I thought I would give myself some time before writing this so that I could put together some coherent thoughts instead of just endlessly screaming like the fangirl I am, but I’ll probably just end up screaming anyway, because I absolutely loved this. It’s just. The gold standard of adaptations, to be honest. It exceeded all my expectations. From the talented cast to the gorgeous music to the special effects to the costumes to the unexpected humor, I just!!! I binged the whole eight episodes in a day, something I haven’t done in ages, and by the end I just wanted more. It wasn’t flawless — the questionable depiction of anti-Asian racism Alina faces is glaring, and I’ll talk about that — but overall my serotonin levels definitely shot up.
I read the original trilogy way back in 2013. It’s a series that has stuck with me and left a strong impression, and I was surprised when I went back to look at my review to find that I only rated the books 4 and 3 stars. I think even then I was kind of frustrated with some of the that era’s YA tropes, most of which the series thankfully excised! I do want to talk about my thoughts in more detail, so spoilers will follow below, in messy bullet point format, because I don’t have the brain cells for a well-organized essay right now.
Continue reading “TV Corner: Shadow and Bone!!!!!!!”
Hadeer Elsbai 