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mark monday's Reviews > Shadow and Bone
Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)
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mark monday's review
bookshelves: teenworld, fantasy-modern, rain-man-reviews, romantica
Jun 14, 2021
bookshelves: teenworld, fantasy-modern, rain-man-reviews, romantica
3 LESSONS FOR THE LASSES
Lesson #1: Don't Let Mean Girls Rule You
Don't let them live in your head! Don’t view yourself through their eyes! Don’t copy their mannerisms, habits, styles, or ways of communicating! Don’t befriend them! Don’t make it all about them! Young woman, you are an individual! Think for yourself!
Lesson #2: Don't Be Afraid To Be You
Don’t mope around waiting to be noticed! Don't be a shrinking violet, a wallflower, or any other kind of garden variety girl! Don’t let society define you and don’t obsess over anyone else’s opinions! Don’t rely on boys to tell you who you are! Unleash yourself!
Don't be like these gals: (view spoiler)
Lesson #3: Don't Kill
Well, unless you are killing some asshole who’s like over a hundred years old and who totally led you on and who wants to rule the world with dark magic – he deserves it!
Bonus Lesson/Trigger Warning:
(view spoiler)
well i sure hope the tv series is at least worth it! does this series get any better? i sorta love the world created. but i guess i need some sort of heads-up for ya books that feature frustratingly pathetic heroines who are almost completely characterized via their moony, maudlin crushes.
TV SERIES UPDATE: well, i got through one & a half episodes before sleep took me. still, i enjoyed it well enough and will probably continue. although i had to laugh when i saw that the producers had replaced the plain, tired-looking white heroine of the book with a gorgeous eurasian. lol can't have anyone plain be the lead in a young adult tv series, heaven forbid! that said, being a gorgeous eurasian myself, i fully endorse their decision. plus it enables the writers to toss in some oh so au courant racism-angst. but have to say, that angst is rather undercut by the fact that many in the cast also appear to be equally attractive mixed-race lads & lasses - and they don't suffer for it like our plucky, gorgeous tv heroine. which makes the racism experienced by her rather... inexplicable? silly? shoved into the plot because reasons?
Lesson #1: Don't Let Mean Girls Rule You
Don't let them live in your head! Don’t view yourself through their eyes! Don’t copy their mannerisms, habits, styles, or ways of communicating! Don’t befriend them! Don’t make it all about them! Young woman, you are an individual! Think for yourself!
Lesson #2: Don't Be Afraid To Be You
Don’t mope around waiting to be noticed! Don't be a shrinking violet, a wallflower, or any other kind of garden variety girl! Don’t let society define you and don’t obsess over anyone else’s opinions! Don’t rely on boys to tell you who you are! Unleash yourself!
Don't be like these gals: (view spoiler)
Lesson #3: Don't Kill
Well, unless you are killing some asshole who’s like over a hundred years old and who totally led you on and who wants to rule the world with dark magic – he deserves it!
Bonus Lesson/Trigger Warning:
(view spoiler)
well i sure hope the tv series is at least worth it! does this series get any better? i sorta love the world created. but i guess i need some sort of heads-up for ya books that feature frustratingly pathetic heroines who are almost completely characterized via their moony, maudlin crushes.
TV SERIES UPDATE: well, i got through one & a half episodes before sleep took me. still, i enjoyed it well enough and will probably continue. although i had to laugh when i saw that the producers had replaced the plain, tired-looking white heroine of the book with a gorgeous eurasian. lol can't have anyone plain be the lead in a young adult tv series, heaven forbid! that said, being a gorgeous eurasian myself, i fully endorse their decision. plus it enables the writers to toss in some oh so au courant racism-angst. but have to say, that angst is rather undercut by the fact that many in the cast also appear to be equally attractive mixed-race lads & lasses - and they don't suffer for it like our plucky, gorgeous tv heroine. which makes the racism experienced by her rather... inexplicable? silly? shoved into the plot because reasons?
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Reading Progress
June 13, 2021
–
Started Reading
June 13, 2021
– Shelved
June 14, 2021
– Shelved as:
teenworld
June 14, 2021
– Shelved as:
fantasy-modern
June 14, 2021
–
Finished Reading
June 18, 2021
– Shelved as:
rain-man-reviews
June 18, 2021
– Shelved as:
romantica
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Sacha
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rated it 4 stars
Jun 15, 2021 12:15AM
No worries, it sure gets better with the second and third book! 🙂 But I guess you read too much too good stuff to be satisfied… 😂😉
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It's kinda sad to think how many YA heroines get defined by some dude around her. I.guess that's how writers see young adults... and judging by the sales, looks like they are on to something
Couldn't make it past the first episode.
Gonna be honest, vastly preferred six of crows, the writing takes a huge jump in quality, making them seem almost like different authors just in how much it improved. Couldnt stand the grisha trilogy for the exact reasons you stated. Does make the show disappointing, in that as a fan of six of crows and its characters, if I want to watch I have to sit through stuff from the trilogy as well. Tl;dr id say skip these & give soc a try
I’d honestly recommend skipping the series, definitely not watching the tv show (lots of extreme mishaps in the writing room) and just reading six of crows… to be honest, I didn’t like six of crows either, but I thought it was better than this series.
Jaymes wrote: "Gonna be honest, vastly preferred six of crows, the writing takes a huge jump in quality, making them seem almost like different authors just in how much it improved. Tl;dr id say skip these & give soc a try..."
I may do just that! I've read many good things about Six of Crows. I will review some reviews about books 2 & 3 in this trilogy, just in case, but if Six has a different protagonist in the same world, I'm already interested.
