Joint Discussion: Shadow and Bone

 

Hello all! We will be discussing "Shadow and Bone" by Leigh Bardugo. Blodeuedd is in red and Carole is in blue.

Author: Leigh Bardugo
Title: Shadow and Bone

Series: The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, Paranormal
Published: June 5, 2012

Pages: 369

Summary:

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.

Discussion:

Literally can’t wait for season 2! Reading this made me even more excited!!

Reading this made me less excited. It ruined it for me *sobs*. Even the Darkling was ruined. I feel the need to rewatch s1 and all its glory.

Oh yesss hubby and I are planning on rewatching S1. This made me excited to rewatch. It’s rare but the show is so much better. This felt like a rough draft of the TV show script lol. 

Omg, yes, it does feel like a rough draft! The show is so much better. The book was for me rather meh and SO many things annoyed me.

The book was super, duper YA. The convos felt awkward and choppy. The show was YA but it didn’t feel like it was. 

Every last thing was super YA. All those things that make some YA books so annoying to read, and that some seem to love. Where to even start?! One of the last things that annoyed me was when Mal got really angry at her for wearing the Darklings colors. Like wtf man, toxic much?!

Oh yes! I get Mal being mad thinking she betrayed him. BUT so toxic. She literally had zero choice. 

Maybe we were supposed to think it was hot that Mal, who had never looked at her, suddenly got super obsessive over her?

He wanted what he couldn’t have. Sure she was a friend but the moment he seen her with teh Darkling he was all “WHA????? SHE IS SUPPOSED TO LOVE ME!” He is a jealous boy. I liked the show version so much better. Sure he was blind to his love to her but you could see it and feel it that he actually cared about her. Here? It felt like she was the only one chasing and yearning. 

Yes it was very one-sided, and I am not a fan of the book Mal now. You do not need toxic people in your life Alina. But then the book Alina was also so very YA. Can¨t say I liked her either.

Oh yeah her whole “I AM SO UGLY” was so annoying. Sure she is no great beauty but I kept rolling my eyes. Obv she has some looks because I think the Darkling was attracted to her and Mal obv was! Again….TV Alina was much more palatable. 

The whole I am mousy, ugly, and everyone else commenting on it. And how she thought she could not be a Grisha cos she was not beautiful. And then the whole how magic changed her, but oh, it only made her hair better and her skin glow…well then you are not ugly Alina, you just need some feed, better haircare and a good night´s sleep. Those parts. Ugly duckling mary Sue

For real! She was in the dirt and mud as a solider of course you will need some good skin treatment and some fatting food. Yepp. She def was an ugly duckling Mary Sue. 

As for the Darkling, well I ADORE Ben Barnes. He is so evil and hot. While book Darkling was boring, grey, and no personality. He was just there and meh. Everyone was meh.

Like we said earlier this felt like a rough draft of the TV script. WHICH kudos to the show they stayed pretty true to the storyline. They filled it with great dialogue and acting to make everyone not meh. 

Great acting, better dialogue, fleshed out characters. They did improve on it so much in my opinion. It was there, just hiding.

Indeed!! I am curious about book 2. Maybe it gets more fleshed out? I feel like this one was rushing. IDK. I’m scared to read book 2. Haha

Nothing happened in book 1, She got discovered, met a mean girl, and then a LOT happened. But however it happens, I can´t wait for S2!!!!! As for reading book 2, meh, not that keen. Maybe we should read the thieves instead, but I feel very meh ;)

Maybe someday we’ll read book 1 of the thieves to see how well the show did. Haha. But yeah, I’m not feeling it anytime soon. We have a whole list of other goodies we want to check out this year!

On to better things! But it was interesting to read this and compare. If I had read it first I would not have been that interested in the tv show.

Yes! For sure a rare gem. Rarely do we get a show/movie that surpasses the book! I loved comparing the two. So it was fun. It does have me excited to get started on the show right now. Maybe I’ll read book 2 after watching season 2 to compare again. Someday. 

I just saw on Fb something like only 20 days left! Eeeeek

Literally jumping for joy! Can’t wait! 

The end?

The end! :D 

About the Authors

Carole and Blodeuedd have been blogging for a long while now. For the last few years the epic duo has been discussing books, watching movies, and even wetting the pen and sharing their stories with the worldwide web. They both love cats, chocolate, and a good story.