The Tailor

Title: The Tailor (Grisha Triology #1.5)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Number of pages: 18

Publisher: Holt Children’s/Macmillan

Date read: 10.8.15

Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3

“You decide.” – The Darkling

       This novella was a snippet from Shadow and Bone in Genya’s point of view. It takes place when she is Alina’s “friend” at the Little Palace. I like that we get a more in depth view of what life for Genya was at the Little Palace and as part of the Queen’s court. How she went from the favored little girl to someone the Queen could barely stand. It’s easy to see that the Queen became jealous of Genya’s youthful beauty while she herself was getting older with each passing year. It made my heart break to see her flashbacks of how Genya never really fit in with the rest of the Grisha, but she never really belonged to the Queen’s court either. She was isolated from both worlds and desperate for affection.

       Speaking of desperate for affection… in the brief scenes involving the Darkling, I felt he was manipulating her. My collegue and I discussed this at length, and neither of us agrees with the other. She believes the Darkling has a soft spot for Genya, and as I mentioned above, I think he took advantage of her loneliness and played her so that she’d betray Alina’s friendship.

"It hurts, but I can bear it. Because I am a doll, and a servant. Because I am a pretty thing and a soldier all the same." - Genya