Shadow and Bone Review (and Rant?)

[@withcindy]

I’m gonna be real with you, idk if I would have continued this trilogy if we weren’t doing this readathon lmao

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Yeah, I watched your reading vlog. It'll be interesting to see if it gets better, but I have really high hopes for the six of crows duology regardless!

[@sierraf96]

Another booktuber mentioned if you read SOC first you will be spoiled a bit for the grisha trilogy but if its really this bad then... idc 😂 queen cindy i still plan to ft you in my ">booktuber< inspired my next reading decision" series and queen jordan i plan to ft you in another video where i will be reading the goose girl. ❤ (im doing a binge read of the hunger games trilogy rn it will be a while but yea).

[@RKGold]

So it’s not even a good mindless trilogy to come home to after a stressful day?

[@olga1231]

some people love it but yeah i don't think it is

[@marysarukhanyan7852]

RK Gold i would disagree with that, unless you’re a super super critical reader. It’s pretty mindless, a feel good romcom book. If you’re willing to ignore little mistakes, it’s a solid 3 star. The SOC duology, however, is wayyy better

[@ryanratchford2530]

6:00 wait what the person called “The Darkling” is evil?

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Yeah yeah that’s fair

[@ryanratchford2530]

Jordan Harvey really enjoyed your video!

[@cellophaneman2127]

Devils advocate here. I've read a book where a guy named Master Raith wasn't evil. But yeah, lol "The Darkling" sounds a little on the nose

[@MrShaiya96]

Dont yiu watch daniel green?

[@e443productions9]

My thoughts exactly. Only being called “Evilord” would make it more obvious

[@katherinedonovan974]

I don't understand why authors write whiny protagonists, what's up with that?

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Katherine Donovan seriously

[@katherinedonovan974]

If you want to create a protagonist, leave out the whininess. I am writing stories with no whiny protagonists. Some of them go through some pretty harsh things and they don't get whiny about it. Honestly! There's many other protagonists I've seen and I watch anime for the majority but I've seen protagonists as they come in all shapes and sizes with different personalities. There's Izuki, Ichigo, Lelouch and many others that aren't whiny protagonists. Ugggghhhh!

[@DrumNBassed]

Because victimhood is a popular writing trope right now for a fringe few. For most people it's extremely annoying especially if the character doesn't grow.

[@katherinedonovan974]

If I had a protagonist, I would make her vulnerable. Then help her grow as a person.

[@nootnewt9323]

I think it’s to drum up sympathy, but no one likes a chronic whiner. It’s annoying in real life and in books

[@anaghasharma7433]

wait for it..... Nikolai Lantsov is the best character. continue the series for him.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

So I've heard!

[@IceQueen975]

I can vouch for this. Nikolai is bae and just a genuinely fun character.

[@anaghasharma7433]

IceQueen975 exactly! I can't wait for King Of Scars. I already pre-ordered my copy.

[@EvolverForU]

can confirm. he's the only character i liked in ruin and rising and he was barely in it

[@djpuppy9144]

That’s so true!

[@lei1370]

Mal is so annoying honestly if he didn’t exist not to much would change plot wise. (I’ve only read 30% of book 2 at the moment) Mal not only ruins what could have been a more interesting story but makes Alina weaker because she’s so dependent on him. I totally agree that Mal & Alina have no chemistry & as the series continues I’m just wondering WHY HIM? While reading shadow and bone I was shipping her with the darkling or Genya but I knew that wasn’t gonna happen. I’m just excited to continue because so far I love Nikolai & the series is still interesting despite how the romance ruins some opportunities that would improve it.

[@stanconnorstan4266]

He's basically Gale from the Hunger Games. There's like no difference between the two characters.

[@Shinigami344]

@@stanconnorstan4266 at least katniss didnt end up with gale at the end

[@aeshiryzenaeschirett5415]

@@stanconnorstan4266 That is so accurate but it's funny for me that I actually like Mal but hate Gale.

[@nostalgicsims]

@@stanconnorstan4266 wow i'm so glad someone else felt this way too. except like...a more baby version of gale lol.

[@noelle4luv]

I'm also 30-40% into the second book and I adore Nikolai and can't stand Mal at this point. It's so strange that Nikolai can be written so charasmatically and incredibly interesting but not do the same for Mal. I logically understand why Alina and Mal are together at this point but I don't root for them or believe in their love. They're literally best friends that kiss sometimes, where is the intimacy, where is the connection, the passion? There was more of that with The Darkling than Mal.

[@easilydistractedauthor]

I love how your eye makeup matches the cover of the book. That is all.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Haha thanks so much, I tried!!

[@makennacolbert2995]

My God, how many times has an author used 'only they can save the world'? I'm tired of it, yeah, I understand it makes it more interesting, and villains always wanna destroy or rule the world, but we need better villains. As well as better problems, maybe they need to save theirselves, friends, family. Maybe they need to save what is 'their world', not the entire world. It's overused nowadays.

[@Ambereigh]

Every single one of those things have been done to death. Accept that most ideas have already been thought of and written. Doesn’t mean writers are gonna stop writing.

[@kafeiii]

by far my greatest pet peeve about this book is the fact that the author didn't even bother to name the PROTAGONIST right. it's Alina *Starkova* unless it's suddenly revealed at some point that she was a boy all along

[@sklxx7359]

my pet peeve is the Grisha thing ... like NO

[@nostalgicsims]

She acknowledged this in the Q&A thing, that she decided to not do that and alter other words to disconnect from the real world, I believe.

[@runningcommentary2125]

I read once that the Russian translations correct all the names, which is pretty funny, so in the Russian version she actually is 'Alina Starkova'. The Grisha are also called 'Grish', probably because it's the Russian equivalent of having an elite military force called 'the Gregs'.

