Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo | Review

Paperback: 308 pages

Publisher: Macmillan Publishers

Published: 2012

Language: English

Rating: 4.75 / 5 stars

"The problem with wanting," he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, "is that it makes us weak."

After what seems like a century since it was published, I finally read this book. And I really liked it. It was a cute story with very interesting politics and esentially, a new world to discover.

The story is about the once-great nation of Ravka which is now surrounded by enemies, on top of being torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. There is also a very complex magic system in this world, the Grisha. They are divided in three main categories: Corporalki, Etherealki and Materialki. Those also divide in more categories but you'll discover them while reading the book.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo is the first installment in the Grisha trilogy, and also, the author's debut novel. And for a debut novel, it surely is a good one, yet it leaves some space for improvement.

I like the story, I love the magic system, but I really didn't care much for the characters. Perhaps one or two of them were interesting to watch develop throughout the story, but the rest of them were quite annoying. Fortunately, that didn't ruin the story for me. It might have actually added some humour to it.

First of all we have Alina Starkov which is one of the main characters of this book and I think is supposed to be a good one, but I found her very annoying, as if any bad decisions that could have been made throughout the book, she just went out and made them all. I actually liked her in the first half of the book. She was a clueless little thing trying to make sense of the world she was thrown in, which makes for a good start, but the way she evolved, the person she is slowly growing into is not a favourite of mine.

" People, particularly big men carrying big rifles, don't expect lip from a scrawny little thing like me. They always look a bit dazed when they get it. "

Then we have the Darkling. I have a love-hate relationship with him. I liked him very much ever since he made an appearence, then I didn't, then I did again. I am still debating. There's something about all that mystery and darkness around him that draws me in but also makes me want to guard myself, just in case.

The Darkling slumped back in his chair. "Fine," he said with a weary shrug. "Make me your villain." 

And we also have Mal Orestev, the character I hate the most. Well, not necessarily hate, but cannot stand him.
Mal is Alina's childhood best friend and I don't have an explination as to why, but I would feed him to Volcras at any given moment.

But that's just my opinion, regarding all the characters.

Back to the actual story, the romance at the end of the book seemed a little forced to me and naybe it would have been a lot better without said part.

" The moment our lips met, I knew with pure and piercing certainty that I would have waited for him forever. "

This particular line I do not dislike, I would have even considered cute if placed in another book with another love story. Perhaps a forbidden love trope would have been more fitting for this line. Here, in this story, considering all the pining after our main character does, seems exaggerated with maybe a slight hint of desperation. But once again, this is just a small inconvenience, it didn't really affect the story that much so I still enjoyed it very much.

I loved the political games and the threats they were facing because I felt like that made everyone more aware of the world around them, that there were bigger things at stake. I also liked the political system and the military business going around. To me, it just made the story better. And that is why I gave it 4.75 stars out of 5.

The series is definitely worth continuing and I will be back soon with the review for the second book, Siege and Storm. If high fantasy is your genre, then you should give this book a chance. It might surprise you.

Circul Nopții de Erin Morgenstern | Recenzie

Număr de pagini: 506

Editură: YoungArt

An de apariție: 2013

Limbă: Română 

Rating: 3 / 5 steluțe 

“ Cineva trebuie să spună toate aceste poveşti. În asta constă magia. Ea se află în ascultător şi va fi diferită pentru fiecare ureche, afectându-i pe toţi într-un mod pe care nu ai cum să-l prevezi. "

Am început această carte cu așteptări uriașe. Foarte multe persoane au spus că este o carte superbă, am citit destule recenzii foarte bune, astfel așteptările mele erau undeva pe la etajul 1000. Și nu am fost neapărat dezamăgită, e un cuvânt prea dur. Dar cu siguranță nu s-a ridicat la nivelul așteptărilor mele.

Cartea are foarte multe capitole și fiecare capitol are locația și anul în care se petrece acțiunea trecute. Okay, o idee bună. Apoi începe frustrarea. Un capitol se întâmplă într-un an, apoi următorul este 10 ani mai târziu, ca mai apoi să te întoarcă 7 în trecut. Pe la jumătatea cărtii deja renunțasem să mai calculez vârstele persoanjelor și doar verificam anul la începutul capitolului.

Nu am avut niciodată vreo problemă cu cititul mai multor cărti simultan, nu pierd șirul acțiunii și nu încurc persoanjele, ceea ce mi se pare un lucru bun. Totuși, citind această carte, mă pierdusem la un moment dat și chiar simțeam că citesc mai multe cărți în același timp, niciuna având o poveste captivantă. Sunt prea multe personaje de ținut minte și prea multe legături între ele care ne sunt dezvăluite mult prea târziu.

