Fans of young adult fantasy and adventure novels should check out  Shadow and Bone.

Shadow and Bone is the first book in The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. Leigh Bardugo is a fantasy author who is known for her Grishaverse novels.

The book is about darkness crawling with monsters that feast on the flesh that is destroying Ravka, a place that seems a bit like Russia. Alina, the main character is an orphan who discovers she has a  different power that puts her in the Grisha Army. The Darkling is a creature with power. All of the principle characters have to go through many struggles and they have interesting dynamics with each other.

The characters are clearly drawn.  They have good development throughout the entire book and it gets you excited for the next book. There are just enough twists that make this book enjoyable. The magic aspect of the world was done well and the world is well thought out. I enjoyed Bardugo’s writing style.

Two downsides to the novel are  the slow beginning, and, at some points, the plot seems very cliched.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed many things about this book and the strengths outweigh the problems. I enjoyed the book. Leah Bardugo has proven herself to be a strong author and I can see why this books and its two sequels, “Siege and Storm” and “Ruin and Rising”, are so popular.  Shadow and Bone has been made into Netflix Original Series that premiered in April of 2021. This is a great first book for the trilogy and it sets everything up well for the next books. Check it out.