[@troublemaker1778]

@@runningcommentary2125 The whole series being called the "Gregverse" just hurts my poor Russian soul

[@mariar.4893]

or how they drink kvas and get drunk from it like a solid 4 separate times (that I counted) like bro that is not possible? I technically have the wrong last name too but I wasn’t born in russia so at least I have an excuse

[@vanessaajohn]

Agree which a lot of what you said. This was Leigh’s first book which makes it insane what development she went through when she got to Six of Crows. Can’t wait for you to meet the prince

[@kevinvu5432]

Should rewrite it.

[@kneedocyte]

About her not killing the stag, it wasn't even established that she was an "animal lover" or something lmao

[@JordanHarveybooks]

I KNOW

[@marynchilton1182]

Alina and the Darkling’s relationship was so instant it didn’t make me feel anything.

[@camilasummers]

You know there is something wrong when your favorite character is the villain and you find yourself rooting for him the whole time 🙄

[@FragrenceAtMiracleEd]

Six of crows (set in the same univers post grisha trilogy) is so mucg better. Leigh has really grown as a writer and i agree with most of what you're saying about this book (don't let that stop you from reading SoC tho, It's AMAZING)

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Lovy it’s part of the readathon, so I’ll be picking it up soon!

[@savioursgaming9562]

Took the words right out my mouth :D

[@eweloghena]

Jordan Harvey It's bad too...currently reading it and it's so sad. 😓😓😓

[@Abby-km6vr]

Seriously, Six of Crows is amazing! Don’t judge Leigh too much. She definitely had grown so much as a writer!

[@hollyquick1732]

See I liked this book way more than Six of crows

[@witheredahlia]

When i started this book i didn't understand the hype around The Darkling, but now i get it. He is really well written and he is super interesting. Alina fell completely flat for me. Everything was handed to her and all she did was either complain or do nothing. She was so frustrating to me. I'm not interested in reading the rest of the series, but i do really want to read the Six of Crows trilogy!

[@revelhilary]

noor * yes I think a story about the darkling would have been much more interesting and Nikolai but he’s not there enough for me to continue (I read the first 2 and dnfed the third one) Six of Crows though, superior! cause of the characters, just jump straight to those books you won’t be missing anything from these ones 😂😂

[@beast6213]

I enjoyed The Six of Crows duology more, the characters are all compelling and I enjoyed the heist plotlines (also read them before Shadow and Bone). The Shadow and Bone trilogy was more predictable, but I'd say the second and third books are better than the first as well.

[@heidi_susanna]

lmao comparing Mal to white bread is the kind of content i subscribed for

[@BrytteM]

Alina was so annoyiiiiiiing. Like, good gods. SO ANNOYING. I loved the Darkling, and Genya, and I dearly wish we'd had a better protagonist. I agree SO MUCH with the selfishness. I wait eagerly to hear what you think of the end of this trilogy. And yeah. Mal gets W O R S E. You'll notice that whole "I established something but now TWIST". Keep your eye on the amplifiers. I think, though, that by the time the Duology kicks in, Bardugo has improved considerably, at least when it comes to doing great protags/love interests...

[@stanconnorstan4266]

Genya is the only tolerable character TBH

[@aeshiryzenaeschirett5415]

Alina is shitty. Like Bella Swan level of shitty.

[@lyreandcampfire]

@@stanconnorstan4266 excuse me, this is Nikolai erasure. But yeah, Alina sucks, what else is new? It'd be a miracle to have a good, non-Mary Sue protagonist in a YA book

[@cato3149]

The Darkling is wonderful. I really enjoyed both him and the world in general, as well as how it is referenced in Six of Crows - the idea that all of these stories take place in one universe is super alluring. Because of this I can kind of appreciate the Grisha trilogy more even though they weren’t my favorite. Big fan of the SoC duology though on account of the ragtag group of characters

[@cato3149]

Also I can’t stand Mal. Never got on board with him as a romantic interest

[@rebeccamccreary8530]

The Winternight Trilogy (The Bear and the Nightingale) by Katherine Arden is nicely based in Russian mythology/fairy tales. The second one gets a bit more political and potentially reflective of the real Russia (I'm not well versed). They might be something to look into. The third one's not out yet, but it's scheduled for January.

[@jillians7614]

imagine if this story was in the pov of the darkling the power it would have 😭😭

[@sparrownicole7433]

The Grisha Trilogy was entirely meh for me, but Six of Crows is one of my FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME. Leigh really develops as an author and creates an AMAZING story. I love it so much.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Nicole Harrell I’m excited to read it!

[@CreditR01]

16:05 - Also doesn't help that not killing the Stag ended up dooming all those people who consequently died because of her "mercy." So her one decision fucked up her world a lot. It feels like the author wrote themselves into a corner and just was like "oh but she can control the amplifier now." Like, wat.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

EXACTLY

[@AnimalsAce]

The repercussions of her actions are dealt with in later books

[@isabellavicco7558]

ahhh I love your reviews so much! jaja unfortunately Mal gets worse. The way he treats Alina in the later books pisses me off so much, like I know Alina definitely isn't perfect but Mal just shames her for every decision she makes unless it's what he wants to do and he's thinks he should be her priority just because they're childhood "friends". Not only that but he always talking about how he liked her more before she knew she was a Grisha, kinda implying he liked it better when she was weaker and more submissive to him just ahhhh I get so tired of him and his good guy facade. One thing I do like about Shadow and Bone is I can see how Bardugo has improved in her writing. (Sorry for this long ass rant jaja)

[@xRaiofSunshine]

My soul just cringed

[@marcelalaurito]

You just said it all

[@em.kay21]

Isabella Vicco oh but it’s all worth it in the end with the happy ending uggghhh I just finished and I’m still shookith

[@isabellavicco7558]

@@em.kay21 I'm glad you enjoyed the ending but unfortunately I kinda hated it, especially what it meant to Alina.

