Shadow and Bone (Unabridged‪)‬

I love Bardugo’s world-building of her Grishaverse, inspired by 1800’s Russian Empire.

I'm speechless.

I’m overwhelmed.

I’m in shock.

I’m empty.

I’m broken.

The discovery of Shadow and Boneis as big and life-changing for me as when I discovered Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. I’m not kidding. This book really turned my world upside down.

I love Bardugo’s world-building of her Grishaverse, inspired by 1800’s Russian Empire. Where humans possesses the ability to manipulate the elements of power.

I like Alina. She’s the headstrong, stubborn orphan who is quick-witted and brave. Sometimes she’s a bit naive, but it wouldn’t be interesting if she saw through everything all the time either. Alina is special, she’s in possession of something unique that everyone needs to survive against those evil forces in the dark. Like The Shadow Fold.

«It was time to let go. That day on the Shadow Fold, Mal had saved my life, and I had saved his. Maybe that was meant to be the end of us.»

Hate how obsessed Alina is with her best friend Mal. She really needs to move on and focus on all the other things that is happening in her life - without thinking what Mal might say to that. Mal really annoyes me.

«The problem with wanting,» he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, «is that it makes us weak.»

The Darkling is my favorite character, though. I might have a weakness for older mysterious, cruel and persuasive guys. I'm probably always drawn mostly to the dark side, I guess.

Alina and the Darkling are like magnets, he tries to seduce her to use her power in favor of darkness, so he can be the most powerful one. They have a connection, she gets a feeling that he’s the only one who understands her. But the fact is, the Darkling is the villain. He wants to own Alina, put a chain of antlers around her neck so she becomes his Grisha, his own slave, she binds herself to him for the rest of her life, and he to her. So he can turn her into a monster. He will never again be submissive to a tsar.

The Darkling slumped back in his chair. «Fine,» he said with a weary shrug. «Make me your villain.»

This story kicked me in the stomach, it blurred out my mind, opened my mouth in amazement, made my eyes dry from not being able to stop reading. There was a shiver up my spine and my skin was covered in goosebumps. The crush on the Darkling was written all over my face. I literally held my breath in excitement while reading and never got bored.

Somehow, Shadow and Bone changed my life. I loved it.

«This was the truth behind the handsome face and the miraculous powers, the truth that was the dead and empty space between the stars, a wasteland peopled by frightened monsters.»

And by the way, I want the Darkling to win.

Does it make me a psychopath to want the Darkling to actually kill Mal? At least get rid of him in some way ... Alina will probably get over him eventually anyway … I hope she chooses the Darkling in the end, so they can be powerful together and conquer the world.