Leigh Bardugo
Pages: 358
Published Date: June 5th, 2012
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
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. . .
A Russian-inspired fantasy featuring orphan soldiers, strong female protagonists, Grisha, handsome amplifiers, and ravenous monsters? You had me at "Russian-inspired fantasy."
Let me stop fangirling for a moment and calm myself down. This book met and exceeded my expectations one hundred times over. I'll admit, I mostly chose it because the cover was fangasmic, but the story, the plot, and the writing backed it up.
Alina Starkov is skinny and awkward young woman working for the First Army as a mapmaker. Her handsome and talented childhood friend, Mal, is one of the best trackers, and not to shabby with the ladies either. He even managed to snag the snarky MC's attention. Too bad he's never looked twice.
But when her regiment takes a dangerous trip into the Shadow Fold, a permanent strip of darkness plagued with flesh-eating monsters called volcra that separates Ravka from its only coastline, everything goes horribly wrong. Mal is injured and without knowing it, Alina saves him by unleashing an astonishing new power that has potential to save all of Ravka. It's a good thing the handsome Darkling *fangirl scream* knows just what to do with her.
Swept into a world of riches and luxury, Alina must struggle to fit in, all the while mastering her new power and avoiding a sinister plot that plans to ruin the world.
Looking at the summary, quite a few cliches automatically pop out. Average girl in love with her best friend? Probably the oldest in the book, but despite this I loved the story.
Alina is a strong female protagonist. She doesn't curl up into a meek little ball and wait for her prince to rescue her, nor does she go all ball-busting and become a "chick with a dick." There was definitely character development from her, and by the end of the book, I felt as if I was reading about a woman instead of the little girl at the beginning of the story.
And the Darkling. *screams* What can I say? He's the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome wrapped up in mystery and danger. I was basically in love with him through out the entire book, even when the plot twist was revealed and I was like:
But boy can Leigh write men and kissing. *fans*
Now that I'm officially in love with this book, I have to wait an entire year until the next one comes out.
Anyway, do I really need to tell you to read this book? The animated gifs above sum up my feelings nicely.
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