[@easilydistractedauthor]

Are you me? I did a mini-rant on twitter about Mal's behaviour in the second book. How he guilt trips her because she isn't paying enough attention to him for his liking, how he keeps his feelings to himself and thinks that she should just "know" that he's upset and immediately try to fix it, how saving the world should be second to his ego, how he can't control her because she's changing, and implying that he liked her better when she was overly dependent on him. Seriously, I hate Mal. He reminds me of Jeb from Splintered.

[@khadigadarwish1004]

"She's Mare Barrow level of inactive in her story self pity judgy indecisive" That's exactly what i thought of Alina they are literally the same except that Mare cared about her people and "cause" which Alina just does everything for Mal

[@olga1231]

i tried hard to like them, i even rated then higher than i actually felt because i wanted to like them so much, and but then i had to admit to myself the only thing i liked about this series was the darkling

[@hamzahabib2946]

WORD.

[@NotaBizarreJoJo]

I'm here for the tea spillage. ☕ And I don't know what it is with every popular YA book having 'shadow' in the title.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Lol true

[@rosi3883]

Or queen of something.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

also true aha

[@CreditR01]

'Something and Something' is the new title gimmick too, ever since A Song of Ice and Fire got super popular. :/ It's pretty lame.

[@sunfyredoves6727]

Eg Queen of shadows

[@wanderingbookwyrm2671]

I agree with you on all the characters with one exception: I didn't buy the Darkling as a master manipulator. Bardugo successfully expressed his powerful magnetism to that end, which is great, but if he's been alive for so many centuries and is so good at hiding his true intentions, then why was he behaving so erratically in the beginning? There were weird tells of his deception during the first half of the book and I think that worked against his cunning and controlled characterization, compromising it in favor of foreshadowing. As for Alina - the whole mercy thing made no sense to me whatsoever either. It was not consistent with her (whiny, passive, and selfish) character.

[@nat6098]

These books are like cotton candy, it looks pretty, has very little substance, and only really good in small doses. I honestly only kept reading because the Darkling and Nikolai were so well written.

[@ycAuntieLala]

So, does the Darkling have a name?

[@cookies77814]

I much preferred the second book in the series tbh. But the one thing that drags even the 2nd and 3rd books down is Mal. If his character was killed off or wasn’t as important I feel like the series as a whole would be better.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

cookies77814 huh, that’s interesting! I’m curious to see how I feel about him as the series progresses!

[@lenalarson3547]

I was a fan of these books as a teenager and you are right, it was predictable and Alena was lead around a lot. After a while I became more interested in Mal and how his story would end. I came for the fantastic Russian setting and stayed for Mal...and Genya, Bardugo made me care about Genya. In the Aparat's defense, I thought he was based on Rasputin (Because creepy religious figure in pre-revolutionary Russia, who else would it be?).

[@vocalcalibration8033]

So if she killed a deer she could have saved an entire village worths of people? And she didn't? Never read this book but I hate it already...

[@JordanHarveybooks]

YUP

[@vocalcalibration8033]

@@JordanHarveybooks Well there you go. Anyway enjoyed the review, something that always turns me off book tubers is their videos tend to be damn marathons, so a crisp 18 or so minutes was just what I was looking for. Earned yourself a sub, looking forward to what you'll do from here!

[@TheRyder49]

@@vocalcalibration8033 Well to be fair she didn't know that the thing with the village would happen. It wasn't, kill this deer or this village will be destroyed, it was, you didn't kill this deer a week ago, so now you're not powerful enough to stop me destroying this village

[@vocalcalibration8033]

@@TheRyder49 Sure, but like... she knew how likely it was that not killing the damn thing would have SOME pretty serious negative consequences and a village being destroyed seems like a pretty solid test of ones powers. Regardless of if she could see an immediate problem or not doesn't make it any better of a decision.

[@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564]

How can you fault Alina for refusing to kill a beautiful, mythical, rare creature. The storyline could have gone with having her spare the stag's life, being the thing that gave Alina the most power. After all, by this time she's doubting everything the Darkling's told her.

[@sashsoph6587]

this book misuses so much of russian culture, unintentionally making it hilarious that i can't read it (for eg it's literally 'the greg trilogy' etc) - very worth reading the reviews by eastern europeans on goodreads if you want a book set in in imperial russia that is fantasy, try deathless by catherynne m valente! it's very floral, language wise, but that works as it is folk inspired - and the author is lovely!

[@celseac8107]

I loved Deathless for the same reasons!!

[@DownrightBookish]

Great review! I felt the same way about pretty much everything you said. *Spoiler* I really liked the Darkling character and I kind of wish we were led on longer. The reveal of his true intentions came too quickly in my opinion and I ended the book feeling like his character was going to to be really falt in the next two books because he becomes this one-dimensional evil character. He was the only reason why I kept reading. I also felt like the ending was so contrived and I didn't understand why she didn't kill the freaking stag. IT MAKES NO SENSE! Of all times, she picks then to suddenly care about something other than herself.

[@cerysj9454]

Alina was one of the most irritating protagonists I've ever read. Drove me absolutely insane. I got so angry when (spoilers) she didn't kill the deer that I put the book down and never picked it back up.

[@stanconnorstan4266]

Just skip to Six Of Crows, so much better. I read it before the original trilogy, the quality difference is STAGGERING.

[@babooshkaaaaah]

@@stanconnorstan4266 same! it is so nice tho to see how far bardugo has come

[@justinmarasigan593]

I remember talking to an Agent Intern about her getting a BAJILLION queries, saying, "My protagonist wants nothing to do with the plot~!" The beginning of this book and a bajillion others these days follow that format. Like... why? Why can't there be a character who's like, "I HAVE POWERS! COOL!! *Proceeds to going on Epic Adventures and getting himself/herself in dangerous shenanigans with her friends*"

[@JordanHarveybooks]

ahah true!

