No disclaimers(book tag)

I’ve decided that i’m going to do a tag today.

1. Which tropes in a book annoy you the most?

This is a cliche answer but it is the love triangle trope. Luckily i don’t read books with that trope frequentlg but when i do see it, it is often done terribly, love triangles are not bad but they are done so terribly that people just write them off as a bad idea. I might write something about this in the future

2.Which writer do you think is overhyped

I’m going to go with a book that i thought was overhyped because i haven’t read enough of this person’s work but it’s the invisible life of Addie LaRue. I thought it was overhyped. I thought it was going to be an explosive read and would change my life but frankly all i got from it was just vibes and nothing substantive. Also the boy, the fox, the mole, the horse. I gave this a positive review on my blog but looking back that book was quite basic and i let people’s thoughts on the book cloud my judgement and how i felt about it

3.Least favourite book you’ve read since you started bloggging.

Yume(eArc)

Shadow and bone

Shorefall

4. What is a terrible ending that ruined an otherwise quality book.

I have a handful here. I don’t enjoy the way Chimamanda ngozie Adichie ends her novels, i’ve read Americanah, purple hibiscus and half of a yellow sun and while i loved all of them except Americanah, i notice that i did not like their endings.

The secret life of Baba Segi’s wives

5. Which fictional character do you wish was not killed off.

Lightsong from Warbreaker

6. What are some of your bookish pet peeves

People who don’t return books or if they do return them, it is in horrible condition, i personally think that it is extremely disrespectful when i give a book to someone to take read and they return it to me as though the book had been with them for 30 years and during that time they had carried it through a warzone.

7. What are some books that you think should have more recognition

So long a letter by Mariama Ba. I’m actually reading this in school in my literature class and i was expecting to hate it but i really LOVE it.

8. What are your thoughts on censhorship and banning books

If a book espouses dangerous ideologies and beliefs such a racism, sexism, xenophobia as well just misinformation that could hurt a vulnerable group of people and others, then it should be banned.

SHADOW AND BONE(BOOK REVIEW)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: YA fantasy

Description

Shadow and bone is about a girl named Alina who works as a mapmaker in the first army of the nation named Ravka who are at war with a mysterious form known as the shadow fold that contains horrible creatures that feast on human flesh.

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.

Review

I heard of the show on Netflix and i decided to read the book first to get more background and detail of the story before watching the series. The writing is very readable and digestible. I think this is great for anyone who’s reading fantasy for the first time because it isn’t too heavy on the magic system and the world.

The first half of the book has an excellent pace and is very smooth. The second half of the book is a bit more slow and sluggish.

The main character Alina felt a little bit bland to me and i think it’s probably because it’s just the first book and she might get better as the series goes on bit for now she just doesn’t stand out to me as a protagonist. She kinda reminded me of the YA protagonists from around the 2011 and 20112 period where the female protagonists in YA were brown haired plain looking, not-like-other-girls, suffering from low self esteem but it turns out they were “special” complete with a love triangle. To be fair, this book came out around that time so i’ll probably just call it a product of its times.

As someone who has read quite a bit of fantasy, the world building and magic were not that interesting. If you are new to fantasy, this book would be a great start as it doesn’t really go too deep but if you are someone who loves fantasy and deep complex worlds and magic systems, the world and magic of this book will not interest you. I don’t know much about russian culture and folklore so i cannot say with any authority where the author integrated these elements well into her book as there are certain elements of the story that is based on russia folklore and culture, however i have read that it isn’t really accurate to russian culture and folklore.

The various magic systems weren’t really fleshed out well and felt severely undercooked but i believe the other books might give a bit more detail which is a bit unfortunate because i often consider the first book of any series to be about world building and establishing characters and the magic system, its rules and restrictions and because i felt that they were not done well, a lot of pressure will be on her remaining two books to fill in that gap when more interesting things could be happening.

I also thought the supporting characters were weak and didn’t particularly stand out except maybe for a few.

The second half of the book felt a little bit boring compared to the first, with the first half, things moved quickly and the story was very interesting but when the second half came on, it felt more slow, now this wouldn’t be a problem if we were spending the time on character development or something of the sort, but nothing of great importance happened which was very disappointing. At least the ending was a great set up for what might happen in the second book and i might read it but not anytime soon

Verdict:2.5/5 stars

Overall thoughts

The writing was easy and engaging and this story will appeal to younger or new readers of fantasy but i felt that the characterization was a little bland and uninteresting.