My next book review: Shadow And Bone by Leigh Bardugo!🩵🦌🖤
Started: 28/06/2026 Finished: 02/07/2026
Front cover of the book!⬆️
Spoiler warning: There will be some spoilers, so I suggest you read this book before reading my review. You have been warned..
The plot was great and reasonably paced. We read this story in the perspective of Alina Starkov, who was a mapmaker and soldier in the first army of Ravka. But she was then found to have powers as the one and only Sun summoner when entering the shadow fold and then was taken to be a part of the second/ the darklings army. It was interesting to see Alina grow into more power and the darklings true intentions being slowly revealed. And I also loved the best friends from childhood to lovers romance between Alina and Mal. They are so sweet, it was wonderful how much they fought for each other throughout this book and seeing them discover their love for one another, was one of the good parts of this book.(everything else, interestingly horrifying and sad) I liked the action whenever there was(which was sparse but still good) and there were many tense moments that put me on edge. Especially the ending(spoiler), I’m so glad Alina and Mal were able to get away, but for how long with the Darkling having access to the first and second army. Well I’ll find out when I read the next book, which will be immediately!(Hehe)
I love the world building of this book and all the GrishaVerse books I’ve read so far.(the Six of Crows duology I’ve read before) But for this book; very immersive, unique and interesting. I loved learning more about the grisha powers and how big of a part they play in the King of Ravka’s second army. (More like the darklings army, read the book to find out what I mean) And hearing more on how the other kingdoms thought, treated and used them, was heartbreaking and sickening. The kingdom of Ravka was describe well and had interesting locations. The grand and the little palace, Kribirsk , Tsibrya and the shadow fold to name a few. Speaking of the shadow fold, this is one of the things that also continues to intrigue me the most. It’s a darkness that acts like an ocean/border in Ravka and from within had creatures made from lost humans to the fold called the Volcra. With the Darkling/The Black Heretic being responsible for its creation. How the shadow fold was described was very well done and put me so on edge the two times Alina entered it. One more thing was the amplifiers made and used from animal bones, pacifically Alina’s being made from an Morozova’s stag. Such a beautiful creature that also was only used for power. I hated what the Darkling and his guards did to one of them to obtain the bone. Because of this fantastic and interesting world, I can’t wait to continue this trilogy and continue to learn more about it.
Alina- I love her! She is a wonderful, interesting and relatable character to read from. Her character development was great(I do feel it could have been better paced) and I was easily able to connect with her. Specifically about her hiding and pushing down her own power just so she could stay and be with the people she cares about.(Which is heartbreaking in so many ways) Loved how she became more confident in herself and when she also began to realise the darklings true intentions, until Bahgra informed her about everything.(I hope she is okay, Alina doesn’t know what happened to her after leaving the little palace..🙁) She cares so much and tries to be her best for everyone and it’s heartbreaking on how so many people took advantage of that. But I feel she learned to be the best for herself and then for people who choose her despite being the best or not just as “the sun summoner”. (ie. Mal, Bahgra and Genya!♥️) She is an incredible character. I’m excited to immediately continue reading from her perspective in the next book!🤎☀️💙
Mal- Even though he only appears in the beginning and then fully when we got close to the end.(because of Alina being taken to be a part of the second army) He was still a wonderful and interesting character to read about. It was heartbreaking seeing how he was treated for trying to help Alina.(Yes he committed treason…but he did it for very good reasons and for his woman!!) And he cared so much for her, especially when seeing the letters from him. (in the bonus content at the end) He was always willing to risk his life for everyone he loves and the way he became protective of Alina was heartbreakingly sweet. I can’t wait to read more about his character again in next book!🩵
The Darkling- An great antagonist. I don’t usually write a lot about the antagonists, however the darkling horrified me in such a way that I had to write about him. His view of the world, with him and Alina being the answer to peace was so demented and very well written. I was so suspicious and uncomfortable with all his actions in the beginning. I felt he was manipulating Alina and was proven right when he forcefully kissed her. (That was just the start of what he forced her to do.) He is so power hungry and greedy, but also very terrifying in his power and knowledge.(which makes sense because he is apparently hundreds of years old. But also uncomfortable after finding out afterwards that Alina is apparently 17 in this book.😬) Even his sincere moments I feel now was just fully manipulation.(ugh! I hate him!!😖) And yet, he is still an intriguing character in an horrific way. I am interested to see how he continues to go after Alina and Mal, now after they have just barely escaped him and what he will do next.(I hope he also gets defeated and dies by the end of this series. And his true identity is revealed)⚫️
My favourite characters: Alina, Mal, Genya, Botki and Bahgra.🤍
This book was incredible, interesting and horrifying. It had a great and reasonably paced plot, amazing characters, a horrifying antagonist and fantastic world building. I’ve head many people say that that this book is Leigh's earlier work because of the writing, which I can tell and will agree. However!☝️By reading the six of crows duology before, you can see in comparison on how much she improves. The writing was overall great, with the plot being a little stagnant in the middle, but it did pick up in pace and had more action by the end. Which all in all, I find inspiring. I would say the strengths/highlights of this book was the characters and world building. I’m still invested enough that I really want to continue this trilogy, gladly I have the next book, Siege And Storm, already in my hands to read! I’m eager to see what happens next in Alina’s story !🖤🦌🩵
Divider’s credit to; @wallpaper-and-bannerz , @cursed-carmine , @saradika-graphics and @zaldritzosrose ! Thankyou!🤍
The back cover of the book!⬆️
As I said above, I will be continuing this trilogy!🤩I have planned to read all three books in a row, which I always love whenever I can! Let’s see what happens to Alina and Mal!(I hope their love grows even more!) And what the Darkling is going to do next…(Nothing good, as he is the antagonist after all.😅)
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