'fine. make me your villain.' oh, my darling darkling. i would do soooo much more than that. you can put your collar on me any day. is… is this what love feels like?↠ 5 stars

It's been a couple of weeks since I finished this, and I can't remember a single character name except for The Darkling. Whoops.This was a run-of-the-mill YA fantasy book. It wasn't bad, just bland. The characters, romance, and (most of) the plot were quite generic and almost forgettable. I think 2014 Zoë who loved Throne of Glass would also have loved this, but my tastes have evolved since then. Also, I've realized that fantasy written in first person is not my cup of tea.However, in the sea of...

Check out the interview with Leigh Bardugo where she saves Kat Kennedy and I from Ninjas. True story. Also, there's a giveaway of a finished copy of Shadow and Bone!If I could wrap up my emotions about how I felt after reading Shadow and Bone and send them to you through my computer screen, I totally would. Instead, I'm afraid you'll have to settle for my words: THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! I wish I could unread it just so I can go back and re-read it again for the first time.Yes, I loved it that much...

"The usual. Life. Love. The melting point of iron ore."Having read Six of Crows first, I was a little worried about reading Shadow and Bone. Based on a lot of reviews, I thought this will fall way behind SoC, resulting in a dull read. Turns out all that anxiety was not necessary at all. This might not be as conniving or eventful as SoC, but things turned out way better than I had hoped. I know it's not fair to compare the two, with Shadow and Bone series coming first, so I'm going to stop myself...

Latest BookTube Video is up - a totally serious take on writing Young Adult Lit! The Actual Review IT WAS A COMPLETE DISASTER. Whelp...that was horribly disappointing...I cannot begin to explain how utterly...blah this one was. SO many people recommended it, and I honestly feel a bit awful with the low rating - but ehhh, what's the point of goodreads if I can't rant? How to Write a Hit YA Novel 101 (In 5 easy steps!) 1. Make your main character ugly “She’s an ugly little thing.

(If you think I’m not still watching the television show you are WRONG. Eyes on Six of Crows, babes.)2 1/2 stars, but I have literally no clue at all how to rate this, because it is all over the place. The first half was actually terrible [like, awful] but the second half was Really Cool and I don't know how to reconcile these two emotions? But also I have like. fifteen books marked review to come. So let's go. → worldbuilding I pretend to care about ← [I just… really don’t care about worldbu...

The biggest issue with this book is actually NOT the utter fail at correctly incorporating the Russian elements into the story.It's that I'd never be able to pick this book out of a generic YA book lineup.It's like a ninja, perfectly blending into its surroundings, into that painfully generic landscape that plagues YA literature recently, the lackluster background against which few gems truly stand out. And gem this one is not.I think at this point there is a formula that many YA writers view as...

(3.5) I really enjoyed this and I'm definitely going to be continuing on with this trilogy, but I did have a few issues with it. While I was fascinated by the world, but at the same time, I didn't feel like the world was fleshed out enough. We don't really get much world building, you're just kind of thrown into the world, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for me there were things that I needed to be explained more for me to be able to fully visualize the setting. I also just wasn't a hug...

[2021]4.5 stars 2021 me is laughing at my 2016 review because rereading this changed everything I felt about this book. I love it so much more now and for completely different reasons. Honestly an all time favorite 💗(can’t believe I was a darkling stan 💀)[2016]3.5 StarsI honestly had no intention of reading this series, but after loving Six of Crows I decided that I had to give The Grisha Trilogy a chance. And I am SO happy that I did!While I felt that the plot and romance were somewhat tropey,

How excited are you that this is becoming a Netflix show?! :DI went into this book with pretty low expectations. Everyone seemed to not love it and I wanted to read it just so I could get to the Six of Crows duology. Well turns out I really liked it. Even more than Six of Crows!Not a fan of the romance/love triangle ish but the world is interesting and the magic system is awesome. The first book is my favorite of the trilogy!I recommend you read this before reading Six of Crows. I know everyone

I don't think words can properly describe how much I adored SHADOW & BONE. The characters, the world-building...it completely blew me away. There were moments when I was so stunned by the beauty and the brilliance that I had to stop reading. I never wanted this book to end.This is the best YA fantasy novel I've read since SABRIEL or THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

”I’ve been waiting for you a long time, Alina,” he said. “You and I are going to change the world.”Leigh’s cooking receipt for “Shadow and Bone”:1 naïve and rather plain looking heroine1 handsome childhood friend1 dark, mysterious and irresistible villain1 close friend that’s kind of an outsider as wellA pinch of magicA hint of insecurityA handful of unexpected eventsAnd half a teaspoon of scheming and betrayalTo get the full effect you have to mix up all the ingredients and let the dough rise f...

Please note: this is not really a review. In fact, this may be my most useless non-review to date (there have been a few) and is actually better described as a random mish-mash of my thoughts and feelings on this book. "Aren't all your reviews like that, Emily?" I hear you cry, but alas, the random incoherentness is somewhat even more pronounced in this one.You know, I've wondered ever since Shadow and Bone was released last year whether I would fall into the camp of gushing, never-ending lo

Damn you, Leigh Barduga. Damn you for tricking me.Leigh Barduga is like some kind of literary crouching tiger, hidden dragon or something.You would be forgiven, upon commencing this novel, for thinking Shadow and Bone is redundant, cliched piece of tripe book with poor story-telling, average writing and a predictable plot. People who haven't read countless Young Adult novels probably wouldn't notice the trends, but I did. This is what I thought and Leigh led me down the primrose path until... BO...

rtc, in a vid

3.5/5 stars. I can't believe I finally found time to write this review. I finished the book a while ago but I'm so busy, my God.So let's start by saying that, despite the low number of stars, this book was a good book overall. I will explain later why I took down 1.5 stars.Let's start with the good stuff.For a while now this series has winked at me from my bookshelf. I know the high around the writer Leigh Bardugo and I have long wanted to see what and why people love her books so much. now I ge...

Yep, I still love this book. <3 Also, for those asking, the audio version is fabulous. Highly recommended!*************************Am I going to be crucified if I admit I may love this more than the Six of Crows duology? I think this may be due to the fact that I should have listened to everyone and started with these first. I was so confused initially in SoC that it took a lot longer than it should have for me to get sucked in. So far the grisha trilogy feels darker and more serious than SoC as...