My entire life I have been a big reader, but last year I got into a bit of a rut with reading, so over the summer I really wanted to read more. I ended up finishing eight books! Out of those, two of them were rereads and six were completely new. I reread the first two Harry Potter books, which were really great; I forgot how much I enjoyed them. As for the six new books, I read Shadow and Bone, Seige and Storm, Pollyanna, Lady Tans’ Circle of Women, Invisible Man, and Catcher in the Rye. While I read those six I took notes and rated them, which I am sharing today!
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – 7-8/10
Shadow and Bone is the first book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, set in the larger Grishaverse, which has a total of seven books so far. The larger series has seen massive popularity, being adapted into a Netflix show in 2021 that unfortunately got canceled after two seasons. The Netflix show follows the general plot of Shadow and Bone, but includes characters from other series, and ends up kind of creating its own plot.
My introduction to the series was actually through the Netflix show. For any book-snobs out there, yes I did commit a cardinal sin of reading: I watched the show first. In my defense, I did not know that it was adapted from a book. But I ended up really loving the show, so I had high expectations of the books.
The first book was slightly disappointing. It was well written and had an interesting plot, but since I had already watched the show, I knew most of the major plot twists.
As a general overview, the book follows Alina Starkov, a seventeen-year-old orphan who works as a junior cartographer’s assistant in the Ravka’s First Army. Also serving in Ravka’s army is Mal Oretsev, her closest (and only) friend, whom she grew up with in an orphanage, and a potential love interest, but she would fervently deny that.
The main twist is that there are some people who are born with powers, called small magic, and the people who perform small magic are called Grisha. There are a lot of nuances about the specific abilities and limitations of Grisha, but the most important part is that they are divided into several subcategories based on what they can do. Some can heal, control someone’s heart, control water, control air, or weld metal together. The most powerful Grisha is the Darkling, who is the only Grisha currently alive who can control darkness, and he runs the second army, which is the army exclusively for Grisha.
The book’s setting is Ravka, a fictional country inspired by Russian culture, which leads to some wonderful and interesting tidbits of culture. You can absolutely tell that Bardugo did her research when it comes to Russian culture, and she wrote a fantastic spin on imperial Russian culture. Ravka is a big country with access to the sea, major ports, and plenty of farmland, but it’s not doing so well by the time the book starts. Mainly because hundreds of years ago a Grisha Darkling went insane and created what’s known as The Fold, a big swath of darkness with monsters cutting the nation in half. Since then, Ravka has been slowly declining as most people and things are stuck on the side they came from. This was alleviated by the Fold crossings which allow people, goods, and news to cross it, but even then, the crossings were still dangerous. Additionally, Ravkas’ neighbors on all sides have become more aggressive as they see Ravka as an easy target.
So, thats the world that Alina and Mal were raised in and it gives a slight view into the main struggles of the book. As for the rest of book, the plot focuses on Alina as we find out that she is actually a Grisha, and an extremely powerful one at that, who can potentially destroy the Fold.
To get back to my review of the book, in general I liked the book but wish I had read it before I watched the show. Mainly because I already knew about the main betrayal and so it was not surprising as it was intended to be. It felt more like I was reading the book for the second time. The character that ended up betraying Alina, when they were being really supportive, I did not believe them at all even though it was written really convincingly, which I feel takes away some of the magic of a book.
It’s good, but definitely not the best book from the Grishaverse, I think that award would go to either Six of Crows or Crooked Kingdom. The writing style is a bit more simplistic compared to Bardugo other books, partly because it really just focuses on Alina and not several characters but also because it does have a simpler plot. For reference, the other two books I’ve read from the Grishaverse are both versions of heist and have many moving parts and mysteries.
That all being said, I still really liked the book, it was for sure better than the show. Bardugo writes such great dialogue its really realistic, emotionally charged, and gets me invested in the story really quickly. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the dialogue, but her development and characterization of the people is top-tier. All the characters feel very developed with flaws, strengths, and backstories that all work really well together and makes they feel real.
For instance, I knew how Alina’s and Mal’s romantic tension was going to end, but I still loved reading about it. Their separation, reunion, conflicts, and emotions killed me. Additionally, Alina’s homesickness was so realistic and just made my heart ache for her. Bardugo was really good at reminding the audience that she’s just seventeen and has to adjust to a whole new world with nobody who understands what she is going through.
Overall, if you are a fan of fantasy, magic, and romance, I would definitely recommend this. Just read the book before you watch the show.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo – 8-9/10
Siege and Storm is the second book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and is better than the first. I won’t go into the plot of this one as much because I don’t want to spoil much of the first two books.