Recunosc totuși că dacă o abandonam, așa cum am vrut inițial, aș fi regretat, pentru că după aproximativ jumătate din carte, povestea a devenit interesantă. Personajele principale s-au întâlnit ÎN SFÂRȘIT și atunci a început acțiunea propriu-zisă. Când am ajuns la finalul cărții, deja îmi părea rău că se termina. Sincer, dacă ar fi fost la fel de antrenant, să spun, ca și a doua jumătate a acestui volum, clar aș fi vrut o continuare.

Celia Bowen este primul personaj principal cu care facem cunoștință în această carte. Celia este fiica unui magician foarte cunoscut și adorat de public, Prospero Magicianul, sau, pe numele său real, Hector Bowen. Trucurile sale nu sunt de fapt trucuri, fiind acte de magie adevărate lăsate să pară false, acest talent moștenindu-l și fiica sa. Când Hector descoperă darurile Celiei, declară că o va instrui și antrena pentru o viitoare competiție cu un oponent necunoscut încă celor doi.

Marco Alisdair este cel de-al doilea personaj principal al cărții și oponentul Celiei în competiția misterioasă în care aceștia participă. Marco a fost instruit pentru această confruntare de un alt mânuitor al magiei, oarecum adversar lui Hector Bowen, numit Alexander.

„ Îi atinge faţa cu mâna, împietrit de spaimă că degetele lui ar putea să treacă prin ea la fel ca prin trandafir. ”

Confruntarea dintre cei doi are loc în cadrul lui Cirque des Rêves, o creație ingenioasă care își face apariția în toiul nopții prin metode necunoscute publicului larg.

" Circul sosește fără veste. Fără înștiințări, fără afișe pe stâlpii sau panourile din centru, fără anunțuri sau reclame în ziarele locale. E pur și simplu acolo unde ieri nu era nimic. "

Ce nu au intuit Alexander și Hector a fost ce se va întâmpla când campionii lor se vor cunoaște și îndrăgosti. Acest lucru însă e ceva ce va trebui să aflați singuri.

Elementul meu preferat, dacă îi pot spune așa, din această carte este perioada de timp în care se petrece acțiunea, aceea fiind secolul al XIX-lea. Ador descrierile ținutelor din acea vreme, a cavalerismului și manierelor oamenilor unii față de ceilalți. Totuși, descrierea Circului Viselor și a corturilor sale este, de asemenea, printre favorite. Acesta este cu siguranță un circ pe care l-aș vizita în mod repetat.

Dacă sunteți fani ai genului historical fiction, această carte este cu siguranță pentru voi.

Lectură plăcută!

To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo | Review

Paperback: 358 pages

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Published: 2018

Language: English

Rating: 5 / 5 stars 

" I've made a mistake. It started with a prince, as most stories do. Once I felt the thrum of his heart beneath my fingers, I couldn't forget it. "

I have a tendency of reading overly hyped books because seeing them everywhere and hearing about them from so many people makes me think that they are worth a try. And they are, most of the time.

To Kill A Kingdom though, I have only heard about once before in a recommendations video from one of my favourite booktubers. After that, I completely forgot about the book until I found it in a local bookstore. And honestly, it was so totally worth it!

The story is a retelling of the Little Mermaid, only bloodier and containing a high amount of sass.

First things first, I shall introduce you to our two main characters who stole my heart from the beginning (pun not intended).

Lira is a siren princess and one of the deadliest creatures existing in the Kingdom of Keto. As is tradition, sirens are required to take the heart of a human on their birthday each year, stealing the humans' lives as revenge for the goddess Keto's stolen life generations before.

" Every action will betray. Every choice will slaughter. Despite what my mother says, I seem to be the exact kind of monster she wanted. "

Elian is the crown prince of the Kingdom of Midas, the most powerful kingdom of all, but also a siren hunter who navigates the seas with his trusted crew of pirates on a deadly ship, in hopes of ridding the world of sirens.

" Technically, I'm a murderer, but I like to think that's one of my better qualities. "

After disobeying the Sea Queen repeatedly, Lira is cursed into humanity and given the mission of stealing the siren hunter's heart.
When Elian rescues a drowning girl from the ocean, she promises to help him end the sirenkind for good. 
I'll let you take part in their exciting adventures and find out the rest of the story on your own.

The dynamic between the characters is one of my favourite parts of this book, along with their evolution throughout the story, Lira being the best example in this case, the way she matures as time passes.
As fantasy is my favourite genre, this book was the perfect mix of magic, myth and imagination and in terms of writing an amazing retelling based on a centuries old fairytale, I'd say the author did a wonderful job. I can't wait to read Alexandra Christo's other (future) books, hopefully they'll be just as amazing!

If you love fantasy, I totally recommend this book. You won't be disappointed.