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Shadow and Bone

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Shadow and Bone

By: Leigh Bardugo
Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
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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 her 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.

©2012 Leigh Bardugo (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Royalty Heartfelt Paranormal Teen Fiction
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I picked up this book for its fantasy elements – Shadow and Bone introduces us to a divided country called Ravka, besieged by the myth and magic. Leigh Bardugo’s vision for Ravka felt wonderfully cohesive – with Russian sounding place names and slang, and good explanations were offered for the Shadow Fold and other anomalies.

Alina’s ‘narration’ was full of personality and wit, and terms like “miserable oaf” leap off the page. I liked Alina although at times she lacked confidence. Mal’s character was initially presented as a womaniser and it wasn’t until the last third of the novel that I started to warm up to him.

The storyline throws you a few curveballs, which was a great surprise. These stopped the story from coming across as too sedate (despite it’s slow, plodding pace) and leant depth to the novel. I enjoyed the hints of romance and the scattering of action sequences, but it was the lack of certainty which really kept me on my toes.

I am interested to see where the sequel will take us. My ‘stab-in-the-dark’ prediction: Siege and Storm will somehow feature the King’s second son who was off training in the army during the events of Shadow and Bone…

Interesting YA Fantasy Debut

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Very interesting world and captivating plot but at times was predictable. The Narration was weird sometimes couldn't tell when the protagonist was speaking or thinking as the narrator used the same voice. Sometimes had strange moments where they sounded like a different recording partway through narration like it's been edited. Also found it strange that a lot of the characters from the same country spoke with American accents (often the main characters) but some of the people then spoke with Eastern European accents and a lot of the words sounded Eastern European. The narrator should have gone all the way with the accents or not at all.

Don't get me wrong I would read this again but I wouldn't listen to it again. I would still recommend it.

Pretty good but narration was weird

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Picked up this book after watching the excellent Netflix series 1. Was surprised to find the book and tv show are widely different with the TV show being a lot more fleshed out with characters brought forward from later books. I did enjoy the book, the narration is very good and many parts are very well written but there is just far far too much of the 'will they won't they' between Alina and Mal, Alina and the Darkling and Alina and the prince. So much so that it's infuriating, like an even more indecisive Bridget Jones. I may not have enjoyed this book as much if I'd not seen the TV show but I have picked up the second in the series so that says something.

Shadow and Bridget Jones

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There were aspects that I loved about this book- the world it created, the characters and the narrator's performance. However, some of the pacing of the book and the love triangle trope I really could have done without. I loved Six of Crows so I really wanted to like this book. But it just wasn't for me. I can imagine I would have loved this as a teenager but reading it in my twenties it wasnt a good fit.

Imaginative World Building

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Wanted to listen to the actual book after loving the Netflix series so much and it really lives up to expectations! Lauren Fortgang is a brilliant narrator, I really enjoyed this story and will be reading the next ASAP.

Fab

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