Shadow and Bone: A Book and TV Show Review

In current Young Adult (YA) literature, the Grishaverse universe created by Leigh Bardugo has been wildly popular among readers. It has been the stage for three fantasy book series so far using its beautiful worldbuilding, Russian influences, and magical spark for the main country of Ravka. Fans of the Grishaverse anxiously awaited this spring when Netflix released the first season of “Shadow and Bone” featuring Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, and Ben Barnes. As with all book to film adaptations, there were changes; however, some of them were positive additions that were built onto the original text.

As an avid YA enthusiast, I read the first two series in the Grishaverse—”Shadow and Bone” (S&B) and “Six of Crows” (SoC). “S&B” revolves around the story of Alina as she discovers that she is a Grisha, a person with supernatural abilities destined to serve in Ravka’s special forces. She is forced to come to grips with losing her childhood best friend, Mal, while learning how to be a proper Grisha. The “S&B” trilogy is a story that would appeal to those who enjoy slightly dark fantasy with supernatural tones, angsty characters, and juggernaut power levels. I would especially recommend it to fans of the later “Harry Potter” books, “Twilight,” “The Vampire Diaries,” and “Red Queen'' by Victoria Aveyard. The series appeals to a very niche group of YA readers and though “S&B” is enjoyable, I didn’t connect with the characters or plot. While I deem “S&B” ’s storyline to be quite overrated, I greatly enjoyed “SoC” and always make a point to recommend it to any interested readers and even non-readers. Whereas “S&B” falls into the downfalls of earlier YA tropes with its slower storyline and more dramatic story and characters, “SoC” is a fast-paced heist with one of the best examples of the ‘found family’ trope that I have ever encountered. This duology is a relatively quick read especially considering how easy it is to become invested in the larger-than-life characters and high stakes storyline. I highly recommend it to fans of “Ocean’s 11” and “Now You See Me.” It is definitely the best executed heist-style story that I have come across; however, its true glory is found in its characters. The six core cast is a band of misfits, each highly unique and interesting to follow. It is also heralded as one of YA literature’s best diverse cast with Black, Southern Asian, LGBTQIA+, body positive, and disability representation (though there is still room for improvement). In general though, “SoC” is just a good series that is hard to connect with “S&B,” especially since their storylines don’t technically occur concurrently. The chronological way to read the Grishaverse is to start with “S&B” then read “SoC” and finish with the final duology “King of Scars”—however, “S&B” and “SoC” do not need to be read with each other for their storylines to shine so I recommend reading only “SoC,” unless the reader is particularly invested in this universe.

Although the show takes its name from the “S&B” books, it is also written to incorporate the characters from “SoC”. Although in some places it can be rough for readers who are familiar with the book, I would say that the artistic liberties taken by Netflix in regards to the storyline are an overall net-positive. They managed to give some of the bland “S&B'' characters a bit more personality and the more mundane moments were broken up by the more interesting SoC plot points. That being said, the “SoC” role in the show is weird because in the books these characters and stories have no overlap. Their new plot works as a prequel of sorts for the actual SoC books, and though it did tone down some of the best aspects of the books with this approach, I am still quite interested to see how they move forward with this in the upcoming seasons. From listening to other people, I would say that although the books do help clarify a lot of the smaller details, the show can still be enjoyed without the background from the books.