[@justinmarasigan593]

​@@JordanHarveybooks Why do you think that's the case? I think I'd actually like you to do an in depth analysis of the current YA market and how they should fix things!

[@IceQueen975]

Honestly, that's why the protag in the book I'm working on is basically "YES! Let me tf out! I wanna explore and flirt and get into shit!" and I'm over here like "Baby no, explore THIS way, go with the plooooot." XD

[@justinmarasigan593]

@@IceQueen975 MY CHARACTER!! At first she grieved over the fact her whole Region was destroyed until her best friend was like, "Sweetie, I know you're grieving we have to move!" MC: They're all gone *sniffs* Malora: Did I mention that we're traveling to the Flying Island of Jakosta? MC: *Jumps, her eyes sparkling* LE'S GOOO!!!! Malora and Mentor: She moves on quick...

[@IceQueen975]

@J.M. Hangleton Hahaha, they should meet up! The protag of my other work is the same way in that she embraces being "special". But both - to varying levels - discover it's not just fun and perks. I think people do the whole "reluctant hero" shtick because it's a classic and usually provides tension. But the thing is, embracing being the hero also can cause tension. What if the family or friends disagree with the choice? What if he/she finds out it's not easy and they give up or get frustrated? What if they find out too late they in fact don't want to be the hero but it's too late? It's more complex but more fulfilling. Sadly most people don't want to be too bold in their debut novel so that's why, I think, it happens so much.

[@winnie7383]

The darkling is the only character that i like in this book.

[@meganharris6188]

I quit this series after the middle of the second book. Could not stand the protagonist or her love interest (Mal). Also the chemistry between them is terrible! I kind of liked the Darkling in the first book but he gets so much worse...

[@kazifiiiied]

tbh I spent the whole time wishing Mal would fall off a cliff and Alina would shut up about her sad terrible life. "Oh NOOOO I HAVE AMAZING INSANE MAGICAL POWERS AND NIKOLAI KINDA LIKES ME??? AND GREAT FRIENDS??? WOE IS ME!!!"

[@mayorwhiskers471]

TBH some of the world-building decisions were distracting to me. I realize this is nitpicking. For instance, I think it's a cool idea to base a fantasy novel in a Russian setting, but the names are wrong for no particular reason except that I guess Leigh didn't feel like figuring out Russian names. Alina Starkov should be Alina Starkova . . . and there's no real reason for that name difference? I don't get why she decided to ignore Russian naming conventions. It's a small thing, but it felt strange. I don't get why Leigh decided to do that. (Also, "Grisha" is the short form of the name Gregory/Grigori, which I think is funny, too.) I understand this is a very small thing, but it just made me laugh the whole time. I've seen people say "It's based on Russian culture, not actual Russian culture", but it just seems weird to me to draw obvious inspiration from Russian culture and not use actual Russian naming conventions. Maybe I will try the SOC duology though. S&B didn't really draw me in that much.

[@marysarukhanyan7852]

Definitely recommend the SOC duology more. Leigh’s writing expands sooo much in her newer stuff, so if you’re going to look into her writing I’d 10000% say to read SOC. (The plot is also far more original than the Grisha trilogy, which is very typical YA)

[@87idk]

The SOC duology is a lot better than the grisha trilogy (at least the first two in the series, I haven't read Ruin and Rising). We see characters who have distinctive personalities with fleshed out backstories and the plot progression is a lot better than the grisha trilogy

[@mayorwhiskers471]

@@marysarukhanyan7852 Thank you! I will look into it.

[@mayorwhiskers471]

@@87idk I will check it out, then. I heard you don't have to read the Grisha trilogy to understand SOC so maybe I'll like it more?

[@87idk]

@@mayorwhiskers471 yeah you dont really have read the trilogy first. You might need to know the basics of there are magic users who fall into one of three catergories: material manipulators, elemental summoners and healers/the opposite of healers but that's about it and only really for the opening chapter of the book? There's a few characters who make appearances between both series but it's more cameo Easter eggs than anything else.

[@maddog6041]

Genya, the Darkling, and Bahgra, are the only interesting characters.

[@beathechange8417]

Mal being white bread is the most accurate character description I've ever heard.

[@marynchilton1182]

I also am never a fan of a love story centering around two people who start off knowing each other really well. It makes it so much more entertaining to see the development.

[@supervgl7524]

Genya is actually pronounced with a soft rather than hard G. I have a Russian friend with that name and it was felt weird hearing it being pronounced differently the whole video XD

[@JordanHarveybooks]

That's fair, thanks for letting me know!

[@terribleideas96]

Yea it’s pronounced with a Zh sound!! But it’s totally understandable to make the mistake if you don’t know Russian lmao

[@supervgl7524]

terrible ideas oh yeah for sure, but she mentioned she was going to read the rest of the books so I figured she should know the pronunciation for future videos :P

[@evgeniyaseminenko8594]

Lol. I am named Genya (even tho I mostly spell it Jenya) so people don't pronouse it wrong. Did not realized my name was is this video. It is an honest mistake tho.

[@kavenkaven4989]

My friend and husband pronounce it like she did in this video, and I would always say gin•ya but I am so relieved to know someone agrees!

