lizpatanders

If it’s YA fantasy, I am going to want to read it. I was tempted to purchase Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone the day it came out, but held off until ALA, where I picked up a signed, personalized copy. Shadow and Bone has received a lot of rave reviews, but this unfortunately won’t be one of those.Shadow and Bone has good world-building and the writing is fine. Bardugo’s novel is quickly paced and highly readable. Sadly, I think this is where my praise ends.Alina isn’t the most likable character. She’s self-deprecating and doesn’t put a lot of faith in herself. I don’t think this would have bothered me if these traits lessened throughout the novel, but to me they stayed about the same. I also felt that some of her interactions with the other characters seemed quite juvenile. I realize that Bardugo’s novel is written for teens, but I like my drama written in a way that I can relate to as an adult.Despite the pacing, I didn’t love the plot. One aspect of the romantic storyline was quite predictable. Towards the end, Bardugo threw in a lot of twists and turns, and it started to feel like too much. I kept thinking that this story needed to find a direction and stick to it. Instead, I felt as though Bardugo was throwing in recent popular tropes in YA in order to appease her reader.I cannot fairly tale you whether or not Shadow and Bone is a good book or a bad book. My experience with this book was like going on a date where you don’t have much to say to the other person: you start off intrigued, and you keep going because maybe things will turn around, but in the end you find yourself thinking that it was only okay. This book and I just didn’t quite jive with each other. People seem to either love or hate this one, though, so go check out other reviews before deciding for yourself.