Shadow and Bone

Competent YA entry. Departs from the norm in some ways, to its credit, but is otherwise more formulaic than I'd like. Begins to explain its magic system, which I always like, but stops trying almost as soon as it starts.

Negatives: “Darkling” is a dumb name. Ostensibly strong female protagonist is nonetheless defined by what the men in her life think of her.

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Changing my review a bit after chewing it over a bit more, and lowering the rating slightly.

It's a YA book and standards tend to get lowered, but they shouldn't be, really. This one does a lot of things I want to like, but then it goes and messes them up. Here's a list, spoilered because it contains major plot points:

- "Darkling" is a dumb name. It also predisposes the reader to think he's a villain. As a result,- The reversal sort of got me. I assumed from the beginning that the Darkling was bad news, but after taking so long to reveal himself, I eventually started to assume I was wrong, and was consequently surprised by the reveal. But it shouldn't have been telegraphed like that in the first place.- I like it when fantasy books explain their magic systems, and it started to do that and it was great. Then it stopped explaining almost immediately after it started. Boo.- When Alexei died in the beginning, I thought, "Huh, a YA book that isn't afraid to kill people, cool." Then it failed to do the same with any major characters. I won't say I wanted Mal to die in the Fold near the end, but his salvation was awfully deus ex machina and ultimately unsatisfying. It feels a lot less brave when everyone who "matters" is safe.- Similarly, in the very beginning, I was ecstatic to see that the orphan girl of unknown parentage hadn't turned out to be a super powerful sorceress or whatever. Then it turned out she was. I know YA books don't often subvert tropes, but it looked like maybe this one was gonna be special.- It's nice to see a strong female protagonist. It's less nice to see her value still defined wholly by what the men in her life think of her, and that was a constant. First Mal, then the Darkling, then Mal again.