The grief flooded through me, dissolving a knot that I hadn't even known was there. I closed my eyes, feeling tears slide down my cheeks, and I reached out for the thing within me that I'd kept hidden for so long. I'm sorry, I whispered to it.
I'm sorry I left you so long in the dark.
I'm sorry, but I'm ready now.
Alina, an apprentice cartographer serving at the front of a protracted war, unleashes a surprising power to save Mal, the boy she loves. This brings Alina to the attention of the government who hope to use her to save the country. She's separated from Mal and packed off to magic school where she is supposed to learn how to use her power. Of course, Alina's a terrible student, the other (prettier) girls make fun of her, and she doesn't feel like she belongs. And then there's this older guy, very dark and powerful, who makes her feel a bit funny but can't seriously be interested in her because she's Not Good Enough for him. So there's that.
I don't really know how I felt about
Shadow and Bone. While it clearly wasn't the best book I've read this year, I certainly didn't hate it. Admittedly, I spend much of the novel distracted from Alina's story by questions of how much Revka was really meant to be fairytale Russia and what the Grisha were actually wearing as, in
this universe,
kefta isn't a coat or overdress or whatever ... it's a delicious mixture of ground lamb and spices. Somehow, I don't think they're all meant to be emulating Lady Gaga. I think I kept trying to make Revka real, but it's
almost Russia-ness kept getting in the way, and that's led to my ambivalence.
That said, I really did appreciate how Alina only became pretty and powerful by coming to grips with her feelings toward Mal and by accepting the gift she had so long suppressed ... not through the Tailor's skills or somesuch. Mind you, her keenness on acquiring an amplifier was a bit frustrating. So, again, ambivalence.
Shadow and Bone is the first book in a trilogy and, ambivalence be damned, I
have placed myself on hold for the second,
Siege and Storm, when it comes out in June.
Shadow and Bone (Book 1 of the Grisha Trilogy) by Leigh Bardugo (Henry Holt, 2012)