Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
358 pgs, Jun 2012
Physical book
Summary from Goodreads

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 lonely 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.

My Thoughts

I finished this one in a day (it was a day in which I also worked 12 hours). 

Orphaned as a child, Alina and her best friend Mal have been drafted into the army.  During a dangerous mission through the Shadow Fold, the army is attacked.  When Mal’s life is in danger, Alina demonstrates a power that no one – including Alina – knew she possessed. 

Suddenly Alina’s entire life changes. The Darkling is thrilled with her power. She’s ripped away from Mal, the only constant in her life and into a somewhat pampered life in the palace.  While in the palace she begins training on how to use her power and other combat skills, she constantly feels out of place and is terrified that she won’t be able to catch up from not starting training as a child.  Alina also misses Mal terribly, but letters to him go unanswered. 

Basically, I loved this story.  I struggle with fantasy sometimes.  I think I read to fast – skimming too many necessary descriptions to be able to really picture what’s going on.  I did not have that problem reading Shadow and Bone.  Leigh Bardulo did an excellent job of integrating the descriptions into the story so I never went into skimming mode.

The established relationship between Alina and Mal is well done and the loss of that relationship really compounded the loneliness Alina felt during training.  I also thought the growing relationship between Alina and the Darkling was well done. He’s so secretive that he’s intriguing and you’re never quite sure what to think of him.

My Rating
Enjoyability (4.5 out of 5 stars)
Relationships (4.0 out of 5 stars)
Writing (4 out of 5 stars) 

This book will stay with me at least until I read Siege and Storm for sure. Very, very solid Trilogy opener.

Top Ten Tuesday–Books from Santa

Every Tuesday the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish host a book related Top 10.

This week’s top 10…Books I want Santa to bring me.  This top 10 varies daily, but at this very moment this is my list for Santa.

What about you?  What are you hoping to see in your stocking?

Books that Lack Research

A recent discussion with my friend Elizabeth on Twitter made me really think about one of my bookish pet peeves that I’d never really discussed until now. Lack of research.

I will never write a book. It’s not a skill I have or even feel like I can develop – writing this blog frequently feels like it’s taxing my writing abilities. But if I was a writer I think the one thing I’d be good at would be researching facts necessary for the novel so I didn’t get them wrong. And it’s inevitable that research is required unless every character is a version of yourself.

I’m a pretty big sports fan and I know several other readers who are too. Readers and sports fans are not mutually exclusive groups, but I have read several books where the author clearly didn’t research ANYTHING about the sport before putting it in the book. As a reader it’s distracting when you read something like, “I was a 37th round draft pick. That’s kind of a big deal.” The character was referring to the NBA.

At this point instead of my brain staying in the story (it’s a book I love BTW and have read multiple times) I get distracted and my brain goes through that following thought process.

The NBA draft has only 2 rounds. The only major league draft that I can think of with that many rounds is the MLB and even then the 37th round is definitely not a big deal. Odds are you’d be toiling in single A ball for a few years before getting cut or quitting cause the money sucks.

While these errors might seem minor to the overall story, they distract me as a reader, taking me out of the story while my brain says, “That’s not right”. It’s frustrating, especially with the ease of acquiring the information in this day and age. One word. Google.

This problem is not limited to sports, but it’s the most frequent offender for me. I could also talk about the book that quoted prices for an emergency rental of a small Lear jet and the price quoted was about a quarter of what it should be but that is pretty random info for me to have – although I don’t think I’m the only reader who noticed.

Any topics you are a subject matter expert on that authors frequently fail to research properly?

Top 10 Tuesday–Favorite Books of 2014

Every Tuesday the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish host a book related Top 10 theme.

Cress by Marissa Meyer – I liked Cinder, loved Scarlett, and adored Cress.  The books in the series just keep getting better and I can’t wait for Winter!

Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi – Great conclusion to the series!

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardulo – I don’t think of myself as a Fantasy reader but I loved this (and looking back I’ve read and enjoyed a fair amount of Fantasy at this point)

Landline by Rainbow Rowell – I don’t think Rainbow can write something I won’t love.  Her ability to create characters that I want to be friends with, that I want to shake when they make mistakes because I CARE just amazes me.

Unsticky by Sarra Manning – this is my favorite book of the year.  I read it on the recommendation of Elizabeth at Don’t take my Books Away, but I resisted the rec for way too long because I kept reading the synopsis and finding the summary unappealing.  Wow was I wrong.  Love Grace and Vaughn!

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh – I laughed so hard I had to take breaks between stories.  There’s just something about her sense of humor that just perfectly clicks with mine.

On Writing by Stephen King- This book is half advice on being a writer and half Stephen King’s autobiography both parts are fascinating.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins – These books just make me so HAPPY. 

Tease by Amanda Maciel – Fascinating look into the perspective of the bully.  So impressive that the author managed to make me empathize with Sara almost immediately even while I was so frustrated with Sara’s lack of empathy.

We Were Liars by E Lockhart – Heartbreaking book, but different then anything I’ve read in a long time.  Book that made me think.

Honorable Mentions

I’m about halfway through Throne of Glass and based on what I’ve read so far it will definitely make this list when I’m finished.  Boomerang was so much fun and just what I needed to read when I read it.

When something you love doesn't feel safe anymore

There have been many well written responses to THIS (safe link original website won't get hits).  For more background or other perspectives you can read one, two, three, or four

Here are my not so well written personal thoughts.