[@pentamerone]

I like Shadow and Bone althought I know it's far from perfect, it's even mine second least favourite book of Bardugo. It's far from perfect; actually as stand alone book it has more cons than pros but, in Leigh's defence, it was her very first book and reading her books in chronological order is very fun bc you actually watching her developing writing skills. I think she also becomes more aware of some topics bc e.g. when Netflix bought rights to The Grisha Trilogy series, Bardugo herself said that TG wasn't diverse enough - that's why Alina is half-Shu now, that's why Zoya in King of Scars appears to be half-Suli etc. Also, many problems with first book (and whole trilogy) are effects of having first person narrator: Alina has problems with herself bc she's poor orphan and for many years she was weak and felt sick bc of her hidden powers; ofc she's whiny and judgemental. It's still nothing good but - unlike many other YA protagonists - she has *some* reasons to be the way she is. And it would be half-as-annoying as it is now if it wasn't first person narrator bc Alina's point of view is very biased and we can't trust her judgement. But, as I said, I can't call it a *good* book. It was just, for me, fun to read and interesting start of the journey into grishaverse.

[@KaterynaM_UA]

This book is torture if you speak Russian. I hate the fact that Bardugo gets the credit for "exotic" location knowing that she absolutely butchered the language and culture parts she borrowed from. It was the worse type of cultural appropriation which the author didn't even have the guts to admit too as she kept using "but it's not REAL Russia, it's Ravka, get it?" excuses when being confronted about it Honestly, makes me sick. I'm never reading anything of this person even though I've heard that Six of crows is rather good. But I won't support this author. I mean it's not about the mistakes, which could have been corrected with one sensitivity reader or five minutes in google but the fact that she won't own up to those mistakes. Ugh, sorry for the rant.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Катя Мазурчак huh, yeah that’s not great!

[@mariadanapopa3622]

Can you explain a bit more on how she's apropriating the culture?Not to be rude,but I'm a bit curious

[@evgeniyaseminenko8594]

God someone said it. Having grisha names grisha was like naming magic users of your world Phillip. Oh great and powerful Phillips. The disrespect of taking someone language and twisting it into this ugly mess it just baffling. Barely read the first book. Never coming back.

[@evgeniyaseminenko8594]

@@mariadanapopa3622 She has zero understanding of how the language and culture functions but she keeps using words that are (to her) vaguely russian sounding when in reality they literally make no sense. It`s a lack of investment and interest in the culture you are supposedly inspired by that got me. Having one russian person advising on the book would solve the problem, but why do that, when you can just make stuff sound "exotic". I just hope other cultures that served as inspiration were not butchered like this.

[@wanderingbookwyrm2671]

I've definitely heard this complaint before. As someone who knows nothing about Russia, the world just struck me as different, but knowing this now I wish the author had done more thorough research and/or put more effort into originality. It sucks that she did that.

[@WayOverBooked]

This book literally makes me roll my eyes so far back in my head that they're just lost forever.

[@NotTheRightMel]

I'm only halfway through the second book (which is WAY better imo, but still nothing compared to Six of Crows duology) and I'm in the very small minority of people who actually like Mal. I just feel like I get him, and I understand why he acts and feels the way he does. Alina has always been a constant in his life, and all of a sudden all these forces are threatening to whisk her away from him and he's scared of being left in the dust. And he lashes out, broods, and grumps. But to me he feels like a very human character, and maybe that's why people hate him. Compared to the charming, larger than life characters of the Darkling and Nikolai, he's pretty plain. Normal. Idk. I think he and Alina just work together (maybe because they are both pretty plain and normal compared to everything else), and I DO NOT ship Alina with the Darkling or Nikolai. Darkling because I want her to take him down, and Nikolai because I actually think he deserves better.

[@aeshiryzenaeschirett5415]

I love Mal!!!

[@adaelifyildirim2288]

I just finsihed the first book an I dont like the Darkling maybe later I can but I cant stand him in the 1st one and definetely not ship him with Alina I like Mal far more than him

[@jacky-yw6hg]

I love this comment. He's so boring but honestly i don't hate him. You described it perfectly

[@drp50]

six of crows is soo much better!! can't wait for you to read it

[@JordanHarveybooks]

That's what I've heard!!

[@xChikyx]

i'm currently reading that one :o

[@rayan-ve2qp]

can u read six pf crows before it

[@drp50]

@@rayan-ve2qp yes i would actually recommend just reading six of crows. shadow and bone is not very good

[@britishningguang3933]

In my case, I LOVED THE WHOLE TRILOGY! Finished it in 3 days. The Darkling is my favourite of course and apart from Alina's love life decisions I adored her character too, specially growth throughout the books. Seeing so many dislikes, I don't think the books have the right audiences to be liked. Because I can't understand how books like acotar and rhapsodic are so loved by people when this kind of books gets so hated.

[@SameDestination]

Really interested to find out what you think about Nikolai (a character in the second and third books who I love so damn much)

[@marichka-mulligan]

Never read the book but, wow, it's so unusual to hear all those russian names with English pronunciation. Х)

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Марічка Панф hahah sorry

[@marichka-mulligan]

@@JordanHarveybooks it's not that bad, really, Zoya is on point, but Ivan with "I" instead of "Ee" is so unusual. Understandable, though, Dublin, for example, is pronounced with "oo" in russian.

[@bukhanka]

I bought the first two books on audible a couple of years ago and couldn’t even finish the first one. Not because I disliked the writing, plot or the characters, but because of the “Russian” flavor. For a Russian reader it reads horribly. Like, even “grisha” is an oldfashioned diminutive for a name (Grigory), that to Russians reads like a pet name, sort of like Fido. Never mind all the other details, this one derailed me from the very start.

[@hydras5947]

About a minute and 20 seconds in I realized that I've READ this book

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Hydra S oh nooo

[@florallychaotic]

So I definitely agree about the plot of this book. Even though this series is one of my favorites, that mainly comes from the second two books and I fully agree that this plot can drag and be expected (totally saw the darkling twist coming, but as a fan I have to say it still hurt a bit XD) Do you mind me asking what you mean by "the plot is derivative"? I'm not much as disagreeing with you, just curious to what you mean it derives itself from. Overall, really well put together review! Honestly most of the points you brought up were valid for this entry, most of those problems I can just happen to overlook. I hope (even if I weren't a fan of these books) that the rest of the read-through goes well!

[@user-qj9en1kp1m]

I never read the books, only watched the show but I was kind of annoyed by the Alina/Mal romance. Very often I was thinking why the heck don't these characters just talk to one another instead of the teen angst. There were a few scenes when Alina does something that potentially dooms the world, so to speak and I remember thinking "Lady, I know that you love Mal and everything, but your love life should not be a priority right here, right now." Maybe I am too old for this, but I really wasn't invested in their romance. I loved Zoya, because she seems to be quicker on the uptake and figures out that even if she likes Darkling, the dude killed her family, doomed the country, lied to everyone, manipulated the Grisha and that is not ok. She also seems to get the most development as a character. I also liked the Eastern European aesthetic of the show, it is something one doesn't see that often.

[@pitui1987]

I don’t have time to watch this one until later, but FYI it says “cheif” on the thumbnail and “reviw” in the title.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

OML NOOOO THANKS FOR LETTING MY KNOW

[@alexl.7668]

I never read the Grisha trilogy, but really enjoyed the Six of Crows duology.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

I have high hopes for the SOC duology!

[@starkazing7817]

Same, I loved them. But I really want to read the Grisha trilogy, since King of Scars is coming out in January.

[@evuminihasara7868]

I bought six of crows but doubting if i should read it before reading shadow n bone trilogy but I watched the netflix series.

[@mrs.ackerman6313]

Am I the only one who loved The Darkling?

[@alperkorkmaz9394]

my issue with this series start with its world creation. World building is extremely hard and requires so much work. It sure has to take more than typing Pre-Soviet Russia to google search bar and clicking on the first wikipedia link.. which is what I believe the author did. I mean there is even a Rasputin in the story... Basing it on Russia is fine, I dont have problems with it but it seems like she just changed the name "Russia" and then misused so many aspects of the Russian culture that it almost feels disrespectful. If it was possible to differentiate her world from the real world imperial russia I wouldn't be making this criticism but it is impossible.

[@violomana]

THIS. I've only watched the Netflix series but knowing she was involved in the process? I believe it. It's obvious there was no thought put into developing the world further in the show either. Had the chance to take some feedback and change the universe when adapting it and just. Fell flat. Seems only Mal was allowed to get a makeover, while Alina became only slightly better (because she was so bland to begin with) and everyone else became worse. I'm getting super frustrated with how this series and author received so much praise for lazy worldbuilding and even lazier characters and story. And this is coming from someone who read Six of Crows duology and loved it (SoC crew in the show were near perfect. I don't understand how this is the same author)

[@jenablake4207]

At first I loved this book but as it went on I just got annoyed that the characters didn't grow or do anything. It's hard to root for the protagonist when the villain is the only one doing anything interesting. Also, the DARKLING with the power to control DARKNESS, the OPPOSITE of Alina's power, is the bad guy, and was still the best twist?? I completely agree with you on that ending, I was so confused when Alina couldn't kill the deer, it was just so out of place and yet predictable at the same time.

[@IceQueen975]

The Darkling bores me. Fight me. I have seen his style before. He's quite common in modern fantasy tbh. Not only that but except for a few moments, he didn't feel very charismatic to me, actually. Alina is romantically and sexually inexperienced. It doesn't take much charisma to excite her, if you will, to get her to do as he wants. A lot of people think he's the most interesting - and he has potential don't get me wrong. I even love the charismatic villain quite a bit but it wasn't executed well. I wasn't charmed by him at all and went "fucking finally" when eh stops playing good. He's far better just straight-up terrorizing then swaying. Nikolai, on the other hand, is very charismatic and how The Darkling should have been. I instantly liked him. I fell for him HARD and he has far less screen time then The Darkling.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Huh, that's interesting. To each their own I guess aha!

[@IceQueen975]

+rycbar123 I will agree that he had potential. Honestly, he did. I am a BIIIIG fan of charismatic villains! But he was executed poorly which just... makes him fall flat. I know fandoms have a tendency to "fix" canon and really flesh out the full potential of those in the Darkling's situation but tbh, as much fun as fanon is, in the end how the canon Darkling is falls flat. Regarding his name though. Tbh, I was kiiiind of hoping it wouldn't go all "good vs evil". In Slavic mythology, darkness is not always "evil". It's actually ambiguous, like Light. Light and Dark, in Slavic mythos, simply are opposites and not default defined as "good" and "evil" like in the West.

[@IceQueen975]

@rycbar123 Yeah, which honestly is a bit... insulting to me personally. I'm Slavic so I was pretty psyched to see a Slavic culture being used as cultural inspiration for a book. I'm not expecting perfection, duh, but... it's a very simple concept. It would have added depth to the story, enriched the culture a bit... nope. Nothing. So once again it's used as a thinly-veiled exoticism. Which is disappointing. I don't hate the series and it genuinely could have been worse but... yeah.

[@whatzuptoto]

If you're struggling with Book 1, you're going to hate the ending. haha

[@JordanHarveybooks]

whatzuptoto oh no!!

[@stanconnorstan4266]

I kind of just...blocked the first three books out of my mind

[@ryanratchford2530]

16:00 if you’ve served in the army I presume she’s killed another person before? If not I presume she eats meet? Either way seems like that would mean she’d be fine killing this (especially to save many lives)

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Ryan Ratchford I don’t think she’s killed before, she’s a map maker in the army, but regardless it’s ridiculous

[@nenegrey2282]

She gets rewarded for having mercy on a stag and the first thing she does is leave forty people to die horrible deaths? Btw a merciful person would feel terrible guilt about all the people killed by the Darkling as a direct result of their act of mercy, too.

