About the Book
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Author:
- Leigh Bardugo
Cover Story: Dark and Moody
BFF Charm: Caution
Talky Talk: Prequel
Arty Art: Sharp
Bonus Factor: Ben Barnes
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: Diamond Anniversary
Cover Story: Dark and Moody
This cover is fittingly moody, both for the story and the main character. (We all know the Darkling’s pretty dang emo, and it seems like that was a character trait from the get-go.) The inclusion of the animals (amplifiers) around the boy is a great nod to his secret, and there’s movement to the shadows that gives the image an additional eerie effect.
The Deal:
In a world that mistrusts strangers and persecutes those with magic, very few places are safe for the people who call themselves Grisha. Even less so if you have unusual Grisha gifts, like “Eryk” and his mother.
Eryk wants nothing more than to find a place to call home, permanently, but his gifts make him a target. He hopes this latest village will be a place they can stay for a season (or more), but he soon realizes that even the people who know what it’s like to be hunted are all too willing to do the hunting, too.
(Ed. note: This is a prequel graphic novel that tells a story of The Darkling, a.k.a. Aleksander Morozova, a.k.a. many other names, before he was the villain of The Shadow and Bone series and the rest of the Grishaverse.)
BFF Charm: Caution
I truly feel for Eryk. He’s obviously been on the run for a while, never being able to settle, to have a home, to make friends. He wants to be a part of something more than his small family unit, but it’s hard for him on multiple levels to be open with people. And when he does so—he’s quickly betrayed. I know exactly who he turns out to be, and I certainly don’t think I’d have enough power (of friendship) to sway him from that path were we to be friends before his Darkling phase, but he’s not a bad guy at the start. And I wouldn’t use him for his gifts.
Swoonworthy Scale: 0
When they arrive at the village they hope to become a part of, Eryk meets an initially standoffish young woman who he takes a shine to. But she’s not a nice person. And things don’t work out.
Talky Talk: Prequel
I read this story (pre-illustration) back in 2015, but I’m glad it was turned into a graphic novel if only to make it more widely available to fans hungry for more Grishaverse. Bardugo’s writing, as always, is excellent, and the fact that a lot of the prose was cut out for the format didn’t make this any less of a powerful story. It’s a simple tale, but it adds a lot of backstory and gives clarity into why the Darkling is the way he is. Although by the time folks meet him in Shadow and Bone he’s fully in his villain era, there’s a grey side to him that makes me love him him more nuanced than one expects, and this story compliments that nicely.
Arty Art: Sharp
Pendergast’s art, which has a very angular quality to the characters, is a great style for this story, which is filled with prickly characters and situations. The colors are nicely saturated, too, giving a rich and old-fashioned quality to the art, which is (again) great for the story, given its prequel nature. She also manages to make Eryk and his mother’s “shadows” seem alive, adding to the creepy quality of those gifts. While their sinuous nature doesn’t fit the “sharp” definition, the ways they use the gift certainly does!
Bonus Factor: Ben Barnes
Is Ben Barnes in this book? No. (Although Bardugo does dedicate it in part to him, which is adorable.) But does this book remind me of him, and how good he is in the Shadow and Bone show? Yes.
(Apparently, he also narrates the audio version of this book!)
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Eryk’s mother is a complicated individual who’s trying to do her best for her son in a world that wants to hurt him, but that’s no reason to be as cold as she is, or as obviously brutal to those outside of their small family unit. There’s protective and then there’s sociopathic.
(She gets better in the long run (kinda sorta), but the damage is already done.)
Relationship Status: Diamond Anniversary
Seems like we’ve been together for ages, Book, but I never tire of hearing more of your stories. Thanks for always having more to tell.
Literary Matchmaking
If this is your first foray into the Grishaverse, welcome! Please do continue with Bardugo’s original series.
For more stories from the Grishaverse that aren’t about any of the main characters, check out Bardugo’s collection of in-universe folktales.
Check out this graphic novel for another look at the early life of another grey character/anti-hero, crappy parent included.
FTC Full Disclosure: I bought a copy of this book with my own money and got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Demon in the Wood is available now.
