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

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.

“What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.” 

I finally decided to pick up the Shadow and Bone trilogy after constantly hearing about it. I first read the Six of Crows duology, which is in the same universe and years after the plot of Shadow and Bone. I didn’t really know what the story was about, but I was pleasantly surprised once I started.

“Like calls to like

Plot wise, I generally liked it. I felt like I could really imaging the world, and there were twist and turns I didn’t see coming at all. I will say, there we’re some parts that I feel that were dragged out for too long, and that it wasn’t necessary for the plot. The world, magic system, and government was incredibly well-thought out and introduced to us at a good pace. I could tell that the author really took the time to construct the whole world, and did a great job at testing those limits in the plot. There was a little of everything: it was so entertaining, angsty, romantic, and funny.

Towards the end of the series, we can see that our main character, Alina, has changed massively. She made unexpected friends, had to accept who she is, face loss, fight, and test her limits.

Characters were AMAZING. I loved so many of the characters, some more than others. (*cof* *cof* Nikolai *cof* *cof* ) I cared for them so much, I was worried and rooting for them all throughout the story. Even the antagonist, the Darkling, even if I hated him at times, I can’t help but feel sympathy and have a soft spot for him. Every character had their very distinct and strong personalities. Each of them have their own past and problems that they have to face as well, some of them even affecting Alina and her fight.

“I wanted to believe anything so that I wouldn’t have to face the future alone. The problem with wanting is that it makes us weak.” 

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Overall, I LOVED this series. I don’t know how it took me so long to pick it up. I can definitely say that “King of Scars”, which focuses on one of the characters of this series, is the next book I’m planning to read after my current, which is “The Wicked King” by Holly Black.

Thank you for reading my thoughts on this series, and I plan to have more in the future!

-Jackie Holmes

“The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives.”

–Roald Dahl