Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo 

Genre-Fantasy Fiction   

Shadow and Bone novels grew in popularity through TikTok’s hashtag “BookTok,” where users can share book reviews or recommendations, talk about their favorite characters, and anything else literature related. The trilogy & Bardugo’s other two duologies, “Six of Crows” and “King of Scars” were adapted into a Netflix series based off the Grishaverse. Bardugo’s novels take place in the same world but in different countries.   

Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov as she discovers newfound powers and a destiny that is much bigger than herself. She is a Sun Summoner, a Grisha, meant to destroy the Fold, a dark and ominous sea that separates Alina’s home and the resources her country needs to survive. The Fold is filled with dangerous beings called volcra, making the passage through the sea dangerous. With Alina’s power, she could destroy the Fold and save the people of Ravka but when is a journey like that ever as simple as it sounds.  

Bardugo’s ability to create such a complex and interweaving world is one of the most compelling aspects of her novels. Her storytelling makes you feel as though you are right there next to her characters in their universe along for the journey. Throughout her stories there is an underlying theme of darkness and creating this embodiment of darkness brought to life by the Fold with the contrasting element of Alina’s ability to harness the sun. That is what separates it from other fantasy novels.   

Bardugo attended Yale University where she studied English. Before the publication of her novels, she worked in journalism and copywriting. She has osteonecrosis and often uses a cane, which was the inspiration for one of her characters in the Grishaverse who also uses a cane.  

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