Favorite Friday: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Ok so I had this idea that every Friday, I would do a special review of one of my favorite books that I haven't read in a while, but I'd still love to feature it on the blog.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo is one of those books that leaves you in the book version of a food coma. You can't seem to move on after finishing it, you keep thinking about it for WEEKS after reading it, you literally want to LIVE INSIDE THIS BOOK.
It's set in the fictional land of Ravka, which is based off of Russian culture. Awesome, right? The main character, Alina Starkov, grew up in an orphanage with her best friend Mal, where they managed to get under everybody's feet and were the definition of "little hoodlums".
Alina, who is apparently stick thin and not very pretty, and Mal, who is described as the definition of a very normal, very hot teenage boy, join the king's army and get sent to the Shadow Fold, an uber scary place made entirely of darkness and brimming with monsters called Volcra that enjoy humans as snacks. Of course, on their very first trip through, the volcra are attracted to the sweet smell of fear and sweaty soldier, and so they attackk the sand-boat thingies that Alina, Mal, and crew are on. Needless to say, the defense is a bit unnerved, and people are getting eated. A volcra almost gets Mal, but Alina is fighting it off, but then it bites her shoulder, and she realizes that her and Mal are about to become dinner. So she lights up. Literally.
Now, this is not normal.
Everybody realizes that she's a grisha, a super powerful human that has POWERS HOLY CRAP
and the grisha are led by the king's right hand dude, *fans self* the DARKLING
Now before we go further, I would like to say a few words about the Darkling. Once I can find the words to DESCRIBE the Darkling, that is. Suffice it to say that he is my BOOK HUSBAND
I would MARRY him
AND HAVE HIS CHILDREN
Ok, now back to Alina. The Darkling is super interested in the fact that she does a really good impression of THE SUN and he tells her that he needs her help to destroy the Shadow Fold, because what honestly is better for destroying darkness than light?
She goes back with him to the capitol, Os Alta, where she joins the grisha at the Little Palace. It's called the Little Palace because it's not as big as the Grand Palace, and thankfully not nearly as ugly. The royal family lives in the Grand Palace, by the way.
Much happens in this book, such as Alina learning to control her super-fab powers, Genya and Alina developing an ultra snazzy bff relationship, a HUGE plot twist, and MUCH ROMANTIC ANGST.
In short, this book will DESTROY YOU.
Read it immediately.