One aspect of the story I love is it really gets more into the internal thoughts and conflicts. Alina gains significantly more power throughout this book and the last, but it comes at a cost. She becomes increasingly power-hungry and views acquiring items to boost her power as the only solution, even though it’s unclear if that’s the case. At points, she’s almost obsessing over her power which comes at the cost of her personal relationships. Additionally, several times she loses control of her powers or uses her powers for negative reasons. Most notable during an argument with another Grisha who does not recognize her as a leader, she nearly cuts his head off, but at the last moment redirects and does not kill him.
It raises the important question of what power does to someone. Does power corrupt? Or does it simply magnify what was already there? People like to think they would act properly if given immense power, but do you know if you would actually? Previously, Alina caused very few issues; she always just flew under the radar and now she’s getting so angry that she’s pushing people away and threatening them. In some ways, she’s becoming exactly like the person she is fighting against, and that thought disturbs her. It causes her to spiral, worrying because she might be the only person who can defeat the villain but by trying to defeat the villain she is slowly becoming more like him.
Her internal thoughts about this matter and just in the book in general, are extremely well-written. Especially her regret of rash actions or words and fear she is going insane for reasons I will not spoil.
Additionally, this book is good because it really develops some minor Grisha characters more and explores Alina and Mal’s relationship, or lack thereof, more. Bardugo talks about what allegiance really means as several Grisha either switch sides, or are unwilling allies of Alina, or where perhaps forced to act on behalf of the villain. Throughout the book it’s not clear who Alina can talk to, who she can trust, and who people actual are. This just worsens the situation with her powers because she does not really have someone to confide these issues with. Mal and Alina’s relationship also goes through ups and downs, which worsens the turmoil.
An interesting choice, Bardugo makes is to have the final battle happen basically ten pages before the end. This means for the last fifty pages I was really in suspense on how it was going to end. Then also the battle is so fast-paced that you almost don’t realize the sheer amount of tragedy and death. I imagine that this was very intentional as the battle itself is short and it would all seem like a blur if it happened in real life, so it was included to make it seem more realistic.
I would absolutely recommend that people red Siege and Storm even if you were not fully on board the first book.
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter – 6/10
This past year, I did a book circle with a couple of my friends from my old school where we all bought a book, traded the books and annotated the books; Pollyanna was one of those books. If you have friends that also like to read, I would recommend that you try this as it was really fun. Pollyanna was published in 1913, so it does have an older writing style which was interesting to read just because it was something different.
The basic plot of Pollyanna is that a young girl, Pollyanna, is orphaned after the death of her father who was a minister. She is then sent to live with her Aunt Polly who does not like her and is very unhappy with life in general. Pollyanna, on the other hand, is extremely optimist and always manages to find the silver lining. The book follows her as she changes the town with her optimism and makes her Aunt a more positive person.
Pollyanna plays the “glad game” where she always finds something to be glad about. Sometimes the reasons are fairly wonky. For example, when she still lived with her dad down in Texas she really wanted dolls for Christmas but because they were poor she could only get what came in the missionary barrels. When the missionary barrels came the only thing she got were crutches. At that point her dad told her she could be glad because she did not actually need the crutches.
Several times she takes the game further than she probably needed to. Sometimes you do not need to find the silver lining you can just be sad for a bit, or if someone is in a genuinely bad situation, you do not want to point out that they should be happy but rather sympathize with them. But on the whole it’s good to approach life with a positive view and Pollyanna really promises that.
But, I do have several bones to pick with the book. First of all there is one character, Mr. Pendleton, who tries to convince her to live with him, despite the fact that they met just a couple of months ago and he’s really manipulative about it. And the book just does not acknowledge the fact that it’s weird. I wish I had some of his quotes written down because it was so weird and set off so many alarm bells.
Second, Pollyanna is supposed to be this lovable and nearly perfect kid, but she was so annoying at points in the book. Several times she was just incapable of listening, would consistently speak over other people, and ignore them and their opinions. I would not mind this, except again, this is not addressed in the book, it’s not viewed as a character flaw or anything.
I’m glad I read Pollyanna but I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone. I’m sure it’s someone’s cup of tea and I can understand why I just didn’t love it.
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See – 8/10
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a historical fantasy set in 15th-century elite China. One thing that makes it unique is that the book is based on the true story of Tan Yunxian. She was a woman physician in 15-century China, who wrote a book of remedies that were years ahead of their time.
The writing style was very intense, for lack of a better word. She focuses a lot on the cultural and historical practices, writing about Confucianism extensively, and clearly placing the book in ancient China. The culture is extremely different from how we currently live, so its was kind of shocking to read at some points. When Lady Tan is around eight a doctor comes to treat her mother and Lady Tan remarks that this is one of the first men shes seen, just in general. That was simply so mind-boggling to think about that this eight year old would have only really seen her father and brothers before because of how separated she was from the world.
