Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?
The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.
But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him? Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance (GoodReads).
- Originality: 8. This is fantasy working. The grisha world was great. The plot of girl (mousy, obvs) who is an orphan who finds herself powerful and maybe the savior of the world is not at all new, but Bardugo's story telling is good enough that I don't care!On a better note- I want a friend with magic to be able to highlight my hair!
- Absurdity: 4. The world building is great. Enough that I wanted to learn more but not enough to have me rolling my eyes about political boundaries/intrigue in made-up places. I did give one mini eye roll for the made-up words. Why kvas? Why not liquor. Fantasy authors, I don't like this. Anyone else have thoughts?
- Level of
ParanormalRomance: 5. I like that right off the bat we know about the inconvenient crush Alina has on Mal. No spoilers here, but I guessed all of the romantic developments from the first 20 pages, -- but that doesn't meant I didn't enjoy the enfolding process. The romance doesn't dominate but its nice. - Level of Harry Potterness: 7. I am happy I bought this in paperback because I can't wait to share it! On to the sequel!
Kvass is a Russian drink, but non-alcoholic, I think. A lot of the world is drawn from Russian culture and I loved it! I loved the whole book. I'm reviewing it next week. :)
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