[@vavila16]

OMG Alina is Mare (how did I miss this?!) hahaha they are lame main characters in my opinion. I like Nona from Red Sister she's a bad ass!

[@Ellie.does.art.]

I actually felt the exact same feelings! Six of Crows was such a glow-up for Leigh Bardugo

[@ilyuser]

she really named her villain "the darkling"? and her magic users "grisha"? wow ._________.

[@JB-ui6tm]

I liked Shadow and Bone, ADORED SIEGE AND STORM, and despised RUIN AND RISING with a passion. It turned me off of reading any of her other book series because of it.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

J S-J huh, that’s interesting! I haven’t heard many people say that.

[@Gab4o]

The Grisha trilogy frustrates me a lot. If you want to read something way better that's also set in Russia, I'd recommend the Winternight trilogy. Great story, amazing protagonist, good use of the Russian language and some great character development. I just started the second book in the Grisha trilogy and I have a lot of thoughts about the first one... So first off, even the Darkling mentions that Alina just straight up took off when she was told the truth about him and his plans, not really caring about what that would mean for her country or even if it was all true. She could've tried to talk to him, or maybe bided her time to try to manipulate him or just betray him at a more convenient moment. But nah, she has to run off, trusting others to take care of her once again and not deciding anything on her own. Ugh. Alina is selfish, judgemental and clings to her old life for some weird reason even though it mostly sucked, she's only in love with Mal cause they spent their childhood together. And come on, she judges all the other girls around her for being vain, but not Genya or herself when they're being like that? Mal is just sooo boring, him and Alina have zero chemistry and he just keeps holding her back. Once she realized that her pining over him for decades has been robbing her of her own power, I really would've preferred if they'd stayed just friends when they met up again. He simply makes her weak. The Darkling was by far the most interesting character. I think we got way less of him than we should have. I would've loved to see some things from his perspective.

[@grung7765]

Everyone talking about how Alina is a bad protagonist but I genuinely just disliked where they led ep 7-8, darkling obtained her abilities for .15 seconds and used them better then her like w h a t? Also Alina is pathetic, relieved herself from an important scar/person and then when they come back she’s all “aHeeEhEEeE”

[@happyjellycatsquid]

Mal and Alina can burn but I WILL fight anyone for Genya and David. I swear to god if anyone hurts my babies I’ll snap (help me god for the next books basically)

[@zml8025]

The only person in the book that I care abaut was Darkling... And I hate Alina so fucking much because she is one of those basic dumbass girl charachter that want peace and dont understand where the evil thoughts come. Darkling was so fucking right abaut his idea. He lived for hundreds of years, saw so much pain and a young dumbass girl accussing him for being a crazy evil person? He just want to change the world and for one time, I really wish the evil victory whic is accualy not evil. He was just a kid with a big problems. And he grow up in a world of pain. But he lose anyway. No one cares. Same think happened with the Red Queen's Maven. He was accused of being bad and no one didnt 'accualy' try to help him. No fucking one. Those charachters are not evil; they're just broken. I hate evertime the 'evil' ones lost everything, and left out with just hate.

[@nefariousbutgregario]

I actually read SOC first and absolutely adored it. Then i read this trilogy and was shocked that it's from the same author haha I guess it showed how much LB grew. I didnt like the trilogy and honestly, if you dont, you can just jump straight into SOC. (I hate Mal) Anyway, I dont wanna overhype SOC for you because theres people who also dont enjoy it. My friend dnf it because she found it slow. I just hope you'd be the opposite. :)

[@abhikan7654]

Alina is able to take her powers back from the darkling through the power of her mercy, and, in a display of such mercy, abandons every soldier and diplomat on the ship to be brutally ravaged by the vulcra.

[@joellesforest]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head for everything I thought of this book. Unfortunately I personally thought the character development didnt get any better in the other books. I'm curious to read six of crows because i see a lot of people say they like it better and while i didnt like Alina's story, I did like the concept of the world.

[@evermoreisamasterpiece]

I had some mixed feelings about this as well. I understand that the next books may be better, but honestly, if the first book isn't good, 80% of people won't continue the series/trilogy/duology. P.S.: Your eyeshadow is on point!

[@loishavert71]

Everytime she gets saved, she doesn't say thank you and I'm like bitch, where are your manners?

[@indiana8969]

six of crows is ten times better

[@WhitneyDahlin]

7:00 OMG the main character is so stupid and her are actions so unrealistic. She refuses to kill a deer even though it means saving literally every single person in the kingdoms life. She KNOWS the Darkling is going to kill the deer anyway and use it to be evil and expand the fold and torment innocent but she doesn't care. These people's lives matter so little in her eyes that a deer's life is more valuable. Even though she knows it is inevitable the deer will be killed very soon she still chooses to not kill it. Disgusting. How can the author expect ANYONE to like her protagonist after that bull sh*t. Such BAD writing. It honestly makes me mad. There are 100 better ideas than just she can't bring herself to kill the deer for no reason. She could have been about to kill it when the Darkling swoops in and does it first or by the time they find the stag it's dead or she becomes seriously injured on the journey and physically can't kill the stag ect. All of those are way better ideas that don't make you hate the protagonist and I came up with them in less than 15 seconds. I put down the book at that part and never picked it back up. Now that I know her "mercy" to the stag somehow makes her able to control the power that doesn't make it ANY better. She still choose to let everyone suffer and more people die. She didn't know not killing it would allow her to control it. It's so plot devicey and goes against how the magic system was set up to work and there are just so many better ways this book could have been written. I totally agree when you say this part was a cop out. UGH. Such unlikeable characters

[@believeroflight9888]

whats up with all girls liking this stupid intense loner stereotype ? I dont get it . If you want to read twilight , just go read it again . dont add this useless troupe in every book .

