Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1)

Summary:

"Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. 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."

I wasn't really planning on reading Shadow and Bone, but I kept seeing other bloggers, saying how great this book was and so when I saw it on the shelf at the library, I picked it up. Still, I didn't have HIGH expectations for the book.

Now, I am glad i read Shadow and Bone cause from page 1 I was hooked and obsessed. Shadow and Bone is a truly ORIGINAL story, which is so rare to find  nowadays. I like Alina's character , I think she is genuine person and I like that she is the perfect amount of humble and strong. She isn't whiney or overly dumb. The character I was really surprised about was The Darkling. I really grew to like him and my feelings for him, were similar to Alina's through out the whole book. I hope we see more of him. As for Mal, which is Alina's BFF and life long crush. I think he is a decent friend and I understand their connection, BUT I do not feel the connection between them as I did with The Darkling. Which is probably a test to Bardugo's writing.

Towards the end of the book, I was a little bored, BUT I like that it wasn't an expected ending and I am excited to see where the series goes. I can now really see why everyone recommends this book, and will be doing that now too!