"When fire burns, it uses up the wood. It devours it, leaving only ash. Grisha power doesn't work that way. Using out power makes us stronger. It feeds us instead of consuming us. Most Grisha live long lives."

"I've spent my life searching for a way to make things right. You're the first glimmer of hope I've had in a long time"

Ravka has been split into two by the Shadow Fold. The Shadow Fold is dangerous, absorbed by darkness and filled with monsters who feast on human flesh. The fate of Ravka lies with Alina, who possesses a priceless power, a power which she was not aware existed until it came to saving the life of her best friend. Alina is taken to the Royal Court in order to train as a Grisha. However the Grisha holds many secrets, secrets that Alina will uncover whilst learning to use the power that she possesses.

This series has been on my TBR for such a long time, the longer I left it the more reluctant I became to read it as I just wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it. However, with the release of King of Stars, and the wonderful cover that I just could not resist buying I knew that it was now the time to begin devouring this series.

I am so glad that I did, I really enjoyed the concept of this book and it drew me in to the point where I did struggle to put it down. I feel like for a relatively short fantasy book it had an appropriate amount of twists and turns along with a plot twist that I definitely should have seen coming, but ashamedly I did not. This really upped the rating for me as from that moment onwards I was hooked with where it was going to go next and what was going to happen to the characters that I had grown to love whilst reading Shadow and Bone. I found that I could make a connection with the characters and that I found myself emotionally connected and on a level with them so that when something happened to them I could feel the way that they were feeling. I find this really rare with books nowadays, whilst I like characters I can't emotionally connect with them, however I definitely did with this book. I'm still not sure how to feel about Alina, I do like her but I definitely don't love her and in some parts she did irritate me a fair bit. But I suppose that can go for many main characters, I'm hoping that as the series continues I will begin to love her. MAL THOUGH! I don't even know what to say about him, I am so in love with him. I absolutely adore his character and I really enjoyed reading about him and getting to know him. Supporting and liking Mal really was an emotional rollercoaster and whilst i'm typing this I am still trying to get over everything that happened. I don't even know what to say about the Darkling, my emotions are so confused by his character.

I would say that I found this book pretty basic and I feel that a lot more world building could have been done. I do really like the world that Bardugo has created but I just found myself wanting that little bit more from it. I suppose it is only a debut and the world building will continue throughout the books. Whilst this is a criticism, I also feel like it is a compliment, I enjoyed the world and was really sold on the idea of it and it left me wanting to learn more about it.

I will definitely be continuing with this series and I cannot wait to pick up Siege and Storm to find out what Bardugo has in store for me next. I recommend you all pick this book up and give it a go!