Hardcover, 358 pages
English language
Published Feb. 22, 2012 by Henry Holt.
Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken from obscurity and her only friend, Mal, to become the protegé of the mysterious Darkling, who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold.
Very easy to read, a little childish at times, but enjoyable nonetheless
Read after seeing the show (which I mostly liked).
Lots of problems with the book: Alina barely has any agency. The first thing she does of her own choosing is create a rainbow 60% into the book. The Darkling romance subplot was very creepy to read.
What I liked was the World-building. It’s not very consistent, but reading a Quasi-Russian setting was fun and different.
I might jump ahead to [b:Six of Crows|23437156|Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618531219l/23437156.SY75.jpg|42077459] from here, I liked those characters far more in the show.
Reread, it got better, but I still was not a fan of this book after I finished a 2nd time. There is nothing happening in the book. There was no real action, everything just got solved. Anyway, I'm in the 2nd book now, which is way better. It's nice to see authors evolve.
