2026 Reading Challenge discussion

*Featured Buddy Read*
This buddy read is featured on the homepage and is pinned to the top of the July Buddy Reads folder. Otherwise it works just like every other buddy read!

If you are new to Buddy Reads, check out the sign-up thread for instructions and to sign up for future buddy reads!

You can join in the discussion even if your name isn't on the list!


This thread is to discuss Shadow and Bone, the first book in the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo.

Pages: 358 pages

Length: 1 month (July)

Participants: Luisa, Min, Dominique, Randi

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

I thought I signed up for this one as well :) I’d love to join!!

You did! I forgot I hadn't updated the spreadsheet before I started posting. Adding you now

Thank you SarahKat :)

Prior to starting:

What prompted you to join this buddy read?
I've owned this series for quite some time now and it's about time I read it!

Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?
Nope, first time! I've also owned Six Of Crows for years so I don't know what I've been waiting for lol.

Hello everyone! I actually got interested in the Grishaverse because of the amazingly written fanfiction on AO3 LOL.

Hoping to make my way through the Shadow & Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology and the King of Scars duology this year - would be amazing we could do this together!

Hi everyone! I'm so excited for this! Hopefully I'll continue with all the series afterward.

Prior to starting:

What prompted you to join this buddy read?
I bought Six of Crows because I saw it in a bookstore and thought the cover was beautiful. Later, when I suggested it for a buddy read, I realized that it's actually part of a larger universe and that Shadow and Bone comes first.

Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?
Nope, first time! I've also owned Six Of Crows for a few months, and was just wanting the right moment. :)

Hello friends! I got through 10 chapters in a single day which speaks to how much I'm enjoying reading this book!

(view spoiler)[I'm really enjoying Alina as a character so far, but I feel like I haven't seen enough of her and Mal together to understand her yearning when they were separated.

Genya is such a girl's girl and I love her friendship with Alina.

I'm also feeling icky about the Darkling even though the story seems to be set up for him and Alina to form a connection - it's implied that he was the one who put Genya in a situation where she's being abused by the Ravkan King.

So far the magic system seems pretty straightforward to understand. My only small complaint is that the names of the Grisha orders are a little.... lame. "The order of summoners" sounds so much better than "Etherealki" (hide spoiler)]

Hey everyone!

Min, glad to hear you're enjoying it!! I will be starting within the next couple of days. :)

Hi everyone!

I finished this today.. To be honest this was not that great to me… I am happy to continue the series and hope for it to get better, but I found myself bored! I’ll hold off on further comments until everyone else has finished :)

I’d love to hear what you all thought! I hope you enjoyed it more than I did!

Hello! I've just finished this book too and gave it a generous three stars. A big part of it is probably due me growing out of the YA genre, I'm sure if I read the book when it was released in 2013 I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

I have MANY thoughts about how Alina's magical capabilities develop and her relationship with Mal and the Darkling, but will likewise hold off first until more people have finished the book :)

Min, I agree about the growing out of YA part! I still like some YA but have found myself enjoying less and less.

I'm enjoying the book so far. It's an easy and fast read, and I'll probably finish it this weekend.

I've also kind of outgrown YA, so any YA-related parts are a bit annoying. However, the magic system and the worldbuilding keep me interested.

Finished 3.5 stars

(view spoiler)[ It was an interesting story. The magic system and the worldbuiding were pretty cool. I felt like some characters were not necessaty (Marie, Zoya foe example). The Darkling and his mother were great characters. The friends to lovers with Alina and Mal was a biit boring and unconvincing, The running away was a bit too long and sometimes they acted like children not like people running from their lives. Maybe in the nex one it might grow on me. Overall I did enjoy it (hide spoiler)]