Keep your eye out at the end for my take on a traditional meal at the Little Palace!
"I felt Mal's blood beneath my palms, saw the pain in his beloved face. A volcra screeched in triumph as its talons sank into my shoulder. Pain shot through my body. And the world went white."
Set in a world where society separates the gifted (called Grisha) from the ungifted, Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov; an orphan girl who becomes one of the most powerful women in all of Ravka.
While working as a mapmaker in the First Army with her childhood best friend Mal (a military tracker), Alina's troop is sent across the Shadow Fold; a dangerous mass of land covered in darkness, with monsters hiding unseen. During the cross, they are attacked by vicious birdlike volcra who aim to kill. Never having been useful for anything other than mapmaking, Alina's true powers show themselves when her and Mal's lives are put at risk. For the first time in many years, Ravka has found themselves a Sun Summoner.
But with power comes attention and with attention comes danger: The Darkling, with powers opposite of Alina's, takes her under his wing-- hoping that together they can destroy the Shadow Fold and bring together both halves of Ravka once more. But can dark and light really coexist? Or do Grisha always have their own agendas in mind?
"I closed my eyes, feeling tears slide down my cheeks, and I reached out to the thing within me that I'd kept hidden for so long. I'm sorry, I whispered to it. I'm sorry I left you so long in the dark. I'm sorry, but I'm ready now."
REVIEW
I ate this book up!!! I've been intending to read The Grisha Trilogy for a long time, and I'm happy I finally got around to it. It turned out to be a very different change of pace from the novels I've surrounded myself with lately; Stiefvater novels, I mean. Bardugo is wonderful at telling a linear story-- there are twists and turns but all surprises are in the moment, not tricky little secrets hidden in previous pages (I say this with love). It was a very refreshing and easy read, to say the least.
My big complaint is that I found it short-- I typically read books on my Nook app, so when I saw that there were 383 pages I was delighted! Unfortunately, I came to find that the book actually ended on page 232 and the rest of the pages were sneak peaks at the author's other works. Now, I know that's a silly complaint for me to have but WHAT'S THAT ALL ABOUT?? I thought I was 2/3 of the way through the book and suddenly it was over. I suppose that could be considered a good thing, perhaps, because it means that I liked it so much that I was hoping there would be more to it. That's what sequels are for-- or so I'm told.
I'm excited to witness Alina's evolution-- I've seen flashes of her personality here and there, but I don't think I really know who she is yet. She's got a brilliant sense of humor, she's smart and witty, and she's also quite sensitive-- but I find that most fictional heroines possess those same traits and I have yet to discover what sets her apart. I won't let that phase me though-- one of my favorite story elements is character development, so I'm patiently waiting to see who she becomes!
"I'm sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now."
I, of course, must discuss Mal. I've always been a big fan of the "enemies to lovers" trope so the idea that him and Alina have known each other for years and always been best friends didn't really peak my interests much. Bardugo definitely got me good, though, because I am absolutely on board now. How could I not be, though, with that gorgeous declaration of love?? Him and Alina fit together like a glove, and I adore seeing their relationship change and blossom with time both together and apart.
As for the world and culture that Leigh Bardugo is building in Shadow and Bone-- I'm intrigued to see where it takes us. Most Grisha seem to agree with The Darkling's plans, even when they understand how dangerous he can be when given power. If I didn't know better (though, do I?), I'd guess that these books are potentially going to climax at a Grisha vs. normal citizen war. The Grisha who have said they follow The Darkling have shown that they're somewhat morally corrupt and I want to see that go somewhere, or at least I want to understand where they're coming from.
I have a lot of hope for the rest of the series, so stay tuned for future reviews on the other two books!
"He narrowed his eyes, and I felt his will descend on me again, felt that invisible hand grasping. I shrugged it off. It was nothing. He was nothing."
A LITTLE PALACE DINNER
"The food was less alien than I'd expected, the kind of food we'd eaten on feast days at Keramzin: sweet pea porridge, quail roasted in honey, and fresh figs. I found I was hungrier than I'd ever been and had to resist picking up my plate to lick it."
I've been looking forward to this week's baking day for a while! As you can tell, I did much more cooking than baking for this book. There was one baked good that was mentioned but I'm keeping that in my pocket for the future. I was extremely interested in the meals Alina describes when she first visits the Little Palace. I decided to steal little bits and pieces from each meal to make my own SUPER-MEAL! Overall it tasted really wonderful and was actually very easy to make-- I definitely recommend trying any part of it!
So I don't know about anyone else here, but I don't often see quail at my local grocery store. This meal called for a bit of tweaks as I went along, but it came out quite tasty. Instead of quail I used bone in, skin on chicken thighs and instead of figs (which I sadly couldn't find, either) I made a fun little fruit, meat, and cheese board (many fruits and cheeses are mentioned in the book). The pea porridge was my main focus, though, as it was specifically mentioned by name and I was actually able to accomplish it!
Here's my honey roasted chicken thigh with pea porridge (feat. fresh ricotta, honey, and crispy ham as garnishes):
Chicken recipe: https://kitchendivas.com/easy-honey-roasted-chicken-thighs/
Pea porridge recipe: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pea-porridge-with-fresh-cheese-and-ham
Here is my meat, cheese, and fruit board (feat. grapes, peaches, nectarines, sharp cheddar cheese, salami, and honey ham):
Here is a picture of the full meal (also feat. peach tea and sourdough rye bread):
To be completely honest, I didn't love the pea porridge. However, I've never liked peas so I'm not totally sure why I thought I would suddenly enjoy them. If I did enjoy peas, though, I would definitely make this recipe again because, even as a pea-hater, I actually found it tolerable (so that's a win, right??).
The honey roasted chicken was incredible--it was so juicy and had a perfectly cooked inside with a deliciously crunchy skin. It was also super easy to prepare and I already had all the ingredients. I will absolutely be making that again!
As for the charcuterie board, I make those about 3 times a week, so this wasn't my first rodeo. I find that putting any food on a wooden cutting board automatically makes it about 3 times fancier and 10 times more fun. Enjoy!
If you didn't know, I bake something from a book every week and post live updates on my Instagram. Tune in to @picklesandpages on Wednesdays to check it out!
NEXT READ: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
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