review: shadow and bone

Note: this review will only be for the first book

4.5 stars!! At first i was hesitant to give the 5 stars on GR coz most of my friends rated it 3-4 stars which makes me feel like i'm rating too high(4.5 could be either 4 OR 5) BUT WHATEVER. IM GIVING IT 5 STARS ON GR BECAUSE I ENJOYED THIS BOOK A LOT.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

The Plot
Okay, so the start was a little bit slow, but not for long. After about 50 pages, i was sucked right into the story. The slow start was mostly because of the whole explanation about the Grisha system and basically the world-building. It was a little difficult to get into right away because of all the Russian(?) terms that i tbh still don't remember even now. The plot seemed clear from the start, and the plot twist was honestly something i did not expect. I really like being surprised in this book. I also quite liked the ending which made me want to read the next book right away(in fact, i already started!).

The characters
I really like Alina! I don't find her as annoying as most YA protagonists.In fact, there were times when i really like her thoughts and what she says and i find myself tabbing those parts. I love that she was doubtful of her gift, and that it took a while for her to master it. It felt more realistic, and going through the whole training and seeing her grow was really entertaining. I also really like Mal(after the second half of the book) but i have mixed feelings about the Darkling. He had a lot of Chaol Westfall vibe at first which i loved but then that kinda changed. So many people seem to like him, but i just can't see why yet from the first book. Genya was also a really cool character and omg i want her gift please. 

The writing
I don't find the writing particularly unique or special, to be honest. The way it was written was very direct and mediocre, but it was easy to understand so it helped me get sucked into the plot easily. The world-building was pretty amazing though, in my opinion. The descriptions of the palace and the place Alina trained at(gosh i suck at remembering the name of the places) sounded quite spectacular, and i just love the whole Grisha system with their trainings and uniforms and parties. It sounded like a sort of Hogwarts set in a medieval kind of place, which i found pretty cool. The romance wasn't that great, but once or twice i did get some feels from it and it was enough to make me bubbly. I am Team Mal!!(for now?hopefully forever!)

I didn't end up writing a review for book 2 and book 3, but you guys can watch my trilogy review if you wanna know what i think of them :)