I joined a book club five years ago and discovered how much I love discussing books with other people who love books.  It’s fun to find someone who gets excited about the same books I do.  But my favorite months’ of book club were when the book in question was loved by some and hated by others.  It’s an opportunity to understand how other people think, find out what moves them, what offends them; most of all it’s an opportunity to challenge my own thinking.

I’m having trouble putting into words how much finding the book blogging community online meant to me.  In the past three years I’ve probably read and loved dozens of books I never would have heard of without book bloggers.  While my blog has been largely inactive over the last year, my Goodreads and Twitter accounts have afforded me the outlet to discuss, argue, and engage in my favorite pastime with bloggers/friends who love books just as much as I do.

Since the incident last year where Goodread’s deleted several users reviews and shelves without notice and without saving the content for those reviewers I’ve ceased posting full reviews to Goodreads, but have still posted thoughts as I read books and engaged in discussions with other users about those books.  Another thing I appreciate about this community is the minimum of trolls.  I’m not saying they don’t exist (it is the internet), but I haven’t run into them.  Most people genuinely want to discuss books.

I have read books based on well written one star reviews – if the books sound interesting and the reviewers triggers aren’t my triggers I’ll absolutely still read it.  My go to reviews for any book or product are the three stars.  I barely trust five star reviews anymore unless it’s from a reviewer I’m already familiar with J

There are so many ways that the essay smear job in the Guardian disturbed me.  I’m actually getting teary writing this.  I’m not going to get into the stalking.  It shouldn’t be necessary for me to tell people that stalking is bad.  For me personally I’m upset about the underlying issue – what has been a safe place to discuss books no longer feels safe.  It also doesn’t feel like it’s there for the readers anymore – it’s just one more promotional tool.  After reading the hack job mentioned above I did check the original one star “review” that triggered the author’s craziness.  First of all I doubt “Blythe” the reviewer even counted what she wrote as a review.  She read 28% of the book, intermittently commenting while reading about the things she was finding disturbing.  When she gave up at on the book she gave it a one star rating (same as I do with a book I DNF) and wrote “Fuck This” in frustration in the review section.  To me she wasn’t reviewing – she was finishing her comment log of her reading experience.  When other people responded to her reading log, “Blythe” politely gave well reasoned explanations to why she felt the way she did.  The people responding to her did the same.  It was a civil intelligent discussion – EXACTLY what I’m looking for from Goodreads. 

So now I’m uncomfortable with discussing books on Goodreads unless I absolutely love them (not even three star reviews are safe from the likes of Kathleen Hale).  I’m thinking that the safest option is to post under a pseudonym…oh wait.  Nevermind.

Top Ten Tuesday–Swoon worthy books/couples

 

Every Tuesday the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish give a top 10 topic up for discussion.

This week’s topic is Swoon worthy books and it’s definitely a topic I can get excited about.

Levi & Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – I’m a broken record where Rainbow is concerned – I don’t think anyone develops a relationship as naturally as she does.  Since I knew this was going to be a tough week for me to pick just ten I limited myself to one couple per author, but it was a REALLY hard choice.

Cricket & Lola from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins – I love Cricket.  Seriously the nicest guy.  And Lola wasn’t perfect, but she was perfect for him.

JohnAfter & Meg from Going to Far by Jennifer Echols – Serious sexual chemistry for a book where the characters don’t have sex.  Yikes.

Perry & Aria from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi – Very well developed relationship, especially for a dystopia where there is so much other stuff going on.

Scarlet & Rhett from Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – In my mind Rhett is the original bad boy who falls in love.  This one is a heartbreaking swoon novel, because their relationship definitely develops slowly and naturally, but is doomed by each character’s pride.

Edward & Bella from Twilight by Stephanie Meyer – I’m embarrassed to put this on here, but I read this knowing none of the hype – literally saw it on a shelf (pre-blog) and thought “haven’t read a vampire book since high school” and decided to give it a shot.  I was seriously obsessed – this relationship took over my mind until I had consumed the entire series.  In hindsight I recognize the relationship as totally flawed, but while reading, not at all.

Tris & Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth – Pretty much ditto what I said for Aria & Perry.  Please ignore Tris & Four from Insurgent (I’m not planning on reading Allegiant).

Ben & Molly from Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl – This was my first ever contemporary romance novel.  I didn’t expect to buy the relationship, but ended up falling in love with both characters (with a side of really hot sex).  Definite SWOON.

Adam & Mia from Where She Went by Gayle Forman – These two broke my heart and put it back together.

Macy & Wes from The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen – I loved their games of Truth and the way they both helped each other through their respective issues.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books that will Make You Cry

Every Tuesday the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish host a book related Top 10 theme. 

 

This week’s Top 10 topic is Book that will make you cry  Books make me cry so frequently that I barely notice anymore.  So this is a surprisingly difficult topic for me.  I tried to mix in a few funny books that will elicit laughter tears.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells – I vividly remember bawling through this one.

Comeback by Claire and Mia Fontaine

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris – Laughed so hard I cried.  And so did everyone else in the car

The Last Summer by Ann Brashares

 

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The Bean Trees/Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

 

Superfudge by Judy Bloom – Read this to a little kid.  Their laughter will be contagious and you’ll laugh/cry.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson – I don’t remember for sure, but I don’t think I actually cried.  I had that feeling like I wanted to cry and couldn’t get the tears out.  It’s worse.  But a great book.