2 In One Review

Two Book Reviews in One! 

Hey everybody,

Today I have two very different reviews. The first is on Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, and the second is Paper Towns by John Green. I read both this weekend while I sat through a total of 8 hours in the car! 

Let's start with Shadow and Bone since that's the one I read first.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (book one of Grisha Trilogy) 

I'm not gonna lie, the reason I picked up this book was because I'm dying to read Leigh Bardugo's newest book, Six of Crows. It's been getting so much hype and after reading the book summary as well as several persuasive reviews on Goodreads, I'm excited to see what it's all about. Anyway, I figured I should get a grasp on what the Grisha world is like. Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone take place in the same universe, but are unrelated, so it's not necessary to read one before the other. 

Still, I needed something to read and thought this would be a good pick. 

Shadow and Bone is about an orphan named Alina. Alina grew up with her best friend Mal in an orphanage run by a wealthy Duke. When they're both old enough the two join the army, Alina as a cartographer and Mal as a tracker. One day when their convoy is attempting to cross the Shadow Fold, a dark, magical region formed years before them, Alina discovers she has powers. Alina's then separated from Mal and whisked off to the Little Palace to be trained with all the other Grisha, the magical wielders. The most powerful Grisha of all, the Darkling, takes a special interest in her, hoping she can be the answer to everyone's prayers- the one to destroy the Shadow Fold.

Ok, that was my basic description. Now onto my review!

Shadow and Bone was fast paced and entertaining, but it fell short for me. For starters, Alina wasn't my favorite heroine. She wasn't very badass or tough, my favorite heroines typically are. However, a good heroine doesn't need to be either of those things. It's actually refreshing sometimes when they're not, especially since that's a bit main stream now. The problem with Alina was there wasn't anything special about her. She was a bit wimpier than I would've liked, and she didn't have any other unique qualities to offer that could make up for that. 

I also wasn't a fan of her best friend Mal who plays a big part in the book. I found him annoying and bland.

In fact the only characters I really liked were the Darkling and Genya. 

Besides the characters, the plot just didn't do it for me. It wasn't anything new or special. There were even some stretches that proved to be a little boring.

The book wasn't all bad though. I did enjoy it because it wasn't hard to get into and it was entertaining. 

To sum it up- Good for those looking for something enjoyable, but it's nothing special and falls short of expectations. 

3 stars- *** 

Paper Towns by John Green 

Let me start by saying this- I'm not a fan of John Green. 

I've read TFIOS and Looking For Alaska and liked neither of them. They both felt so contrived and I couldn't imagine real teenagers ever acting like them. I didn't like any of the characters, and just didn't feel close to them. It also didn't help that I felt like John Green was just trying to sound philosophical and smart while talking down to me. I also hate how every teenage girl in America seems to love his books, especially since a lot of them haven't read much else as they're not readers. 

Sorry for the rant.

Putting all that aside, I actually LIKED this book. I really enjoyed it.

Paper Towns is about a boy named Quentin who lives next door to the it girl, Margo. He's been in love with Margo since they were little but they're on different ends of the social ladder and never talk at school. This all changes one night when Margo shows up at his bedroom window and asks him to be her getaway driver so she can exact revenge on her cheating boyfriend.

 The next day Margo's gone. Quentin and his friends spend the rest of their senior year leading up to graduation trying to solve the clues that Margo left behind so they can find her. 

Review time.

I really liked Quentin. He's funny, awkward, smart, and very realistic. His friends, Ben, Radar, and Lacey are also awesome characters, and I loved all of their relationships. It was fun to watch them change and grow throughout the book.

The whole idea of the nerdy boy chasing the too cool girl is nothing that hasn't been done before, but John Green actually put a great spin on it. He was able to weave in all the philosophical stuff he seems to love without it feeling unnatural. Margo's the character that carries that weight, and is the one who talks about the "paper towns and paper people". I even thought that this idea isn't entirely off base (who would've thought?). 

I liked pretty much every character in the book and though at times the plot seemed to get a little too complex, I thoroughly enjoyed it all, especially the revenge plot with Margo and Quentin. 

The only weakness I can really pick on is the ending. Not to spoil things, but it felt a bit anticlimactic to me. 

Overall, it was a really light, and enjoyable read. I think its underrated even and would say it's John Green's best work. It features relatively realistic characters, and reads nicely.

Definitely a 4 star book **** 

I'd recommend this to anyone! 

Thats all for now! Next up I'll be posting a review of Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses!