Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev grow up together in an orphanage. As adults they join Ravka's First Army in service to the king. They are sent to the Shadow Fold where darkness reigns over the land and strange creatures feast on human flesh.
Moments into their journey across the Fold, the sandskiff Alina and Mal travel on is attacked and Mal nearly dies at the talons of the Volcra. When Alina is taken by the creature, something strange and unexplainable happens and the monsters flee. She is taken to the Darkling and his inspection shows the power of a Sun Summoner. Alina is swept away from her friends and life to Os Alta and the Grisha training grounds.
The Darkling insists Alina be trained to help him beat back the darkness of the Fold. Repeatedly Alina is reminded of the danger the Fold presents and how her power is the only defense, but the young woman is homesick for Mal and the friendship she has known her entire life. Despite her attraction to the handsome and magnetic leader of the Grisha something in Alina still holds out for a return to her former life. When she finally gives in to the hopelessness of Mal's seeming rejection (After several months of letters he has yet to respond.) the power Alina hid as a small child blossoms and she begins to find her place with the Grisha.
On the night of the King's Winter Fete Alina believes her place among the Grisha to be solidified: she has learned to use her power, she has friends among the other Grisha, the Darkling wants her, and the amplifier she and the Darkling have been searching for is finally within grasp. But her content is thrown into a whirl when Mal appears in Os Alta and one of Alina's instructors urges her to flee the city. Alina begins a journey which will tear at the world she has fought to create and a journey which can either throw Ravka into further turmoil or begin its redemption.
Shadow and Bone is a fantasy from tsarist Russia complete with lavish palaces, dank poverty, and vainglorious warfare. Alina and Mal are best friends who became each other's anchor after their parents were killed in the Border Wars; upon their separation Alina is forced to find her own strength, and discovers she has kept more than just secrets from herself. More mature readers who enjoy fantasy such as The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Grave Mercy and Throne of Glass will enjoy Bardugo's story of a young woman searching for a place to belong.
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