Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This is about a girl named Alina who is an orphan. She sees herself as kind of a loser and feels like she's never going to anything great in life. Well, that obviously changes. She ends up being taken away by this books version of the government to try and close the Shadow Fold, basically a place full of monsters and dangers. So she has to deal with the new lavish life style, being taken away from her best friend, and trying to control her new found powers.

I thought the world that Bardugo built was so fascinating. I don't read as much fantasy as I would like, but this was a really interesting world and especially with the Darkling's character. I found him to be the most interesting and complex character in the book. I thought Alina was an okay protagonist. I don't know I guess I just felt like I didn't know her as well as I should have. I didn't feel that bad for her when she got taken away and that's not a good thing. Her best friend, Mal, who is also an orphan, was slightly more dynamic but I still didn't feel that connected to him.

I was super intrigued at the beginning of this book and the end was definitely the best part of the novel. The middle of it, however, dragged on a bit. I thought it slowed down considerably. Some people may enjoy that, I personally didn't all that much. But, again, I think the ending redeemed the book and I'm really interesting in what the next book will being us. Not my favorite fantasy book, but I do think it's a great start to a series. 4 out of 5 stars.