Md0 wrote: "It's kinda sad to think how many YA heroines get defined by some dude around her. I.guess that's how writers see young adults... and judging by the sales, looks like they are on to something"yeah, it's gross. encountered the same thing in other YA. Forest of Hands & Teeth stands out as a particularly laughable example of this issue.
Lawrence wrote: "Couldn't make it past the first episode."I enjoyed it more than the book! that said, I did fall asleep mid-way through the second episode. will keep trying because I'm intrigued by the side plot on an island (Kirch?) that wasn't in the books. and I am loving the fx.
Sacha wrote: "No worries, it sure gets better with the second and third book! 🙂 But I guess you read too much too good stuff to be satisfied… 😂😉"🙂 I don't know if I read too many good things but I do usually enjoy what I read, to an extent. this book and Knife of Never Gonna Give You Up were read back to back, and I was struck by a certain sameness in both - a weird kind of gender essentialism for males and for females. and I don't like that kind of messaging in YA novels where the target audience is so important - specifically, the message that they are receiving. still, there were things I enjoyed in both books. I can definitely be Snobby Snobberson but I don't like hate-reading and will usually leave a book unfinished if it is totally without value for me. there was value in both of these books, it was just outweighed by what bugged.
Star wrote: "I’d honestly recommend skipping the series, definitely not watching the tv show (lots of extreme mishaps in the writing room) and just reading six of crows… to be honest, I didn’t like six of crows..."uh oh, too late! or maybe not. i'm definitely not hooked yet, so we'll see. I've noticed what you mean about mishaps in the writing room!
I can't speak on the book or the show, but this: "being a gorgeous eurasian myself"... Can confirm, 100% accurate. :D
LOL well bless your lyin' eyes! :)
I love the word moony. Great review as ever, Mark.
it's a great word, very undervalued & underused! and thanks - but this is more of a placeholder review, will probably write a so-called review tomorrow.
imo six of crows is really great! judging from your review I think you’d like it a lot more than the trilogy, since the story + characters are way more unique and it’s set in the same world :)
I was disappointed by this as well, but did enjoy The Witch of Duva and a couple other Tor shorts she set in the same world.
eenayde wrote: "imo six of crows is really great! judging from your review I think you’d like it a lot more than the trilogy, since the story + characters are way more unique and it’s set in the same world :)"Mir wrote: "I was disappointed by this as well, but did enjoy The Witch of Duva and a couple other Tor shorts she set in the same world."
I haven't given up hope yet on this author. I went out with Wendy Darling on Wednesday and she convinced me to give Six of Crows a try. And so I will!
I remember liking sparks of Alina, but also disliking the lack on any non-bitchy other female characters, also Mal, oh my god, Mal pretty much pretends she's "just his friend" and he has oodles of lady friends until it turns out maybe someone else likes her...then she's a terrible person. Not my favorite series, I did like six of crows better. Not gonna bother with the show, I've seen previews and honestly I'm over adaptations....
Definitely with you on the lack of any non-bitchy female characters, that is one of the worst things about this book! and then there's Mal, whose entire character does an unexplained 180 but still manages to somehow be a character who Alina continually pines after, no matter what he does or who he is. That is, when she's not pining after Darth Vader Jr of course.
It was so lovely to see you again, mark! Let’s see what else I can convince you to do. :D
Wendy Darling wrote: "It was so lovely to see you again, mark! Let’s see what else I can convince you to do. :D"Oh, I didn't realize you lived in SF, Wendy!
YA Heroines when they see a cute guy.... Is this love? Shall i forget my brain and pine for this emotionally stunted man?YA Heroines: By the book gods, YES!!!
Mir wrote: "Oh, I didn't realize you lived in SF, Wendy!"Ah no, I was down south.
We should meet up one of these days too. You're so close!
Wendy Darling wrote: "It was so lovely to see you again, mark! Let’s see what else I can convince you to do. :D"
You were very convincing!
Sade wrote: "YA Heroines when they see a cute guy.... Is this love? Shall i forget my brain and pine for this emotionally stunted man?
YA Heroines: By the book gods, YES!!!"
EXACTLY
mark wrote: "Mir wrote: "Oh, I didn't realize you lived in SF, Wendy!"Ah no, I was down south.
We should meet up one of these days too. You're so close!"
Sure, any time you need to head north. I'm all vaxxed up.
Same (whenever you are in SF) & same (fully vaxxed)!
although i had to laugh when i saw that the producers had replaced the plain, tired-looking white heroine of the book with a gorgeous eurasian. lol can't have anyone plain be the lead in a young adult tv seriesYou mean the supposed plain looking white girl who has at least three hot guys going after her? XD
That aside, I still cannot help but feel Alina being presented as a half Asian in the TV series is an attempt to gain political correctness brownie points.
I completely, completely agree. the show is trying to be a part of the "national conversation on race" but doesn't realize that it is only making shallow gestures. kinda embarrassing.
mark wrote: "I completely, completely agree. the show is trying to be a part of the "national conversation on race" but doesn't realize that it is only making shallow gestures. kinda embarrassing."It's the first time I saw a reader calling out the shallowness of race-shifting the heroine from a white girl to a POC one like these two are just interchangeable. I mean, it's fine if the author decided she wants to add more POC characters in her books, like she did with the Six of Crows series, all the POC characters are all there at the beginning, but it's just so fucking half-hearted and insulting to backtrack and change the MC's race when the whole trilogy is already over and done with.
It is insulting in the same way like a POC character got changed into a white one when a book is adapted into a movie/TV series.
I'm interested to see what would you think when you're done with the Shadow and Bones TV series. Though I personally think it's a bit outlandish for the producers to clamp two book series into one TV show.
:) He's a slayer of hearts and also the bodies surrounding those hearts!
