkling, on the other hand is mind blowing. He just revealed a lot of himself. He's very mysterious, very shocking, and he's development (? I think development isn't the right term.) made a huge role on our main protagonist's journey. Baghra is as mysterious as the Darkling. (See what I did there? Hardy har. Lol.) Her character is an eye opener to Alina. Though I'm quite disappointed because she didn't make much of appearance after the 'plot twist'. I love how the characters' changed for better and worse. It just added a lot to the story and what we'll expect from the next books.
  • I loved and was blown away by the twists and revelations. As I've said above, I was blown away by some character revealing what they really want, are, and do. So that characters, changed the story completely. I mean yes, maybe not exactly completely but close to exactly completely. It's like you're planning to go to the bay to watch the 'sun' (get it? LOL.) but you ended up buying Ice Cream in that 'dark' (get it? Hardy har.) convenient store. With just a couple of words from a character, the story and Alina's thoughts changed. Just like that. I was just shocked and blown by what the entire story reveals. I'm trying my best to be non-spoilery so please do read the book and you'll understand what I'm saying.
  • This book is unlike any story you have ever read. This book is so uniquely created! Well besides the fact that there is a female protagonist that loves and finds her strength, everything seems to be so new to me! The world is very out of this world. The powers, the idea of the Grishas. The summoner things. The stag's. Amplifiers. and all of that. It was so amazing and mind blowing. This story is definitely worth the read!
  • I loved how things turned out. Having known that there are a lot of things that completely changed in the book, I loved how the book turned out to be. I loved what happened to the characters though not actually happy. What happened to Alina tho, was very predictable because there are next books in the trilogy. Lol. I'm very surprised about what happened in the last part of the book in which Alina was able to do something. I thought that there were other ways to be able to survive but what she did was something I really love. I may not make sense now (because I'm trying to be spoiler-free) but you'll get what I'm trying to say!
Reading with Luigi gives Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo a


4/5 Books! 
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to try out something new and interesting.


Favorite Quotes:

“I don't care if you danced naked on the roof of the Little Palace with him. I love you, Alina, even the part of you that loved him.” 
“The problem with wanting," he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, "is that it makes us weak.” 
“I missed you every hour. And you know what the worst part was? It caught me completely by surprise. I'd catch myself just walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I'd seen something that I wanted to tell you about or because I wanted to hear your voice. And then I'd realize that you weren't there anymore, and every time, every single time, it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I've risked my life for you. I've walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I'd do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don't tell me why we don't belong together," he said fiercely.” 


My Friends' Reviews/Ratings:

"I really wasn't expecting much about this book, but since my friend loved it, I decided to try it. And boy, was it great. World building is great, although the Russian inspiration is not much, there are pretty good character developments, and the characters are badass. By badass I mean Grisha or not, still functioning in the Badass mode. I can feel that this trilogy is going to be epic like everything would be on Extreme Badass But Believable Extreme Badass mode." - Eriele Japsay gave the book a 4/5 Stars, read the book last April 2015.

"Shadow and Bone, the thrilling first book in the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, was, in every page, an impressive thriller and it was a privilege to have read about Alina and Mal's story which was in every way interesting, swoon-worthy, and romantic. The story of best friends turned into something more is ALWAYS a good one to me." - JM Cabral  (which also has his review over his blog, here.) gave the book a 4/5 Stars, read the book last May 2015.

"Shadow and Bone was an adjustment for me, at the first part of the book, I find it hard to grasp the world within. As the story went through, you can see the character's self-discovery, theor thoughts, opinions, personalities and hidden powers. The story and the concept was good. The writing style is superb. And the character's ships? Oh God. THEY. DON'T. SAIL. How dare you Leigh Bardugo! Just How dare you." - Ray Borja, gave the book a 4.5/5 Stars and read the book last April 2015.

"This first installment of Bardugo's trilogy will make you want for more. From riveting adventures to unexpected twists: The exciting journey of Alina Starkov towards finding her own amplifier and being trapped between the love for her best friend Mal and the so confusing Darkling. I had  to admit that reading this book is quite intimidating. I've done my fair share of research about the Grisha world. I usually have my phone close to me so that I could google every Russian word that I don't understand. I'm very delighted that I've learned so much by reading this. I'm not really into a fantasy lite but not anymore. I would love to read books more  in this genre." - Maria Katherine De Jesus, gave the book a 4/5 Stars and read the book last May 2015.

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So that's it for today's review! I hope you had fun reading this post because I surely did!

Thank you so much to the awesome people above who have generously helped me and contributed their thoughts for you guys! 

Thank you also to you!

On another note, I'm planning to attend #LeighBardugoinPH Book Signing tour which will be happening on June 20 at NBS SM City Cebu and on June 21 at NBS Glorietta 1. 

And I'm so excited to be there! 



I do hope that nothing unfortunate will happen and I'll be able to successfully attend the event!

If you're interested here are more details regarding the signing.

This tour is hosted by National Book Store.

That's it for today! I'll be posting again soon for my Seige and Storm Review (Yes, I already finished the 2nd Book! Lol)


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