Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This might be my favorite debut novel of the year.

Leigh Bardugo's also kind of definitely my hero.

She's a makeup artist in Hollywood (!!!), she's glamorous and dramatic, she sings in a band (!!!) called Captain Automatic and she writes.

Can I have her life?  Or at least something similar?


Anyway -- you really need to check out the first book of her Grisha trilogy.

It's sharp.

The font used reminds me of Joan Aiken's Wolves Chronicles (excellent font AND stories) and her style is reminiscient of older, Grimm fairytales.  It feels like a story that fairytales came from.

The Russia-esque fantasy world Leigh's created is cold, biting, and desperate.  The two main characters are tough survivors and I absolutely can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

I blazed through the book in two sittings because I couldn't wait to see what would happen -- and I'm very in awe of a) Leigh's writing and b) her editor because this book is pretty much flawless.

It has already been optioned for a movie (because it's so awesome) and I think with how they've been doing with The Hunger Games and Lord of the Rings, they just might be able to pull it off.

If you want to check out Leigh Bardugo or the Grisha trilogy (there's a free short story in the mix too, although it does have adult content -- be ye forwarned), click over to her site HERE.

See you tomorrow for Write Wednesday!