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Sunday, June 3, 2012

Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone (US)/The Gathering Dark (UK) by Leigh Bardugo
Amazon | Goodreads
Fantasy, 368 pages
Expected publication: June 5th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
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.

I've mentioned before that I was excited for this one (I mean - the title alone...). But I also just read an excellent fantasy maybe a week or so before this, so it sort of had a lot to live up to, on top of the hype. That always makes me a little wary. And I think, in this case, deservedly so; at least, in the beginning. For a good chunk of the beginning, I was hesitant and not completely sold. It's not that I ever wanted to put it down, exactly, but there was a sameness to it; a typical YA, unoriginal feel that had me worried for what the rest of the book would hold. And this lasted for awhile, and had me questioning whether I was going to find this one a throwaway in the end: quick and enjoyable enough, but forgettable and predictable. Fortunately, there came a point where that changed and it didn't fall back on formula (or at least, not entirely.) It had a strength of its own and went to the places I was hoping it would go eventually, even if not always fully.

The characters were interesting to me, and what kept me hanging on in the beginning, though oddly enough, they started out much the same. They would come into the story as sort of somewhat fleshed-out stock characters, and just when I would get worried that that's all there was to them, they'd show me they weren't. They had dimensions and personalities and little bits to set them apart and make you care, but it was just something you had to be patient for.  (I know not everyone will be patient, but I want to reiterate that the story is not unenjoyable before they start to stand apart from the crowd. It's always engaging enough to keep you going, but it takes awhile to sort of step into its own.) I am a big fan of explorations of the type of belief and fervor that lead people to do bad things in the name of good, and this aspect of some characters really heightened things for me. Belief and fervor, and the murkiness of right and wrong is what could set this book apart, and was one of the things I got from it that I wasn't expecting. [pleased face]

And - at the risk of being very repetitive - the world-building was much of the same. It was good, and enough to keep me engaged and visualizing it, but it started out with a sameness, feeling a touch lackluster and flat, and then becoming something more as the story grew. Bardugo seems to like finding a balance between originality and stock, and sort of building off of that. It works, it's serviceable, but something that doesn't catch me or impress me right off the bat isn't something I'm necessarily going to rave about as I do the world-building or characters or plot of some other books of a similar nature. But as I said, those all come around in the end.

I would have liked the nuances that were there to be explored more fully, though. In a story about light and dark, I want to really explore the shadows. This, for me, is where the wow factor comes in. The nuances and explorations were there and were touched on more than I'd dared hope after the way the story began, but less than I could have wish for. Part of this I'm sure is me being a little hyper-critical because I saw the potential for some heartier fare. Whenever I see that potential, whenever it's so close, I just want to keep pushing, and that sometimes lets me down more than if the potential had never been there to begin with.

But there was some exploration there, and Bardugo did ultimately build up some of the gray areas that I wanted to linger over, and I'm grateful for that. If this were really an unoriginal, "typical" YA, that wouldn't have happened, and the fact that it did at all gives me hope for the rest of the series and her growth as a storyteller. For those of you that are unsure you want to start a series with this sort of back-and-forth type review, let me mention 2 things:
1) I rated it 4 stars on Goodreads, so it's not like I didn't enjoy it by any means. (In fact, I'm going to a Fierce Reads signing so I can get mine all fancied up.)
2) This would work quite nicely as a standalone with the future left open, I think. Personally, I'm curious to see where it's going, as it is the start to a series, but I think you could easily read it and leave it as is, with some threads hanging and possibilites endless; it's a well-rounded enough ending to leave you feeling satisfied. But as I intend to read the next book, I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that the murky gray areas, the vagaries of belief, fanaticism, control and power,  etc., will be capitalized on, as I think that's the only thing that would make me want it to be a series rather than an open-ended stand-alone.

[And on a side note, if you are the type to be bothered by an author taking liberties with a culture or language, I'd suggest checking out Tatiana's review before picking this one up. This did not bother me the least little bit (well, except the female names not ending in female forms and v.v.) but I can understand why it would maybe work under someone's skin, especially if they have ties to that culture (in this case, Russian). So, worth checking out.]

8 comments:

  1. I'm excited for the second, since Shadow and Bone was great once it got going. Thanks for the link to Tatiana's post!

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  2. Of course! Even though what bothered her didn't bother me, she made some really fair points that bear mentioning, as they will change the way some people view the book and whether they want to read it.

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  3. I would really love to read this book- it seems to have been praised by everyone! Thanks for the link to the 'Readventurer' review- I found it really interesting to read about how the author had got the names wrong and made silly linguistic mistakes. I know it wouldn't ruin my enjoyment as I do not speak Russian but I think what sets books apart is a well researched background and appropriate word useage, Even though I didn't pick up a lot of mythological and historical references in Harry Potter when I was a child, I love reading about all of J.K's choices now and how detailed she made her world. If your book is your baby I don't understand why you wouldn't be completely meticulous and well researched. But that's just my opinion x

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  4. I don't necessarily think it was a case of not being well-researched or meticulous. I don't think her goal was to recreate Russia (it's not set in Russia, after all. It's set in a fictional place called Ravka, which is Russian-inspired). I think she just wanted it to have that feel (to provide a somewhat identifiable base for the reader) but to make it her own thing. I think the words she chose were for the sound of it, like a poet, but she chose to give her own meaning to those words. Which is a gamble, and as far as Tatiana is concerned, it wasn't a gamble that paid off.

    Like I said, the only one that bugged me the tiniest bit was the names of people not being always authentic, but then, it is her world and they are her names, and she doesn't HAVE to have masculine and feminine forms of things if she doesn't want to.

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  5. I was actually really curious about this one, hoping to read it this month. Brilliant review and thank you for toning down my expectations. (Not very good to go in one book with too high expectations)
    Question outside the book (or just maybe a little close related) - When you read fantasy what do you expect/ want from it. What does it for you?

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  6. WELL, I'm going to start by separating it into categories. Fantasy-lite (paranormal-ish stuff, Urban Fantasy, etc), I am a little more lenient on and will accept some level of fluff. High/concept/epic/hard fantasy, etc. I judge a little more harshly.

    That type of fantasy for me has to have IMPECCABLE world-building. Something that's really going to capture my interest and be intriguing, and be complex enough to feel like a real world, without being so complex that everyone who's not the author is completely lost.
    It also needs to have a vitality to it. There needs to be a reason I'd care about what these characters are going through in their fantasy world.
    And it also needs to feel authentic. As far-fetched as it is, in whatever ways it is far-fetched, it had better still feel real, and have working logic and characters who respond appropriately; if they're in danger, there had better be a real sense of that, and consequence.

    Basically, I expect it to be well-written, just like anything else I read - but I will hold it to a higher standard than some other things, simply for the fact that it is fantasy.

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  7. I just read this and totally loved it, although I definitely see your points. I connected with the characters (except Mal) pretty much right away.

    Anyway, what I really wanted to comment on was the Russian stuff. I wasn't bothered either, and I'm totally willing to let her get away with it, mostly just because it wasn't set in Russia. It's a fictional culture based on Russia. I don't know. I mean, maybe she should have gotten everything right, but it's hard to say if she deviated intentionally or purposefully because that's how she saw this culture. Shrug.

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  8. "it's hard to say if she deviated intentionally or purposefully because that's how she saw this culture..."

    That's how I look at it too, Christina.

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