Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo

I enjoyed this book. It’s set in a sort of alternate Russia, where the land has been split by the Shadow Fold, or Unsea – a place of darkness, inhabited by monsters.   The Grisha can work magic, and use their various abilities to try and keep the shadows at bay.

Alina is an orphan. She and her friend Mal, another orphan – they’ve grown up together – have joined the army. On their first crossing of the fold, they’re attacked, and when Mal is in danger, Alina manages to summon the sun to chase the monsters away. The Grisha immediately whisk her away, and their leader, the Darkling, takes personal charge of her education, because she may be able to destroy the Shadow Fold.

This book pretty quickly turned away from where it seemed to be heading- I’ll be very interested to see where the story goes from here – it’s a great set up to the story.