Review: Shadow&Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Shadow&Bone

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: fantasy, young-adult, awesome

Series: The Grisha #1

Pages: 369 (Nook ARC edition)

Published: expected June 2012

Source: from publishers via NetGalley

Rating: 5/5

 

Alina Starkov doesn’t expect much from life. Orphaned by the Border Wars, all she’s ever been able to rely on is her best friend and fellow refugee, Mal. And lately not even that seems certain. Drafted into the army of their war-torn homeland, they’ve been sent on a dangerous mission into the Fold, a swath of darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh.

When their convoy is attacked, all seems lost until Alina reveals a dormant power that not even she knew existed. She is torn from everything she knows and whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. He believes that she is the answer the people have been waiting for: the Sun Summoner. Only her power can destroy the Fold.

Overwhelmed by luxury, envied as the Darkling’s favorite, Alina struggles to keep her wits about her without Mal by her side. But nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her mastery of her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha—and the secrets of her heart.

Impressive. Epic. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. Unique and utterly captivating. Are the superlatives too much this early? But it's not hyperbole: his is the first book in well over a year to keep me up past not midnight, not one am, not two am but until two freaking forty-five in the morning (when I have to work at 7) racing through pages and chapters just because there's clearly no way I can sleep not knowing how things end. Well done, Leigh Bardugo, very well done indeed. This review will be hard for me on two fronts: #1. because I get very closely attached to things (read: books) I love and it's hard to view them objectively and judge merits when inside they (the books) make me feel all fangirly inside #2.  trying to be as comprehensive as I can be without revealing all the extremely well-hidden behind authorial sleight-of-hand plot twists that Shadow&Bone has in store for its lucky readers and soon-to-be fandom.

Alina Starkov is the main character of this Russian-inspired fantasy tale, and she bears the burden quite well. I liked a lot about Alina from the beginning, but I liked most her self-awareness and self-deprecation. Like many YA heroines Alina isn't too self-confident or possessing of a great self-image, but unlike many of her written counterparts, Alina doesn't long to to stand out from the crowd, but rather to belong, to something or someone. In a book of fully complex and realized characters, Alina especially profits from the author's generous characterization.  I can appreciate a heroine who isn't afraid or slow to defend herself and Alina is one of those. Even her predetermined reveal as the superspecial and rare Grisha she is didn't spoil my liking for this strident and grumpy young woman.

Shadow&Bone is a whirlwind of fun, magic, and emotion. Though here, in the obviously Russian-tinged fantasy land of Ravka, what the Grisha and its leader the Darkling (swoon) is not magic, but the "Small Science" - what the author says is the "manipulation of matter at its most fundamental level." But basically what the Grisha and Alina can do is magic. After all, this is a fantasy and what's a fantasy without magic? Though this isn't your typical fantasy, because magic isn't the most powerful. But even the magic feels Russian-tinged with the importance of animals and bones, not artifacts, rituals or incantations. In fact, magic/The Grisha of this novel are on the wane in influences and things like guns and muskets, modern inventions (tsarpunk?) are present, lending a further feel of individuality to this already standout debut high fantasy.

I loved the thoroughly Russian feel that this carries throughout (though as the eagle-eyed Tatiana pointed out, Alina's last name should be properly Starkova, not Starkov.) From kvass, to the exile-bound land of Tsibeya (Siberia, maybe?) to the mysterious and ominious Apparat, a mysterious priest I got definite ~Rasputin~ vibes from, this is clearly a love letter to the largest country, written in the form of a fantasy novel. Even the religion, with its emphasis on saints (aka normal people risen high through their deeds like Alina) as opposed to an unknowable, terrible God/god/gods has a distinctly Russian feel to it. Added to those the tactile and gorgeous descriptions that could be for real Russian palaces and Kremlins, and this is a novel with atmosphere and place-as-character. 

But good worldbuilding doesn't just begin and end with just the setting and location for events - it's in details and thought, in what supports the world that exists on those places created. Shadow and Bone doesn't neglect this important fact: the monarchist Ravka and the world outside it each have differences and an often-bloody history amongst them. The other nations mentioned in passing like Fjerda (reminiscent or influenced by Scandinavian countries), Shu Han (a fictionalized China) and a mostly unexplained place called Kerch complete the picture and engage in centuries-long warfare with the Grisha-backed Ravka. Ravka boasts a thoroughly regimented social pyramid, much like tsarist Russia, as well as a segregated army for defense under control of the Darkling.

This novel gave me severe emotional whiplash - I should sue the author for still not being able to figure out who I like more after finishing. <SPOILER> I love me a charismatic anti-hero with depth and a quirking half-smile, even after all that murder business and betrayal/manipulation. See also: Garald Tarrant from C.S. Friedman's excellent Coldfire trilogy. I should've seen it coming - even their titles are intrinsically opposed to one another, The Sun Summoner and The Darkling. Blinded by my affinity for half-smiles and figures in all black, I guess.</SPOILER> Leigh Bardugo would casually, subtly string me out on a line and then send my expectations and dreams and ships crashing back to a totally unforeseen circumstance, frequently. My sympathies and hopes were ricocheting all over the place/characters - just as she so carefully planned.  When when I thought I'dfigured out the endgame, I turned out to get ten percent accuracy and 90% surprise. Can we talk about an author than can write convincing chemistry and credible couples and intensely hot makeout scenes (..."but all I could think about was his hands on my hips, his lips on my neck, the lean, hard feel of him in the dark." p.236 ARC)? Cause this author is obviously one such. I wasn't struck by the beauty of Bardugo's prose like I am with Laini Taylor or Zoe Marriott, but this is a gifted storyteller who often hits upon just the right phrase/sentence for the moment. SPOILER WARNING: I thought the last sentence in particular was both beautiful and approrpriate. Do not read on if you don't want some minor spoilers that other can be inferred from:

"They are orphans again, with no true home but each other and whatever life they can make together on the other side of the sea."

