Synopsis
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
My thoughts…
This is a YA fantasy series, based on some tropes we see all the time, but there’s a time and place for everything. If you want something light and fun to read this is the book.
The book is well paced, and the characters well developed and multi-faceted (I found myself rooting for the anti-hero). There are a lot of plot twists and some are predictable others aren’t. Leigh Bardugo has developed a magic system that I personally really enjoyed, while it wasn’t too complicated it wasn’t that simple either. (It was fun to read about the same system in the six of crows and the little tidbits… 🙂 but more on that in my six of crows review…)
The story is set in a place called Ravka, inspired by Russia which was a unique setting, and if russian culture facinates you give it a go.
Now, some of the less enjoyable parts. Some of the characters were lackluster and really got on my nerves. My favourite characters weren’t really in the books a lot (especially the second one) and that left me yearning for more. Some less interesting plot points felt really stretched and it always felt like there was just a teeny-tiny bit that was holding this book from perfection.
This doesn’t mean the books weren’t amazing and that I won’t watch the Netflix series (sooooo excited for that).
Final review
Genre: fantasy fiction
Intensity: medium-high
Pace: fast
I really enjoyed this book, the intricacies of the magic system with cultures of our own world reminiscent in some of the practices, clothes and traditions of theirs. I think you should definitely give this book a try and read it before getting into the six of crows duology
ishita thinks... 