This emphasize on the cultural does not always help the book. Since it is so different many things are hard to picture and stopped me from being fully invested in the book. For example, Lady Tans’ marriage bed, a central setting and icon, is described as having multiple compartments, that are basically full rooms. I just can’t picture that, no matter how much I google 15th century Chinese beds. Additionally, the houses that Lady Tan lives in have upwards of sixteen courtyards for various people to live in, and again I can’t wrap my brain around what that looks like.
My final complaint is that at the start of the book Lady Tan is eight years old but really does not sound eight. Of course there is not one way for an eight year old to sound, and she grew up in a culture that emphasized maturity, but still. To some extent, eight-year-olds are always going to sound like children.
One of the positive aspects of the book is that it addresses how women have fought to improve society in cultures that do not value them. Chinese culture at the time was very “anti-women,” and Lady Tan is told repeatedly that medicine is no place for her. However, she persists because women were not receiving proper care and she refuses to let them suffer. I think it’s a great story about how one woman helped so many others but her achievements were largely lost to history.
I would absolutely recommend this to someone. Just be aware that it’s a lengthy historical-intense book that spans over her entire life and deals with some pretty gruesome medical topics.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison – 7-8/10
The Invisible Man focuses on a nameless black man in the 1930s and the cultural and identities he experiences. His experiences range from being raised in the Deep South, going to an all-black college, to being jobless in Harlem, to leading the Communist Party in New York. Ultimately, he goes slightly insane and realizes he is invisible because he will change into what people want him to become.
The book talks really honestly about racism and bigotry, the effect on the victim and the larger society. It’s concerning that I read a book published in 1952, and recognized some of the struggles as things people still go through. It’s quite a long book, so it’s hard to focus on something, but the main event that stood out to me is the protest and march he organizes after one of his friends dies due to police violence. While I was reading it I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Black Lives Matter movement and how that really came together after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. It was such a clear parallel and really highlighted the fact that Black people dying due to police violence is not a new issue.
Additionally, the book talks about how when identity or roles are strictly imposed on people, they can be dehumanizing. Throughout this book, the main character is assigned many different identities, but none of them allow him to be himself. But also, it’s unclear who he is on his own because he never had that opportunity. One of the first instances of this is when the main character is described as being the destiny and legacy of one of the White men who supports the college. Mr. Norton, the White man, had invested money in the school and had a vested interest in the results, but had pushed that idea so hard he didn’t view the main character as a person anymore. Overall, the book brings up many important topics surrounding race and identity that should be discussed.
One thing about this book that I did not like was the semi-frequent and fairly graphic conversations. Around fifty pages in there is a very long description of rape and incest, which frankly I don’t want to read. These conversations were included for a purpose but they could have definitely been shorter and less descriptive. Additionally, the book is long-winded, there are around 570 pages but it could have been shorter and not much would have been missed.
I would absolutely recommend this to older high-school students and adults, but I would be wary about anyone younger reading this, because again it gets graphic at times.
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger – 6/10
I’ll be honest, I’m still not fully sure what to think about this book. The general plot is that Holden, a high-school boy, gets kicked out of his school and instead of waiting until the end of term to head back, he leaves for New York City several days early. It follows his various adventures in NYC and his internal struggles as he wonders what’s next for him.
The book is a bit more than 200 pages, and I didn’t really like it until around page 180. I found Holden annoying, cynical, and rather dumb. He was always complaining, and I really could not stand it. Then, around page 180, he has a conversation with his sister where his sister asks him what he likes and he really can’t answer. I am not sure why but that was the moment where it clicked that he’s dealing a lot, doesn’t know how to handle it and is showing that by complaining.
His younger brother died from cancer, his older brother moved away to Hollywood, Pencey Prep was not the first school he was kicked out of, and he does not get along with other kids his age. That’s a lot and I would also be pretty angsty if I went through that. Holden does not feel like he belongs anywhere and he’s never really certain about what his future holds. He experiences alienation and uncertainty on extreme levels, which a lot of people, but especially teenagers, can relate to.
That being said, I don’t like the writing style. It follows practically every single thought of his, often wandering into random rabbit holes. I often found myself wishing he would just get to the point already on. The writing style does allow a unique view into his thoughts and emotions but that doesn’t mean I like it.
I would recommend this to a teenager as a coming-of-age book, but I still have my reservations about it.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I was happy with the books I read this summer. I feel like I read a pretty wide variety of genres, writing styles, and main characters. While I didn’t completely love every single one of them, none of them were awful, which is nice. I am more than willing to talk about any of these books or get any book recommendations!
Currently, I am reading Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson, and Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo.
