REVIEW: Shadow and bone (Leigh Bardugo)

Hello everyone!

Yes, you noticed right that I am writing an English review after (let me think...) a veeeery long time I would say. I had a new job, also some exams left from last year and the school his getting harder with the last year so I really have lots of things to do. That's the reason why this is my first article after five months (I think? The time flies...) so I wanted my comeback to be magnificent. If you are not sure enough with your English, scroll down to the second part of the article which will be in Czech (pokud si svou angličtinou nejste natolik jisti, sjeďte na spodní polovinu článku) 😊
I hope you will like this review at least as much as I liked the following book...

I guess it's time to tell you the name of the book we will talk about, don't you think? So this review is going to be about Shadow & bone, a book One from the Grisha trilogy written by Leigh Bardugo who became really famous after this book had come out. And it is justly deserved because this book was really really good.


Surely, you won't be surprised that the genre of this book is a fantasy (which is my favourite) and it tells a story about an ordinary girl who lives in a world divided by darkness. She is just a mapmaker in the king's army, an orphan who has nothing besides her best friend. And then one day, after traveling through the dark land full of monsters, everything changes when her best friend finds himself on the edge of death and she discovers her true power. Suddenly she is thrown to a world full of noble dress and high society, balls and power, manipulation and betrayal.. She has to discover the truth about the past of her country and decide what is best for Ravka and for herself and the man she loves.

The story was very well-written and really gripping. There was action from the beginning to the end, lots of plots, tricks and machination which Alina had to go through to discover the truth. I liked the character of Alina more in the second half of the book because she seemed too interested by the life in palace among higher people and especially by the Darkling himself. He was a bit scary and mysterious and I really didn't know what to think about him until almost half the book was over. Then there was Genya, I liked her pretty much, she was kind to Alina and tried to help her (But I can tell you, that I really dislike her in the second book and liked her again in the third 😁). And, of course, Mal- Alina's best friend since childhood who is a tracker in the army. But from the early beginning it is obvious, that to Alina he means something more. He is brave and skilled and though he is popular among his army friends and especially other girls, he never forgets Alina as his best friend.
When Alina becomes a part of the Grisha, Mal is send away to some quest and though Alina writes him letters, he never responds (later in the book you will know why). When they meet again, they argue and in this part I really didn't like him because he seemed to forget her and don't care about her anymore. But when Alina realizes the truth, he is very helpful to her and protective because as you might presume, he loves her too and they are very cute together (at least according to me).

Together they travel across all Ravka so we learn more about the whole country and even the surrounding countries as well as about the shadow Fold and the creatures that live there. The writer has a very vivid imagination and she can describe it so well I can actually see it when I close my eyes (plus the map at the beginning of the book is very helpful too). I love books with maps and this one is really good.

So if you want a fantasy book full of action, love, false, promises, betrayals and twists, this is the right choice for you. And when you decide to read it, I can promise that you will love the rest two books of this series as well because it is amazing!