All Hallows Reads - Grishaverse Fairy Tales

Let’s start the spookiness with some fairy tales, shall we?

Well, I say fairy tales. They’re folktales from the world of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse . Now, I only done two (and not the whole collection from The Language of Thorns), which were released individually – The Too-Clever Fox and Little Knife. Both I did via audiobook from local library and both have the same feel to it so merging their write-ups together.

Companion folk tales to novels Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, The Too-Clever Fox is about a fox who has escaped traps all his life. But just because you avoid one trap, doesn’t mean you will escape the next. While Little Knife is about a young woman whose beauty causes discord in her town that her family makes plans to have her wed. But plans will go awry, like the turning of the current in a river…

#re3 Audiobook Review - Shadow and Bone

• Title And Author: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
• Publisher: Orion
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed from local library via BorrowBox
• Length: 352 Pages or 8 Hours and 55 Minutes

This is the third time I have read or attempted to read it. The first was back into 2013 and I liked it. But there was something “meh” about it. Something three stars about it and something that held me back from continuing the series. I, then, tried to reread it earlier this year (June?) as I was, very kindly, given by the publisher an eBook copy to celebrate the release of King of Scars. I did try and I struggled. I got to about 38% then went “I’m done”. Rewind to a few weeks ago, I was playing around on my BorrowBox app and, even though I have several audiobooks I really should be listening to or thinking about requesting due to my commitments to NetGalley titles and publishers, I saw this and went “Maybe if I audiobook it, I might fine it easier to get into…”

Hence, that’s what I’ve done. I audiobooked it over the course of 3 days at work.

Alina Starkov is a simple map-maker, an orphan and refuge so when her army regiment is taken into the Shadow Fold to cross Ravka, yes, she is scared. Because the once great nation is torn in two due to the Fold, darkness that is filled with creatures that feast on human flesh. And no-one, not even the powerful Grisha or their leader, the Darkling, can defeat it. 

So when her regiment is attacked in the Fold and her best friend, Mal, is brutally injured, Alina does something no-one, not even herself, expects. She reveals a dormant power of bring forth light. This power could be the key to saving her war-torn country. And because of this, she is snatched away from everything and everyone she knows into the lavish world of Grisha court and the royal court to train and control her power. 

But not everything in this new world is what it seems and Alina must be careful when it comes to the secrets of the Grisha and the secrets of her own heart…

Another DNF Blogpost

I feel like, at leats once a year, I write a blog post about DNF-ing a book. In the past, I have been open about struggling to quit a book/audiobook/eBook since I have become a book blogger (if you want to call me that). 

I feel that, in recent years, I have got a hell of a lot better quitting stories that don’t grip/excite or bring joy to my reading pleasure. Whether that would be within this first 10-15% of the story or, in one case, a good 75ish% in. If there is a gif to describe my attitude, it would a “thank u, next” kinda situation. 

As many of us book bloggers have said in one form or another, life’s too short! 

Sometimes, I would chat about why I DNF’ed a story. Sometimes, it would spark a conversation I want to discuss or rant over. Otherwise, I just want to explain myself as the story I am DNF-ing is such a big book in blogsphere. 

But this time… things are a little different.

Allow me to explain. The title I am talking about is Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. And I have read this once before, back in 2011 when, for some unknown reason, the UK publisher decided to call it The Gathering Dark. 

I read it back then as I was still young and new to book blogger and I wanted to read everything publishers gifted me as I wanted them to like me (I had a big fear back then that if I wrote a bad or negative review, they would remove me from their blogger list and blacklist me. I wish I can go back to younger blog me and tell him that this would never happen). And I read it. I did struggle, but I did read it. And it was ok. Not awful, but not wonderful - it was just ok to me. Making me an odd creature as nearly everyone else who read it loved it. 

Fast forward to now and, with Leigh’s upcoming adult novel, Ninth House, coming out at the end of the year, I kinda wanted to reread this. Just in case my opinions of it have changed. So, when I did a Goodreads poll to decide what I should read next, Shadow and Bone won (I honestly thought Poison Study by Maria V Synder was going to win). So I started to read… and I fell into The Trap. 

I thought it was ok, but soon realised that my opinions on the story hadn’t changed. And I kept going “Maybe if I read one more chapter, maybe my opinion will changed”. So I kept pushing myself a little further, just in case…

Till, at 37% of the book, I just went “I’m done.” and popped it on my DNF shelf on Goodreads. And I feel better over doing this. Basically, I didn’t trust my gut when it first went “You’re not enjoying this, you should stop”. 

