I AM SO MAD AT MYSELF FOR NOT READING THIS SOONER.
This book has been sitting on my shelf unread for a couple of years now (YES YEARS, I KNOW I KNOW). I've read the first few chapters, I liked it, but that was it. Didn't have the time to finish it anymore.
BUT I FINALLY READ IT (finished last night) AND BOOYYYYY, IT WAS SO GOOD.

"I stop struggling. A call rings through me. Something within me rises up to answer.
I can’t breathe. It’s like I’m kicking up from the bottom of a lake, about to break the surface, my lungs aching for air.
The woman in red watches me closely, her eyes narrowed.
I hear Mal’s voice through the library door. Alina, Alina.
I know then. I know that we are different from one another. Terribly, irrevocably different.
Alina. Alina!
I make my choice. I grab hold of the thing inside me and push it back down."

I am sucker for fantasy novels, so getting into this story, reading all about this new world, was so good! I wanted to know more about Ravka though, I felt like I didn't get much details about the place/country. But I did love reading all about the culture and the Grisha magic that surrounds Ravka.

I love the flow of story-telling that the author uses. Bardugo was able to pull me in using darkness/mystery that surrounds not just the fictional world, but the individual characters as well. Reading through Alina's perspective was also good. I was able to witness her journey as she is thrown upon a new world that seemed far away from what she has known. I was also able to witness how she tried to coped with her self-realizations as she discovered new people and her true power.

The plot was good as well!

I knew I was right to be wary of the Darkling! I just really wasn't feeling his character. I wasn't buying the bad-guy-that's-actually-a-good-guy-when-you-get-to-know-him trope. Nope, just nope. Turns out he's actually the bad-guy-that's-really-a-legit-bad-guy.

It's interesting enough that can keep you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next thing to happen, and then take your breath away for a couple of moments.

All in all, this is 4.5 stars for me!
I'm so excited to read the rest of the series! I can already feel, that I'm going to love them as well!

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Thoughts on my second read:

I may have to lower my actual rating to somewhere between 3.5 or 4, but it was still a good read all the same!

I still adore the world-building, of course. Diving again into the Grishaverse? Wow.
I still adore the writing style, it was good but it could be better. Leigh's writing has greatly improved on the Six of Crows duology.
I still didn't fall for the Darkling's charms! Haha, sorry guys, I know a lot of fans adore him. He's a great villain, I recognize that and I applaud Leigh for writing an intriguing character.
And I still like Alina. I loved getting to know the story through her perspective (that much didn't change). But now, I realized I like her because I could relate to her. I could relate to her about feeling lonely and feeling alone, about feeling afraid of not doing good enough, about trying so hard to fit in somewhere or somehow, and trying to let go of unrequited love. These past few months I noticed some people don't like her all too much, but I do. I know she's not this amazing/mind-blowing character, but I could relate to her and I could empathize with her, and that's why I loved delving into the story through her eyes.