I don’t think there’s anyone who hasn’t heard about Netflix newest hitshow. Shadow and Bone aired April 23rd and while I tried to pace myself I did finish watching it in a day or two haha. Today I wanted to share my thoughts about the show with you all. So let’s jump in!

Dark forces conspire against orphan mapmaker Alina Starkov when she unleashes an extraordinary power that could change the fate of her war-torn world.

Shadow and Bone is based on both Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. Six of Crows is set after the events of the original trilogy so it was a bit scary for most fans to hear they were going to do both at the same time. Six of Crows is my absolute favorite so I was worried this wouldn’t live up to my expectations. Luckily we didn’t get the actual Six of Crows story but more of a prequel and I loved how that was incorporated. 

Shadow and Bone has 8 episodes of about 50 minutes each. So about 7 hours of show to watch! Netflix released all episodes at once so this was a bingefest for a lot of fans. Including myself haha. I tried to pace myself as I discovered I like to enjoy the experience a bit longer. With Disney+ releasing episodes each week I did realise I actually like that better. You get to talk about episodes with friends, theorise, talk online and it just generates hype for a longer period of time.

As you can see from the trailer, the visuals are gorgeous! I loved how they portrayed the fold, Ravka, Ketterdam, basically everything we saw. It is all so well made and it is all I could ever hope for. This is just a stellar production and I was so happy with it. Of course the characters are also very important and I can say they found us some gems!

I love all the actors they used for these roles. And I can even say I kinda like Mal now! That’s partly thanks to the actor, but I’ll also say they did change his character a bit and I’m extremely happy with that. I was never a fan of Mal in the books, and very much disliked him but I can honestly say I’m on board with Malina in the show! They’re super cute together and I love their chemistry.

The Darkling is a very important part of the books and I love his portrayal. I can’t wait to see more of him in the next season! The rest of the Grisha are interesting and I for sure have to mention Genya and David. I love them in the books and they’re great in this as well. Especially David! I think he’s even better in the show and I can’t wait to see his development.

Of course the crows are my favourite, and they are PERFECT. I love Kaz, Inej and Jesper. We don’t have Wylan yet but I’m sure he’ll be incorporated in future seasons. Matthias is also very well done, he was exactly what I hoped he would be. And then we have Nina, I think she received the most critique. I love her portrayal, Danielle Galligan really captures Nina spirit. But I have to agree, we expected a plus size character and Danielle isn’t really plus size. This is a missed opportunity! However, this is the Nina we got, and I do think Danielle does an amazing job.

The story is mostly what we would expect. They follow the first book in the original trilogy quite well. And I love how they incorporated the Crows. This made for some fun new content I didn’t predict. AND we got the scene I was hoping for, Kaz vs the Darkling! So worth it <3. All that’s left to say is, I loved this first season and would urge you all to go and watch it if you hadn’t yet. I for one can’t wait for the next season, and hope for many more!