Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.
This is funny, but I found this review and it is EXACTLY what I was thinking, but she is much more articate than I could am, so...
This is a very familiar story that employs very familiar tropes, including an orphan that is Powerful and Unique Beyond Compare, who Rises Above and Saves the World. Alina’s tale is a variation on a story that has been told many times before in the fantasy canon – and yet for all of that, I found myself liking this heroine (for all of her insecurities), the romance, the world, and the central conflict of the book.
It is a very familiar plot and I was thinking "have I read this before?" but, of course, I hadn't because it's new! Regardless of the familar storyline, I enjoyed it because I really like these kind of fantasy books. I don't get tired of them. They are great to me because I enjoy the action, the strange new worlds, the fight between good and evil, the triumphs and failures, etc. Good stories to lose yourself for a while.
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