“So don’t tell me we don’t belong together.” “I’m sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. He was very close now, and my heart was suddenly hammering in my chest. So don’t tell me we don’t belong together,” he said fiercely. I’ve walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I’d do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. But no, Mal says that Alina only belongs with him, because obviously that’s healthy and not at all problematic. Let’s address the problems in this segment.Īlina was happy with the Darkling. *deep breaths* I’m already raging mad and I haven’t even started yet. I never really fit in the way that you did. I can’t get that picture out of my head.” “Do you? That night at the palace when I saw you on that stage with him, you looked so happy. The Darkling was never really a love interest. Mal is supposed to be the hero, but he's so toxic and awful and I don't like how he's portrayed as some ideal man.Ĭ. The Darkling was never really a love inte Why Mal the Malfunction is the Worst Love Interest Ever: An EssayĪlso: MILD SPOILERS for Siege and Storm and Shadow and Bone.ĮDIT: The reason I'm writing this review and not Why the Darkling is the Worst Love Interest Ever is becauseĪ. Mal is supposed to be the hero, but he's so toxic and awful and I don't like how he's portrayed as some ideal man. EDIT: The reason I'm writing this review and not Why the Darkling is the Worst Love Interest Ever is because A.
Also: MILD SPOILERS for Siege and Storm and Shadow and Bone. Why Mal the Malfunction is the Worst Love Interest Ever: An Essay This will be long. I'm sick of all these terrible female lead portrayals by YA books nowadays. But come on, at least have some respect that females can be smart too, that they can make good strong independent lead characters who can make smart judgement without being easily distracted by some guy's face or tall and muscular body. I also dislike the fact that many readers think that having a weak female lead who cries every 5 minutes when something is not all unicorns and rainbows and drools over guys only because they're good looking and having their brains shut off every time a hot guy passes by is a good thing. But like seriously, unless you're like 14 years old who can't understand why Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones are good, this book is not for you. Which is fine considering this is a YA book. The characters are straight up black and white, good vs evil. The pacing in the book is terrible, and instead of doing it by narrative, the writer took the easy route by doing frequent "X days/weeks/months later" type of thing. How the main character reacts, what she did, most of the time, aren't something that's easy to relate to. Albeit written in first person perspective, which a lot of writers seems to consider this as the easiest PoV to write, it fails to deliver an engaging character. The book is your run of the mill YA cheesy love story. Albeit written in first person perspect …more how's not liking the book makes me a bad person? Nico how's not liking the book makes me a bad person? The book is your run of the mill YA cheesy love story. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. 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. 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. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.Īlina Starkov has never been good at anything. Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and h ▶ Alternative Cover Edition #1 Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. ▶ Alternative Cover Edition #1 Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh.