Grabbed me and didn’t let go. Pretty easy to read, quick pace. Enjoyed every moment... except for the melodramatic relationship stuff, but then, I’ve never really been a fan of that stuff so... yeah.
I liked the Grisha and their powers and the explanation of their powers. I kind of liked the reveal of The Darkling, if we’d gotten more with him, it probably would have been better. There didn’t really seem to be a villain to the piece until late in the game, but that wasn’t really a detriment to the story. I like villains hidden in plain sight so long as they work well. This one definitely did.
I enjoyed the characters themselves as well. Alina was a good heroine, I think. She isn’t floundering around unsure of herself, mostly, but when she does, it’s believable. I find that refreshing. Genya was probably my favorite. Unabashedly herself, even though she’s in service to the queen and looked down upon. Mal was... eh. There, I guess. He’s not entirely fleshed out.
Anyway, I loved this book a lot. Gotta go read the sequel now.
Bonus TV Show Quick Review
Shadow and Bone is a TV show on Netflix, if you weren't already aware. It's a lot of fun and mixes the Shadow and Bone Trilogy with the Six of Crows Duology, which makes sense from a timeline perspective. It does change some things, the biggest being Alina's appearance. It's not a bad change, to be honest. I quite like the Jessie Mei Li in the part and I feel like she's a lot more enjoyable as a character.
Mal got a bit more fleshing out, but he's still largely just around... which is addressed at the end of the second season, so that's fun. I love me some Jesper. Nina's amazing and I can't wait to see how she progresses in the show. Her book counterpart goes some interesting places. I'm still reeling from the Genya/David thing that I won't spoil... just know it's reel-worthy. I love Bagra in both book and show; Zoe Wanamaker is awesome. I cannot not mention Ben Barnes as The Darkling. I've been in love with him since he played Prince Caspian, so... yeah.
The effects in Shadow and Bone are pretty good. Nothing can match what's going on in my brain as I read the books, so Alina's powers were honestly a little underwhelming in that aspect. Everyone else's powers were just fine. I feel like Alina's were probably the most difficult to get right... there's a lot of aurora effects going on, which kind of makes sense but wasn't what I envisioned. Much shrugging. Adaptation gotta adapt.
This is supposed to be a quick review (might do a longer one at some stage, but I'm not sure right now), so I'll leave off with this: I really enjoy the TV show for what it's brought to screen. I'm a little disappointed we didn't get a lot of Alina in The Little Palace, but they condensed that bit a lot so... eh, it works well enough. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, head over to Netflix and enjoy yourself.
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