Magic swirls at the heart of everything, depending on your perspective. There's darkness and there's light. But what if darkness, and brightness, had physical manifestations, both of which required special magic? It is these kinds of ideas that give us the fascinating genre of fantasy, and these specific questions that bring us to Shadow and Bone. But, truly, the question at the heart of Shadow and Bone is how much anyone can be willing to sacrifice for the sake of belonging, as articulated by the author herself. Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author of fantasy novels, her most notable being those involved with the Grishaverse. Those include the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, The Language of Thorns, King of Scars and The Lives of Saints. She's also received critical acclaim for her novel, Ninth House, which, along with some of the Grishaverse books, will be soon coming to TV! You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at her website, www.leighbardugo.com. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Leigh Bardugo's work, you can find them all here.
We dive into the Grishaverse with Alina Starkov, a soldier for the Ravkan army, scared of her first trip across the Shadow Fold, the physical manifestation of darkness. When her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes magic she had no idea existed within her. She is pulled from her regiment and trained with the Grisha, Ravka's magical military elite. There, she makes a friend in Genya Safin, a Tailor, and falls under the watchful eyes of the Darkling, the leader of the Grisha. But when Alina makes a startling discovery about her new life, she has to choose: save her country, or save herself and what she loves?
Alina is one of the best fantasy main characters I think I've ever encountered. She doesn't really think she's anything special, and, if she'd never found her magic, she probably wouldn't have been special at all. But when she is dragged into the world of the Grisha, she mourns her simple life, despite her love of her blue kefta. She's not instantly brainwashed by all the Grisha splendor, because she knows what life is like outside the Little Palace walls. She's not pretty and she's not insanely talented at pulling out her magic at first. I loved all of this about her, because it made her relatable, and realistic. I especially adored how, near the end, she still believed that she was weak. Despite everything she'd learned, she still didn't believe in herself, which I think is so representative of how so many people see themselves. But, she still learned her self-worth. It was okay that she couldn't save her country, but that she could save her childhood best friend, because that's what she believed herself capable of, so that's what she did. I believe that had she tried to save Ravka, it would have made her character unrealistic and too altruistic, too fast. I have no doubt that later in the series we might see her start to believe further in herself and her abilities, but this is just the beginning of her journey, and I adored how she tackled it.
Having been a little late to the game with this series, I knew there seemed to be a lot of admiration (among other things) surrounding the Darkling. To be honest, I was quite shocked about the plot twist, because, like Alina, I wanted to believe what I was being shown on the surface. That's another part of what makes this book so true regarding human nature: we want to believe what we see, when what we see is so good. I wasn't expecting the twist, but I also am kind of surprised that the fandom doesn't talk more about Mal (at least from what I've seen)! I personally love his character, and how him and Alina almost seem to switch places when they're reunited: Alina is the one who knows her place and uses it, while Mal is the one having trouble sleeping. I thought that was an interesting commentary on how people who are meant to stay together need to stay together. Of course, the time apart did each of them good, but I'm curious to see where their adventure takes them, and how maybe they'll both be able to grow together further, in a way we didn't get to see as much in Shadow and Bone.
The Shadow Fold is Bardugo's creation of the physical manifestation of darkness and monsters. Alina takes the powers of light. The dark of the Darkling is juxtaposed by the light of Alina, a contrast so obvious, and yet so subtle. They call to each other, as seen by how Alina and the Darkling interact, but they also combat each other, as seen by the ending. Only when Alina believed in herself did her self-worth manifest as literal light in the literal darkness. The fantasy that Bardugo weaves, inspired in part by Imperial Russia, is so symbolic and inspiring. There are juxtapositions between light and dark, power and mercy, love and hate. The Grishaverse, despite being fictional, is a physical thing readers can feel in their hands, because so many of the themes relate to what people feel every day. This kind of fantasy is special for that reason, and can't be taken for granted.
Stylistically, this book was intoxicating. I finished it in a day. Alina's voice is strong, and she's likable, and the story flows off the page. Every plot element, every introduction to a new character, every twist and turn was so strategically placed that the book was literally impossible to put down, even for a second. That's a true testament to Bardugo's writing, which I'd already been exposed to in Six of Crows. I was told that Six of Crows was better than Shadow and Bone and that I shouldn't even bother with this trilogy! But personally, I love Alina's first-person narration, and think this prose is just as strong as that of the Six of Crows duology. No, it's not the same, and each have their strengths. I'm excited to see how Alina will develop through first-person narration, and enjoy seeing the world through her eyes.
At the end of Shadow and Bone, Alina and Mal are reunited, and back to doing what they do best: sticking together. But they can't just ignore the Darkling's power or his reach. How do they plan to save the world, when the Darkling is consumed with destroying it? Stay tuned for my review of Siege and Storm to find out!
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