You see, opinions and tastes change. That’s fine. And sometimes, rereading a book is a good thing because, if your opinions change or not, at least you know and you can move forward knowing yourself a little better. But you know yourself. If your gut is saying “Nope” to whatever you are reading, it is ok to hold fire on reading. 

So yes, this is another DNF post. And yes, I DNFed something else. And you know what… I’m not going to feel guilty about doing this now. I want to read things that make me happy and if I have to DNF some stories along the way, so be it! 

GoodRead - Shadow And Bone

You may blame my beloved Other Half (aka the PIW) for this review. You see, sometime last year, Nina from Indigo/Orion Books (hi Nina) sent this to me after I mentioned on Twitter how many positive reviews on this there was. And then, like most books I have, it got stuck into my LARGE To Read Pile and never saw the light of day. And then, after finishing Spirit, I decide I would throw myself at the mercy of Twitter and make them decide my next read. Expect I told my other half and he went "I'll do it! Send me the picks and I'll chose!". So, picked 5 books and he picked this. Even though I didn't think he would pick this so yeah... he can still surprise me.

Oh, before I go into this review, this was originally published in the UK as The Gathering Dark (which is the copy I have) but due to the movie rights being bought by Dreamworks and David Heyman (yes, the producer of the Harry Potter movies), Indigo decide to change the title and the cover to what it is in the US - Shadow and Bone. So, if I slip and write A Gathering Dark, please forgive me. 

The Shadow Fold is slowly destroying the land of Ravka. An impenetrable darkness which has terrifying creatures. While trying to cross the land through the darkness, Alina does something no-one thought was possible. Something she didn't even know she could do. Which makes all the Grisha look at her with new hope, and the powerful Grisha of them all, the Darkling, thinks she could change the world forever. As she is taken away into a new life, she can't let her old life go. She can't let go of Mal... 

Now, my To Read pile seems to be lacking full-blown fantasy (you guys can have a look, if you fancy. Maybe I should take a pic and show you in the near future) so to have this lacking in there was a nice surprise to read. One of the reasons I have stayed away from this is because of the hype. Oh, the hype! That and everyone's reaction to this book. Everyone gushing and loving it and going "It's so Russian in feel!". I seem to be now making it a rule that if a book I want to read is OVER-HYPED, I am going to give it a few months for it to calm the heck down then read it. 

So, my feelings on the book. I'm kinda mixed on it. 

Ok, let's go with all the positives. I was really surprised on this book. I thought it would be full-blown action, magic and love. And it was much slower. It took it's time and I enjoyed the pacing of the book. And, because of this, the slow character building. I love me some character building. And because of this slow character building and, up to a point, world building, it was interesting to discover this new world as Alina finds herself in. And the humour. Oh, Alina has quick, snarky moments and it just works. No matter how dark and twisted it got, Alina could say something that you smile at. 

The relationship between her and Mal & the Darkling. Now that was one of those things that kept me reading. With both her suitors, you understood where she was coming from. But... I felt more one way than the other (less said, the better on this front).

I feel I have to go into the negatives now or I will start ranting in the positives. First of all, people saying "This book feels set in Russia". Really? Was it? If it was, I completely missed it. Maybe that was because for a good half of the book, I kept saying "geisha" for "Grisha" and I had to tweet the author how to pronounce it. But it never felt Russia-set to me. It never felt like something from Russian mythology.

Another thing that bothers me is... ok, let's talk reader to reader now. Have you ever read a book and, even though I really liked it, there's something about it - something you can't quite put your finger on - that makes you not love it? Well, I feel like that with this book. I liked it, but I didn't love it like everyone else on the Internet, and I don't know why. I get why most of you love this book and I am glad my other half told me to read this book, but... I don't know. There's something about it that stops me from loving this book. 

So, will I get the sequel? Maybe. But I won't be a huge rush for it. If I don't read it, then I won't read it. But I am intrigued over where the story will go next so I might go out and get the next installment, Siege and Storm... But as I'm sitting on the fence with this, my advice to you all is just go for it. Try this read and see if you like it. If you do, GREAT! If not, then at least you tried (even if you only read 50 pages). Just try it. You never know...