Perfect ending - the events of book one have been resolved but there's an open-endedness left for the beginning book two. </spoiler>

I also love the paperback cover, its different title and its different blurb:

 Sweeping, glorious fantasy romance about an orphan who must save her kingdom from the seductive and terrifying Darkling. The most compelling romance since Twilight.

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

(The ARC cover is neat, too.)

and so is this one:

Added This Week!

New NetGalley titles I'm excited about:

All These Lives by Sarah Wylie

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky. She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal. And Jena is wasting away.

To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives. Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one. Someone like Jena. But just when Dani finds herself at the breaking point, she’s faced with a startling realization. Maybe she doesn’t have nine lives after all. Maybe she really only ever had one.

 Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

A huge store isn’t the worst place to be stranded. There’s food and water, bedding and books. But what if it’s not safe to leave? Emmy Laybourne had us from the get-go with her utterly fresh and fast-paced debut.

Six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids are trapped together in a chain superstore. Together they build a refuge for themselves inside, while outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapon spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

 After the Snow by S.D. Crockett

 Fifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone.

But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone -- he doesn't have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl -- but Willo just can't do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family?

The Last Song by  Eva Wiseman

Spain had been one of the world’s most tolerant societies for eight hundred years, but that way of life was wiped out by the Inquisition. Isabel’s family feels safe from the terrors, torture, and burnings. After all, her father is a respected physician in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Isabel was raised as a Catholic and doesn’t know that her family’s Jewish roots may be a death sentence. When her father is arrested by Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, she makes a desperate plan to save his life – and her own.

Once again, master storyteller Eva Wiseman brings history to life in this riveting and tragic novel.

Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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 unlikely 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.

The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats

Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.

Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl.

While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.

Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends and neighbors, allow me to change your lives! Step inside Mosco’s Traveling Wonder Show! You’ve read about them in magazines, these so-called human curiosities, this tribe of misfits—now come and see for yourselves. We’ve got a gent as tall as a tree, a lady with a beard, and don’t miss your chance to see the Wild Albinos of Bora Bora! Ask Madame Doula to peer into your future (only two dollars more if you want to know how you’re going to die).

And between these covers behold the greatest act of our display—Portia Remini, the strangest of the menagerie because she’s a ‘normal’ among the freaks, searching for a new beginning on the bally, far away from McGreavey’s Home for Wayward Girls, where Mister watches and waits. He said he would always find Portia, said she could never leave . . .

Oh, it’s not for the faint of heart folks. If you’re prone to nightmares or you’ve got a weak ticker, you’d best move on. Within these pages lies a tale of abandonment, loss, misfortune for the rich and glory for the poor (and a little murder doesn’t hurt). It’s a story for the ages, but be warned: once you enter the Wonder Show you will never be the same.

The Last Romanov by Dora Levy Mossanen

For almost a century, Imperial Russia has captivated the imagination- the ruthless execution of the royal family, the disputed survival of the heir: it's a cinematic chaos that the masterful Dora Levy Mossanen unravels for her readers. Taking readers deep into tarnished grandeur, The Last Romanov follows Darya, a wise old beauty whose time spent with the Imperial family has haunted her entire life. When the murderous events unfold, Darya is plagued by the prophecy made by the Empress's advisor, Rasputin. She must find the missing Tsarevich Alexis Romanov and restore the monarchy or risk losing her own life.

Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives Of Katherine Of Aragon And Juana, Queen Of Castile by Julia Fox

 

The history books have cast Katherine of Aragon, the first queen of King Henry VIII of England, as the ultimate symbol of the Betrayed Woman, cruelly tossed aside in favor of her husband’s seductive mistress, Anne Boleyn. Katherine’s sister, Juana of Castile, wife of Philip of Burgundy and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, is portrayed as “Juana the Mad,” whose erratic behavior included keeping her beloved late husband’s coffin beside her for years. But historian Julia Fox, whose previous work painted an unprecedented portrait of Jane Boleyn, Anne’s sister, offers deeper insight in this first dual biography of Katherine and Juana, the daughters of Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabella, whose family ties remained strong despite their separation. Looking through the lens of their Spanish origins, Fox reveals these queens as flesh-and-blood women—equipped with character, intelligence, and conviction—who are worthy historical figures in their own right.

When they were young, Juana’s and Katherine’s futures appeared promising. They had secured politically advantageous marriages, but their dreams of love and power quickly dissolved, and the unions for which they’d spent their whole lives preparing were fraught with duplicity and betrayal. Juana, the elder sister, unexpectedly became Spain’s sovereign, but her authority was continually usurped, first by her husband and later by her son. Katherine, a young widow after the death of Prince Arthur of Wales, soon remarried his doting brother Henry and later became a key figure in a drama that altered England’s religious landscape.

Ousted from the positions of power and influence they had been groomed for and separated from their children, Katherine and Juana each turned to their rich and abiding faith and deep personal belief in their family’s dynastic legacy to cope with their enduring hardships. Sister Queens is a gripping tale of love, duty, and sacrifice—a remarkable reflection on the conflict between ambition and loyalty during an age when the greatest sin, it seems, was to have been born a woman.

Those are all from NetGalley and waiting to be read, though I am particularly excited by the historical fiction in the set (The Last Song, The Last Romanov, The Wicked and the Just, The Sister Queens). Aren't the covers for The Last Romanov and The Wicked and the Just gorgeous? Shadow & Bone also sounds very very promising - high hopes there and for Wonder Show as well.