Shadow and Bone

By: Leigh Bardugo

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's 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 her 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.

©2012 Leigh Bardugo (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Generic YA story

I started this because of the Netflix hype. I'm not sure how this one caught the eye of the streamer giant over novel series like The Cruel Prince or basically anything else.

It's not that I think this is a bad bad, but it is so very generic and simple in the pool of YA out there. The best thing about it is that it seems to be set in a fantasy Russia. I can only assume that the material is based (if only loosely) to Russian-Lore. So that was the one intriguing thing for me.

Again, it's not a bad book, but not memorable either. It's like going to your favorite restaurant to eat the same meal you always get... its good but you can't remember it from the other 20 times that you went.

Just out of curiosity I'm going to try book two, but if it's just as generic then I'll end there and jump to the Six of Crows series that is getting all the raves.

Narration by Lauren Fortang was done well.

Stunning.

A fantastic and unique tale. I was pleasantly surprised. Also, at this point I'm convinced that Lauren Fortgang could narrate literally anything and I would enjoy it.

Great Book for Fantasy Lovers!

Overall I really enjoyed this book! I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t stop listening to it. However, after a great action packed scene at the beginning, it did slow down a bit, which may be frustrating for some. The action does eventually pick up again with what I thought was a pretty good twist. The narrator also had a great voice that easily drew me into the story. This book may not be for everyone, but if you like fantasy, I would definitely recommend it!

Good first installment

This was a very enjoyable book. The twists, the character development, the imagery, it all made for a pleasant work. I am a little surprised at how much is left unresolved by the end. I realize this is the first installment in a series, and the author wants to keep people hooked so they read the next book, but I am used to first books being a little more self-contained and have a cleaner resolution. That being said, I'm excited for the next book!!

Reread it after 4 years

I forgot how bomb this story is! I love it! I wonder if the show lives up to it.

falls short of its potential

the narration was great. you could easily tell the characters apart. i enjoyed the book but the story felt like it was missing something. Alina could have been a much more grounded character. she came off as just stupid. however, her stupidity could have easily been explained by her being an orphan and constant rejection by Mal. I think if this aspect had been played up it would have made her much more likeable and less desperate and annoying.
also the religious aspects should have played a bigger role. it was so casually mentioned throughout the story that the devout aspects of the plot make no sense.
overall I still enjoyed it. it just could have used more depth. I will still be reading the rest of the series.

Light reading

Good ideas, lots of possibilities but a light story line. The story is dark, but not deep. Teenagers would appreciate it, but as an older ready I prefer more thought out characters.

Shadow and Bone

I was actually impressed with how the book is so closely linked to the series that I watched. I was quite impressed that this is one of the few books turned into screenplay and the storyline remains the same. Looking forward to book 2 or season 2.

The narrator got me happy listening to the different voice impersonations. Didn't see myself getting lost in any way. Would recommend the book to anyone who loved the series.

Good !! But More Character Development

I liked this first book most of all. Still not enough action fighting parts. Even if people say the darkling is super evil I didn’t see it. I read other books that had more evil characters than this. I would like the author to make a book about just the darkling, when he was young and what made him so mean. I’d also would love to have seen more about the darkling and Alina. Sadly, the characters need more development. Like Mal there was not much about him only that he followed Alina and that he loved Alina but no back ground as to why he loved her. I do know they grew up together and he grew up in an orphanage with Alina because that is what the book said but I just didn’t see any reason for me to like his character. There is more to the darkling than Mal. As I’ve said, more character development on ALL CHARACTERS. This book just made me think about their past and want to invent my own story line for each character which isn’t the best thing , because when you get to the end of the series, you think, since you invented things about the book in ur mind about each character past history, that it will go more ur way
That you thought in ur head, but then you read the end and it sucks big. Once a reader starts to think or add to the plot because it isn’t the best then you think, the author needs to work on the book some more. So, I give this a 4 star good but not great more character development on all characters and the book needs a little more work.

excellent story.

much like Amazon's s new series. It didn't get 5 stars only because it was a little slow at times. It took a while to get into it.