Shadow and Bone & Siege and Storm
Shadow and Bone & Siege and Storm
I just want to stress how much I don't care about Alina and her love life. The book really shines when it just owns she's turning into a terrible person and isn't aware of it.
As a relatively young person, I don't buy it when she has these clear moments of clear introspection or doles out actually good strategy or advice. There's no precedent that she has an affinity for these types of things and has no training in it.
I roll my eyes every time she thinks about Mal. Because I don't care. It definitely doesn't help that we're trapped in Alina's POV. I'm glad Bardugo changed to limited POV in Six of Crows and kept some parts of the characters' inner monologs secret.