I must admit to something. Not only am I on #BookTok, but I am on #ShadowandBoneTok. Upon first glance, this doesn’t seem too weird—I mean, it’s a popular book series that so many people have read and enjoyed that has wonderfully been adapted into a Netflix series. Except for the fact that I’m on the character edits side of #ShadowandBoneTok and that’s really freaking embarrassing. As a result of being on this side of TikTok, I’ve come across countless edits of Inej and Kaz, the Crows, Alina and Mal, and Alina and lord save me— THE DARKLING (played by the very handsome Ben Barnes).
Therefore, despite the fact that I’ve literally never touched the Shadow and Bone books, nor know anything about the Universe beyond what I’ve learned through the edits I’ve seen, I decided to watch the new Netflix series.
And, let me tell you about it. Please note, spoilers ahead!!!!
It’s not great. LOL. I mean it’s not awful either, but as a non-book reader, I could definitely tell this was meant for those who have read the books before. The exposition and character building felt a little weak. There also wasn’t any relatability about our main character, Alina, nor do I think we, as watchers, got to spend enough time with her before she was being thrust into a much different world where she was basically isolated. In other series, we get to spend time with our main characters in casual settings, we get to know their personalities and quirks. At no point during Shadow and Bone was Alina ever relaxed. It ultimately was a hindrance to her character development in this TV show.
Please note I said TV show, lol. I’m sure her character development in the books was flawless… it just didn’t translate well into the Netflix series.
However, where Alina lacked, the relationship she shared with Mal was immaculate. There was a beautiful softness in their relationship, a gentle protectiveness that made me want them to find one another. I think partly why their relationship worked so well was because we were able to see not only how Alina cared about Mal, but how Mal cared about Alina. We were able to see exactly why they worked together and why they were perfect for each other from both angles. This is something I’ve heard was lacking in the books from #ShadowandBoneToks. The series was entirely written from Alina’s perspective, so we were never able to see from Mal’s eyes how he felt about Alina, and the Netflix series had the freedom to explore Mal as a character on his own, and in conjunction with Alina.
Ah. So this finally leads me to, what I’m sure we’ve all been waiting for, The Crows. Oh how I adore The Crows. For those of you who aren’t well antiquated with Leigh Bardugo’s writing, not only has she written the Shadow and Bone trilogy, but also an accompaintent duology called, Six of Crows.
This accompaniment duology features five characters that were seen in the Shadow and Bone TV Show, although they were not originally featured in the Shadow and Bone books. There’s Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Jesper Fahey, and Matthias Hellvar.
Since these characters weren’t originally part of the series, the Netflix writers attempted to write the Six of Crows characters in, but unfortunately, it didn’t go particularly well. Their storylines felt cheap and pointless, and didn’t flow well with the main plotline of the series. I’m sure readers of the series enjoyed seeing those characters, but for someone who’s never touched a single Leigh Bardugo book, I wasn’t impressed. Still, they were all hot and I did enjoy seeing them on screen, even if they didn’t end up accomplishing anything.
All in all, the Shadow and Bone TV show was mediocre, and for me, only saved by the TikToks I saw of it on #BookTok.
Sorry.