Shadow and bone book review

Especially in todays world ,your average run of the mill fantasy seem to coat book shop shelves like dust. That's what’s got me genuinely excited about this book .It has such unique world building based of Tsarist Russia, which really sets it apart from others in the genre.     

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold-a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.

Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country's magical military elite - and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift.

As the threat to the kingdom mounts and Alina unlocks the secrets of her past, she will make a dangerous discovery that could threaten all she loves and the very future of a nation.

Welcome to Ravka . . . a world of science and superstition where nothing is what it seems

-Shadow and bone blurb

Out of the three books in this series,I think this one is really unique in the way it hooks you in and keeps the tension and the stakes fresh and high throughout the book.As usual ,we have wonderful character buliding with our adventurous protagonist Alina who’s internal monologue is both entertaining and slightly stressful.

Now  first of all, while this book is often criticised for being full of tropes , I still think that I manages to be individual enough and put its own spin on it.Yes it does use some of the oldest tropes in the book (love triangle and being the chosen one) however the way these tropes do not feel forced, and the romance subplot while at times complicated does not feel overly fake.

It also has a slight political sub plot(simliar to the cruel prince series) which is both very entertaining as it plays into the romantic subplot and also a good way to being to understand political sub plots for when you read high fantasy books.

Finally , I also enjoyed the elemental magic system as it was not to complicated or to simple and fell in the sweet spot where it still easily understandable but still complex enough to be one of the driving factors of the book.

Overall ,I really enjoyed this book 

⭐⭐⭐⭐