Shadow and Bone Presentation

Shadow and Bone
Written by: Leitgh Bardugo
Setting and main information

This is the first book of the Grishaverse trilogy, set in a fictional
world, but focused specifically on the "country" of Ravka, and is
narrated in the first person by its protagonist Alina Starkov.
The country of Ravka and its surroundings are reminiscent of Russia
and the setting of the visual elements could be described as a post
First World War, which does not describe the historical setting since
being a totally fictional world there are no similarities with the
historical position from the real world.
In the first pages we can find this map, which shows us this fictional
world and places that will be mentioned later in the book.
Plot and introduction:
The Unsea, a gigant barrier of shadows where inhuman creatures
dwell, is the border that separates the continent of Ravka into two,
east and west, sea and mountains. There is where Alina Starkov, an
ordinary orphan girl, goes together with the rest of the cartographers
of the First Army, not knowing yet what the future holds for her.
On her first entry into the Unsea, she unleashes dormant magic that
not even she knew she possessed, shocking everyone present,
especially one man, General Kirigan, also known as the Darkling.
After that event, the Darkling takes Alina to test if she is what he
thinks and after testing it himself, he orders the Grisha, Ravka's
magical military elite, to take Alina to the Little Palace, where she
learns to control her new power and introduces herself to the king
and queen as the Sun Summoner. But not everything is what it seems.
Alina also learns more about the Darkling, a Grisha man with the
power of shadows, and the truth behind the Unsea story.
Secrets, magic, drama, battles and unusual characters accompany us
in a story about the Sun Summoner
Main characters
Alina Starkov
Orphan that lived in Duke Keramsov's orphanage.
As a child she was tested to know if she was a Grisha, but she gave no
sign of Grisha abilities because she damaged herself.
Later she trained as a soldier of the First Army and became a
cartographer's assistant.
Estimated age during Shadow and Bone: 17
Malyen Ortsev
Orphan and best friend of Alina since they where at the orphanage.
He was also tested and gave no sign of Grisha abilities.
Later he went with Alina to train as a soldier and became a tracker.
Estimated age during Shadow and Bone: 18
The Darkling (General Kirigan)
Known by many names General Kirigan is in charge of the Second
Army, witch members are Grisha.
He lives in the Little Palace, witch he made a place where Grisha
people can train and live without being persecuted.
He is also a living amplifier (person who can increase Grisha's
powers).
Estimated apparent age during Shadow and Bone: 22
Real age during Shadow and Bone: 120 Years
Favourite character:
If people ask me, the most interesting character is the Darkling.
At first I didn't like him very much because he always gave me bad
vibes, but still I think he has the most interesting story with many
things to discover in the following books.
He also gives an interesting plot twist in this book, which in my
opinion follows to a really great ending.
Overall impression:
I have to say that my first impression of the book was quite good,
with a beautiful design and all that fantasy world in which the hours
of work invested by Leitgh Bardugo can be seen. I certainly had high
expectations.
Unfortunately I was a little disappointed when reading the book.
Sure, the fantasy world, the map, the description of the settings and
the main story are pretty good, but the main characters lagged
behind.
My main problem for me after having seen the series on Netflix, is
that many scenes of Mal were missing in the book. That meant that
we couldn't get to know much about the character in the book, apart
from the emotions and memories that Alina had for him. Although I
guess that's the downside of only having Alina's perspective, which is
obviously limited.
Another dislike was Alina, who, being desperate at times, did things
that made me quite nervous while reading.
And the last little detail that didn't quite convince me was the
attempted love triangle that the author tried to create with the
Darkling, Mal and Alina, which luckily didn't last long, so it wasn't too
much of an annoyance.
Favourite scene:
If I had to choose a single scene from the book, I would choose the
final part. The way Alina describes her suppressed emotions, how it
seems that all is lost and finally unravels in an open ending that
contrasts a lot with the feelings of the previous scene. Those details
are wonderful.
Recommendation, yes or no and why?

If I had to recommend any book in this world (Grishaverse) I don't
think I would recommend the triology. I think they are heavy books
that I would only recommend to people who I am sure are fascinated
by the world of fantasy and have a very advanced level of English,
since many of the words, especially adjectives, that are used in books
of this category, are usually very rare or unknown.
On the other hand, there are other books from Leitgh Bardugo that
take part in the Grishaverse and aren't part of the triology, and
according to my sister, who has read several of Leitgh Bardugo's
books, they are quite good.
Still, the history of this world begins with the trilogy, so if you really
want to understand everything perfectly and not have any spoilers or
advances in any other book, it is better to start from the beginning.
Extra information:
As an extra fact I have to mention that on Netflix there is a series
based on the Shadow and Bone book which has the same name, but it
is not exactly the same as the story of the book since it mixes
characters from the six of crows duology. Even so, this series is quite
faithful to the book and in my opinion it improves the story a lot by
compensating the main characters of the Shadow and Bone book with
the six of crows characters, which fascinate me and have already
become my favourite Grishaverse characters.

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Shadow and Bone

Written by: Leitgh Bardugo

Setting and main information

Recommendation, yes or no and why?

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