I enjoyed this one. It was a very quick read. I'm trying not to compare it to the greatness that is Six of Crows, merely for the fact that I know that Six of Crows is more in line with the type of plots and the type of characters I enjoy. 
 Shadow and Bone is not Six of Crows. This doesn't make it bad, just different. I really love Bardugo's world building. I love the Grisha. They aren't sorcerers or wizards or witches really, but special people with the ability to manipulate different types of elements at the most basic level. So Squallers, summon/manipulate wind, Inferni manipulate fire, Fabrikators manipulate stone/steel, etc. It feels unique and was fun to read. 
 Even though Alina is not my favorite kind of hero (which would be the kind who are not physically strong or have supernatural abilities, but use their smarts to defeat and outwit enemies) I did take a liking to her right away. I also liked Mal, though I don't think he's one of Bardugo's strongest characters. I absolutely loved Genya, but she sort of let me down in the end. Now, for the Darkling, I can't help it, but I really kind of love him too. (view spoiler)[Yes I know he's evil. But he's fascinating and a delicious kind of evil and I really, really can't wait to see what he does next. Oddly, I felt that there was more chemistry between Alina and the Darkling then there ever was between her and Mal. So I'm not really sure how I feel about it. It's one of the reasons I can only give Shadow and Bone 4 stars. (hide spoiler)] 
 The plot itself was okay. A large portion of it is Alina discovering and training up her abilities. The climax kind of comes all at once and then the book ends. I do realize it's building up to something bigger in the long run and I'm pretty excited to see where it goes next. 
 I do want to note the order of Bardugo's two series. I read the Six of Crows duology first because the plot sounded more interesting to me. After falling in love with the world building, I knew I'd have to get around to reading Alina's story as well. HOWEVER, I think if you are interested in checking out Bardugo's work, you should definitely start with this series. Not because the world building is difficult to understand without having started here, but merely because it's hard for Shadow and Bone to stand up against Six of Crows after the author has had some time to mature in her writing and plotting.