[@ZDMarriott]

I was not a big fan of this book, either - but I stuck with the series (because I had bought the full trilogy when they were on sale so why not?) and Alina's characterisation improves so much in the second and third books. You can see Bardugo growing in skill and confidence as a writer, and her attempts to make the character layered and nuanced just start to gel. You get this great progression. Like: hang in there. It does get better. (Mal gets a lot worse though, sorry).

[@olga1231]

Huh to me alina just gets worse but in SoC you really see how Leigh has improsved imo

[@arfielding4495]

I just read this book recently for the first time, and I totally agree with your review. I saw all this hype about this series and was so excited to read it. The book cover is gorgeous, too. But I was definitely disappointed. It makes sense that this is Leigh Bardugo's first book, I'm willing to give her others a try to see if/how she improves. I felt the worldbuilding was fairly interesting, but the characters were extremely lackluster. I just didn't really care what happened to them. The Darkling was perhaps the only character I found interesting, and even he seemed a bit quiet to me. He was also gone for chunks of the book, and I kind of felt like their psuedo-romance seemed a bit forced.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

EightTimesInsanity Honestly just skip to the Six of Crows duology

[@Moony1568]

I’m not doing the readathon since I don’t want to finish the trilogy. I really hated the first book. The protagonist was so boring and lame. I didn’t want to continue the series with a weak protagonist. It feels so good to know that someone else shares the same opinions. I, however, have heard great things about six of crows and I am going to read that, hopefully before you get to it ;)

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Moony I’m super excited for SOC and hopeful that this trilogy will improve!

[@noja1155]

Matching your eyeshadow to the cover of Shadow of Bone is true commitment and it looks amazing 👌

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Haha thank youuu

[@Karaetify]

Mal is basically that other guy from Hunger Games 😂 also yeah Alina feels a lot like a fanfic protagonist and a lot of girls feels like straight out of fan fiction especially with that whole mean girls narrative. Fortunately that kinda change in other books

[@freman007]

So, basically it's a Harry Potter/Voldemort slash fic.

[@olga1231]

no

[@nikoletak]

It was a 5 star for me

[@jurcamor]

Nikolai is the best character and you muuuuuuuuuust continue the series for him.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

I've just met him and I'm very excited :)

[@NezzPer]

So I'm looking up reviews before i read the book, and everyone has this hate about alina but she sounds EXACTLY like so many young adult girls. Idk maybe its just me.

[@Ellie.does.art.]

Nikolai Lanstov was the only thing that kept me reading, but that was because I was desperate to finish it and find something I enjoyed about it.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

I don't know who Nikolai is yet, but everyone seems to love him so I'm looking forward to meeting his character!!

[@cat5220]

Yes yes yes! Jordan I love you. I’m sick as all hell right now and I’ve been miserable af all day, this is exactly what I needed! You, being all super intelligent and intellectual and articulate, looking gorgeous and giving me the tea on the latest book. Thank you!! Xxx

[@HuckleberryCyn]

My feelings about Mal: 🚮🚮🚮

[@witchf4ce310]

I wanna read Six of Crows so bad but people say I should read the Grisha trilogy first but I tried and I couldn’t finish the first book... I really couldn’t get into it. So I don’t know what to do about Six of Crows now!

[@hannahh_Eliza]

You don’t have to read the Grisha trilogy before reading six of crows. I read six of crows first without any knowledge before hand and it was easy to understand :)

[@elivenya-theautisticbookwy9638]

I liked the Darkling. He was the only major character in the book with intelligence and a deep understanding of human nature. Alina was interesteing in the beginning but mutated to a YA sterotype and she was good just to be good.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Thats definitely how it felt!

[@KatherineAmi]

oh, finally you rewiew somwthing that I actually read! (I'm bad with my reading and I have dozens of books on my tbr list help) to be honest, I don't really get the hype around this series. I didn't continue after this book, and I don't know if I will, but I don't think it'll get much better. I finished it a couple of months ago and was kinda "meh" about it. Now I can't even remember much of what was happening. I totally agree about The Darkling tho! He's very intriguing. Btw I didn't see much of Russian culture, but maybe it's because I'm Russian and it just doesn't surprise me that much :D I saw the parallels for sure, with the names and monarchy and surrounding countries, but that's about it.. and another thing, I'm pretty sure Genya is prounounced like "Zhenya", with Zh rather than G, if that makes sense. at least in Russian that's the name :) it's a short form of "Evgenia" (here with G not with Zh (damn Russian is weird))

[@JordanHarveybooks]

KatherineAmi haha thanks for letting me know :)

[@neonevaa7943]

lmao throw the whole alina and white bread away they annoyed me soo much

[@cloudgirl150]

Nikolai is literally the only reason I'm finishing this series in preparation for King of Scars next month...

[@rachelh9462]

He's the equivalent of white bread. 😂

[@monthanadias9941]

I love your reviews so much, especially when you roast the characters.

[@kaseyfife5126]

Yeah, I'm one of those who just HATE Mal. I'm sure I will get chewed on this one, but he is blaaaaah. Doooooon't care for him at all. But, I LOVED the Darkling. So much so that I'd rather see Alina with him a little longer. Seemed so short. I ship them. Yup. Sure do. And it was done in a way that you know where Alina is coming from. With you there. Hate Mal. Blech.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Kasey Fife I mean I don’t ship Alina and the Darkling because he’s legit evil and was manipulating her the entire time, but he is certainly more interesting than Mal!

[@sietskevisser8409]

If it wasn't for the bookclub I would not have finished this book so I'm not going to read book 2 and 3. But I'm super glad I read SoC!!! My favorite book off 2018! Great review Jordan and the make-up is 10/10 your hair is so pretty

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Sietske Visser yeah I’m excited to get to SOC