Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo was an unexpected pleasure.  Alina and Mal, two orphans in the town of Ravka, are brought to the Duke’s estate to learn to read and write.  Later they become part of the military regiment, Alina as cartographer, and Mal as a tracker.  Their regiment is called on a mission to pass through the “Shadow Fold,” a deep darkness created magically which divides the city, inhabited by flesh-eating volcra.  They enter the fold, and everything seems to go all right for a while, and then the volcra attack.  As Alina tries to ward off the attack of the volcra on Mal, she discovers that she has magical powers.  She drives the volcra off by creating powerful light, and thus is discovered to be a “Sun Summoner.”  With this power, it is believed that she might be able to destroy the Shadow Fold.  She is called to live in the Grisha palace in order to develop her talents with the help of the Darkling, a man with tremendous magical powers, and who is second in power to the King.  The story unfolds with plenty of unexpected twists and turns, and romance mixed in along the way.  Perhaps a little mature for 6th and some 7th grade, but should be acceptable for 8th grade readers.  



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Obsidian Mirror

The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This beginning book in a new trilogy by Fisher is one that Fisher's fans can enjoy.  The story begins with Jake Wilde stabbing one of the actors in his school's performance of Hamlet.  Jake has deceitfully taken over for the actor playing Hamlet, and thus he is in able to really stab Laertes. His motive is be sent home to his guardian Venn.  And, he is successful.  Jake believes Venn has murdered his father, so he is bent on finding out the circumstances.  When he gets to Venn's Wintercombe Abbey, he find the story much more complicated than he figured.  Venn has a magical mirror, the Obsidian Mirror.  The magic of the mirror is that it is able to transport people through time.  This is what has happened to Jake's father.  Other characters come to the Abbey, and make the story more interesting, or more confusing if you don't follow closely enough.  But, overall it is a satisfying story that leads us carefully to the next book in the series. 



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