I am literally bereft, annoyed, betrayed, and upset. I was really loving this book. So much so that before I even reached 50%, I purchased the other two in the trilogy and now all I can think is what a waste of money! I am beyond disappointed. I feel as though this has been a tremendous bait and switch.
Perhaps I am simply done with YA fantasy and taking it out on Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. Perhaps I expected more after reading Six of Crows (though now I’m worried about how the second in the duology will end considering this.) But this was a story so absolutely contrived and following the basic YA fantasy formula to a T that I feel a fool for being bamboozled for the first 74% of the novel.
For the first three quarters, I was surprised that I loved it as much as I did. I thought wow, a strong heroine. Yes, she moons over boring boy, but still. And then [spoiler] she realizes that she had been suppressing her true, grisha nature over this boy [/spoiler] and begins to grow confident. She became her own person and decided to try all of these new things and new people.
And then, the last quarter was a complete devolution. The book goes and falls into cookie cutter YA fantasy formula with the girl needing rescuing, boy coming back, and the most syrupy saccharine revelation of them all [spoiler]mercy is the reason i actually have all this power. mercy is the same as taking someone’s life essence/power[/spoiler]. Clearly, neither understand politics and power.
I am giving this two stars because the first 74% was pretty good and had me hopeful. Unfortunately, the end of the book was such a tremendous let-down, I cannot bear to give it anything higher. Will not continue the series and cannot in good faith recommend Shadow and Bone.
