I am admittedly late to the party on this one. There is no other reason for said lateness other than, I was afraid to get burned by another series. I had tried reading a couple of YA series around the time this one was recommended to me. All of them had rave reviews.... and all of them were gross. That's right. I said it. GROSS! I won't give titles because I try to keep things light and happy on this page, but after three failed attempts to start 3 different YA series, I was done. Shadow and Bone got put on the back burner. I kept promising it that it would see light of day and while I didn't lie, it was a really long time before it happened.
Entertainingly enough, I read this book because of the Netflix series that is coming out. Between Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and whatever the hell else, I will be really busy with my reading. I haven't let myself even watch previews of the Netflix series because I am determined to not have it ruined for me. Anyway, let's get into my experience with this book.
After the first few pages, I was under the impression that this would be a slow burn. We met Mal and Alina and they were just these tiny kids who were orphans and they seemed normal enough. Fast Forward to them trying to cross the Fold and then there are creatures and all this crazy stuff happening. Not exactly slow.
Alina is not immediately a likeable character. She seems very closed off (understandable given her upbringing) and doesn't seem to have many friends. Even after she makes this discovery about her gift and goes to the palace, there is still something not super likeable about her. Then you bring in this older (and by older I mean ancient in comparison to her) man and she is suddenly all swoony.
This was the only thing I was "MEH" about in this book. I am not a big fan of 'love triangles.' I was over the Bella/Edward/ Jacob triangle after about the first three pages of New Moon. I was over the whole Katniss/Peeta/Gail triangle after book one. I just am over love triangles. Luckily for me, this one wasn't horrible. The Darkling played a big role into the person Alina ends up being, but fortunately she figures out his game (a little late, but whatever). Mal is the one we all love anyway.
Alright, I feel like this is going to be a short review and maybe that's because this first book definitely did not feel finished. There was no sense of finality and because of that, I don't feel like I can do a completely complete review. Not that I'm bashing that. It makes me want to read more!
So, know that there is more to come on this series/author. I will have some more thoughts on the series as a whole probably after another read through (because I'm crazy and feel like that needs to happen before I watch the series on Netflix so don't judge me). Let me know your thoughts on this series! But please no spoilers!
Happy Reading!
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